Making Transportation work for everybody

The Importance of a quality transportation system can not be overstated.Our highway system, railroads and airports are essential to economic growth and development and also to the simplistic purpose of moving people from place to place. As the general election approaches, it is important that we foster an effictive dialogue with our public officials regarding the under represented issue of transportation and those being left behind by the current system, particularly those with disabilities.

While, over a third of the country simply hails a car through a transportation network company (TNC) such as Uber with the push of a button to travel quickly and at minimal cost, many members of the disability community are stuck the position of having to schedule rides days or even weeks in advance with little to no assurance of punctuality and a high cost if they require paratransit services.
While we need to continue to move forward by finding innovative solutions that address transportation disaprities, we shouldn't settle for solutions that are leaving people behind.. As it stands the vehicles of transportation network company nd accommodating vehicles are not available and Paratransit is expensive and hard to plan for. Partnerships with TNCs are probably not ideal long term answer but the technology and existing systems can be used in development of more sustainable answers .

State and Localities basically have two viable options in providing ride share services to individuals with disabilities that meet accessibility regulations and are available via smart phone.
The First choice is simply to develop regulations that mandate a certain percentage of a TNCs vehicle fleet meet federal accessibility standards
The second is for the state to leverage technologies similar to those used by Uber and Lyft to to provide a comparable option
While TNCs and taxi companies differ in business structure, they both provide the same type of on-demand service from point A-to-point B
Many taxi companies have even rolled out GPS tracking to keep up with competition from companies like Lyft. Thier Vehicles are also much more likely to be accessible.
This kind of competition also provides an opportunity for state and local government agencies to benefit off of the technology developed and deployed by TNCs to provide service to people with disabilities .
It is the 21st Century and now is the optimal time for public agencies to implement a smartphone app tracking and payment system coupled with on-demand service. The technology is already developed, and it is abundantly evident that there is a need for the service.
Agencies could roll out the service in pieces, beginning with the ability to track your ride online, which would eliminate the long wait times associated with paratransit services
Naturally developing and providing this type of service will come at a cost.
Most TNCs subsidize thier trips to keep rides cheap enough to balance the need to maintain a solid customer base , while paying drivers enough to maintain a large fleet. These subsidies come straight out of the pockets of private companies.
Each ride on public transit agency paratransit is subsidized by tax dollars, adding cost to the population as a whole.
Even with the public subsidies, paratransit rides cost more than the typical bus fare.
Public agencies would be able to fill more vehicles to higher capacity with carpooling models. By utilizing the existing fleet more efficiently they can provide faster service, thus improving service quality.
Extra seats in vehicles could also be used to pick up carpool customers who do not require accessible vehicles, but who are traveling along similar routes.
We live in an era of innovation where we have the potential to change systems and find real solutions to transportation disparotes but before we move forward, we need to stop and contemplate how we are going to use modern day technology to improve access to transportation options
TNCs are a very plausible option with real-time information and mobile ride hailing and payment options, and that there is a demand for them. But effective policy is inclusive of everyone and its time to include the disability community be given a seat at the table in the development of such policies

Adding Insult to Injury

"Mr. McCourt is all over social media in photos with state officials so he clearly he can't be all that Autistic"...

This was the type of logic being used in comments made by Chief Deputy Carver County Attorney Peter Ivy this morning as I sat in a sentencing hearing this morning for a charge of "assaulting" a cop over the altercation I had with Chaska Police Department last October while I was having an Autistic meltdown. One of the officers got a "reddened knee" from tackling me over help I didn't want or ask for in the first place.

During the hearing Chaska Police Department, discussed the fact that I am damaging their reputation by questioning them and criticizing their protocol via social media and I am basically unrepentant. 

One of the reasons people find Chaska PD's actions questionable is the more they tried to make the case that they understood Autism, the more they looked like they didn't. For Example, if you watch the video footage of the altercation. I am engaging in repetitive hand motion called "stimming. " It is basically universal sign of an individual with Autism who is overstimulated. I am stimming through the entire incident. 

Thus despite the fact they never bothered to test BAC and 2 chemical dependency assessments to the contrary, the Carver county Attorney's office continued to perpetuate their version that I was intoxicated and belligerent and that I am " not really all that Autistic"...

And thus I sat there more out of a desire to tolerate the kangaroo court so I could commence with the various civil actions I intended to bring and less out of any genuine feelings of remorse or guilt.

But this was not the first time I had to deal with discrimination on the basis that I am what's often called "high functioning" and its certainly not the first time  people have said "you dont really look all that autistic,” so what do people with Autism like? 

To begin with I am autistic: My official diagnosis is Asperger’s, or what is now Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). 

ASD is a piece of who I am. I think differently,  feel differently, respond differently. 

I have a distinct need for routine.  If you look at my calendar on my phone. I schedule everything to the minute and I get very frazzled if it changes, particularly if it is a last minute change . As a kid if my parents took a different way home in the car, I would melt down or get very anxious because it was "out of the ordinary"

I am hyper -sensitive.  Certain sensations really bother me but I am weird about pressure. As a kid I calmed down with bear hugs and my parents got memberships to water massage parlors.

I also struggled with motor skills.If I jumped I couldn't land on my feet.  I couldn't ride a bike until I was a teenager because my muscles and coordination didn't always work all that great.  

Years of social skills training have made me capable of holding conversations but I have always retained the stereotypical bluntness of those with an Autism diagnosis

I also perseverate. Even as an Adult, My mom and dad have had to come to my house periodically because I obsess over things to the point where I legitimately just shut down and can't function  Basically I get into a rut and couldn't get out of it. They have to help me change my thinking patterns to get out of it. 

Other common traits of Autism include a lack of eye contact,  and defaulting to literal interpretation. Autism exhibits itself differently in everybody and the common traits are not always immediately evident. 

But the question "Is he actually autistic, ” has always been problematic for me. People ask it as  if I look  too “normal,” too not-autistic to actually be autistic and that I have to  prove, with my physical appearance, that I  am what I say I am.  

I’ve always had a desire to connect with  other people but  I’ve always known I was different because my parents told me I had Autism at a very early age. I was about 7 or 8 I think but knowing I was different made me angry. I wanted to be normal, I didn't really like being told I had to do something differently than other people. 

By the time I entered high school, I had created a new "Noah McCourt" at home I was a social butterfly at School I rarely spoke a word to anybody. People remember me as being silent. I didn't really get my peers so rather than attempting to build relationships and face rejection, I basically avoided having any so people would never realize any abnormalities

The perspective I have on the world us uniquely my own and in many ways are  informed  by the fact I have Autism , whether it "looks like I am Autistic "or not. 

Ultimately, there was a point in my life that I would have been probably been thrilled with the Carver County Attorneys 's comments this morning as he was essentially commenting on my ability to mirror the social norms of others and mask the fact I have Autism  but I came to realize several years ago that all the attempts to make myself "more acceptable" "more likable" "more normal" to others left me in a really  dark place.

I think in many ways those of who are considered to have high functioning Autism have it just as difficult than those who exhibit signs of classical autism as my mom pointed out the other day:

"As a kid people saw the disability they didn't see the intellect behind the disability,  now people see the intellect and they don't see the disability and the significant challenges that still exist behind the intellect."

Or As one advocate put it "So called Mild Autism doesn't mean one experiences Autism mildly, it means you experience their Autism mildly. You may never know how hard they have worked to get where they are "

St. Augustine in his book "Confessions" wrote "Do I measure and know not what I measure." While he was speaking in the context of early philosophical thought, the comment brings perspective to the way we as a society approach the development of outcomes in health policy, including the significant and yet underecognized health disaprities that exist for Americans living with disabilities. 
 

The World Health Orginization recently conducted a study and found that people with cognitive disabilities are 5 times more likely to have diabetes than the general population and also that they are recieving less adequate management care.
 

They are also less likely to receive routine dental care, which raises serious concerns not only due to the impact on oral health, but also in regards to the role teeth and gums play a role in preventing cardiovascular problems
 

A recent study conducted by the National Institute on Health revealed that Americans living with mental illness die 15-30 years earlier those without mental illness 

Many will look at the above statement and assume that people with mental health problems die to causes such as suicide and overdoses but the data shows that they're  more likely to of the same conditions as anyone else such as cancer or heart disease.
 

Individuals living with Developmental Disabilities such as Autism or Down Syndrome also face a variety of different challenges such as transportation and staffing limitations.  Access to medical care services was raised as a concern for individuals with developmental disabilities in the 2002 Surgeon General’s report.
 

Even at the State level, if one examines the reports and studies conducted by the Minnesota Department of Health, ranging from last year's Strategic plan to the 2013 report on oral healthcare to the 2012 report on chronic disease, they will find as I have that individuals with disabilities are largely absent as a data group if they're even mentioned at all.
 

After a decade of fragmenting and turning Healthcare into an overly partisan  buisness,  it is probably not suprising that our current system is failing to provide quality care for those who need it most. 
 

 I would strongly encourage our incoming Gubenatorial Administration, state legislature and agency leaders to take meaningful action to address the disparities in access to healthcare facing the disability community. I would suggest starting with adding the phrase disability to the appropriate stas and developing outcomes for improvement over the next 5-10 years.

It's a small task but its certainly a step in the right direction.