Palin Outlines Help for Special Needs Children in Pittsburgh

In her first public policy address since being chosen as the Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Governor Sarah Palin outlined the McCain administration’s proposals for helping special needs children. Palin told a crowd of parents of special needs children and their caregivers that a McCain administration would fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act for the first time since its inception. She says too often special needs individuals and their parents are made to feel there is no place for them in society. She says to that end the McCain Whitehouse would reform the vocational rehabilitation act to require that all special needs individuals be given the chance to learn to work and live independently if they so choose. Palin says another key will be to make all federal special-needs education funding portable with the child so parents can choose where to send their school age children. Palin says she also looks forward to strengthen NIH funding for research into early diagnoses and cures for illnesses such as autism. And building public/private partnerships with organizations helping special needs children. Palin did not layout specific numbers but says the programs could be funded through the elimination of earmarks.