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‘Ohana Feud’ sheds light on life as person with disabilities

Event was highlight of legislative forum

By Dakota Grossman 4 min read

WAILUKU-- Understanding the needs of people with disabilities is key to resolving issues found in housing, transportation and employment, and playing "Ohana Feud, Season 2!" provided some of that insight.

State lawmakers and County Council members were among those playing "Feud" at the 23rd annual Legislative Forum for People with Disabilities at the Velma McWayne Santos Community Center on Wednesday night.

''Family Feud is a hit and everybody always really enjoys it, but it's really educational," said state Sen. Roz Baker. "It teaches people how to be appropriate and how to do the right thing."

The free forum, attended by about 100 people, was sponsored by the Maui Disability Alliance, which is an association of 29 agencies on Maui serving the needs of people with disabilities.

This year's theme was "Respect All Ability," to reflect that "anyone can participate, no matter your ability," said alliance Chairwoman Ellen Lundquist.

"Person First Language puts the person before the disability while Identity First Language puts the disability first," Lundquist said during a "cluemercial," short educational videos shown to the competitors prior to a question round on Ohana Feud. "The most important thing is to ask the person you're talking to how they want to be addressed."

The cluemercials were a fun way to share information with the audience, state lawmakers and County Council members. State legislators in attendance included Baker and Reps. Troy Hashimoto, Tina Wildberger and Lynn DeCoite; council members included Tasha Kama, Kelly King, Shane Sinenci, Alice Lee and Yuki Lei Sugimura.

One video shared the positive aspects of hiring someone with a disability. The employer gains a worker who is reliable, hardworking and kind, the cluemercial said.

After Lundquist's opening speech, Pastor Greg Dela Cruz of Living Way Church provided a blessing and Lori Tsuhako, director of the county Department of Housing and Human Concerns, read a proclamation by Mayor Michael Victorino declaring Wednesday as Maui Disability Alliance Legislative Forum Day throughout Maui County.

Four bills passed this year by the Legislature were cited as helping people with disabilities:

• Senate Bill 330, named "Kal's Law" after Kal Warrington Silvert, which will assist people like Silvert, whose disability required full-time nursing care covered by Medicaid, but also meant he could not work to qualify for coverage. The bill requires the state Department of Human Services to implement a program to disregard earned income for Medicaid eligibility in these cases.

• Senate Bill 98, which clarified when a vehicle must yield or stop for pedestrians at an intersection or a crosswalk.

• House Bill 1009, requiring movie theaters to display open captioning showings twice a week.

• House Bill 1273, which involves use of a special fund for the state Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Division to provide multiple services and requires the Health Department and Department of Human Services to distribute information about accessing Medicaid for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Next session, Baker said that legislation she is eyeing will be "looking at housing because it's always an important topic."

"Also, supporting assisted housing because it's necessary for many," she said. "So I'm sure there will be many proposals coming in from the administration and some from the County Council as well."

Lundquist also talked about ideas for making living spaces more "visitable," such as widening doorways and having accessible bedrooms on the main floor, wheelchair-friendly kitchens, outlets and light switches at appropriate heights for people in wheelchairs, grab bars in the bathroom and audible and visual smoke detectors.

Improvements to transportation systems, housing and employment are needed, say people with disabilities and their advocates.

Kathleen Kennedy, who leads a vision loss support group for Aloha Independent Living Hawaii, said pedestrians and people in wheelchairs need adequate sidewalk locations and audio pedestrian signals.

"Also employment, so more job opportunities and affordable rental housing that is accessible" are needed, Kennedy said.

Realtor Sylvia Cabral, who attended as an observer, said she came to the gathering "to meet the legislators and County Council people and to learn about the disability rights for other people."

She expressed concern over the lack of affordable housing in the community, a situation that "seems to be getting worse." She suggested reevaluating federal housing laws to better support and regulate housing for small communities like Maui.

For more information about the Maui Disability Alliance, visit mauidisabilityalliance.org.

* Dakota Grossman can be reached at dgrossman@mauinews.com

** This story includes a correction from publication on Saturday, Sept. 28 2019.

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