THE DAILY ILLINI
THURSDAY February 22, 2018
The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
WWW.DAILYILLINI.COM
Vol. 147 Issue 43
Student to cycle crosscountry for cancer fund
LONGFORM: PART FOUR
Parenting disability
They, them, theirs
UI study explores planning for children living with disabilities
44˚ | 38˚
The remaining progress needed at the University
THE DAILY ILLINI STAFF REPORT
Kathy Powell has an unconventional plan after graduating this May: She is going to cycle across the United States. Powell, senior in FAA, is currently training for Illini 4000’s 2018 Bike America ride, where she will log an average of 70 miles per day along with 24 other cyclists. Powell’s ride and fundraising goal is dedicated to help raise money for cancer research. “My main inspiration for joining Illini 4000 is the family members I have lost to cancer and the ones who have won their fight against cancer,” Powell said in an email. “It’s hard sitting on the sidelines and watching loved ones suffer.” Illini 4000, the nonprofit organization dedicated to raising money for cancer research, began at the University in 2007. Members agree to a $4,000 fundraising goal and ride an average of 4,000 miles across the country. Along with their fundraising goals, members participate in the Portraits Project, which puts together documentation of cancer survivors to gather stories of the American cancer experience while on the road. The 78-day cycling challenge from New York to San Francisco includes cyclists from small towns in Illinois to Shanghai, China. The benefit will create a bond among those who suffered from cancer and those who were around them. Powell said she never traveled out west before, so she is excited to bike through Colorado, Utah and California. She is also looking forward to meeting people with different stories across the U.S. “Most people (have) been affected by cancer in some way, so I guess this is my way of showing support to those fighting and honoring those I’ve lost,” Powell said.
BY OLIVIA WELSHANS STAFF WRITER
When Nora Handler’s mother died 20 years ago, the family was left without a plan. Handler is one of eight siblings. Four of her siblings have intellectual or developmental disabilities, and when her mother passed, there was no plan for her siblings’ care. “It literally changed our lives,” she said. A new study suggests less than half of parents of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities make plans for how their child will be cared for if a parent dies or is unable to continue caring for the child. Meghan Burke, associate professor of special education, created a web-based national survey that asked over 380 parents of people with disabilities about how they plan for their children’s care. The survey used an 11-item scale, looking at how well parents were completing each item. In Illinois, 71 percent of people with disabilities live with a family caregiver, according to the State of the States in Developmental Disabilities Project. Meanwhile, Burke said, 12 percent of parents reported they had taken no action to ensure their child’s needs were met in the future. Developmental disabilities are those that have their onset before age 18 and lead to altered courses of development, said Marie Channell, an assistant professor in developmental psychology and the principal investigator in the University’s Intellectual Disabilities Communication Lab. Intellectual disabilities, a narrower category under developmental disabilities, she said, are characterized by a cognitive impairment, usually defined by a low IQ score. Difficulty with daily life or practical skills is also common. Disabilities under this category can include Down syndrome, some forms of autism and cerebral palsy. Future planning is a fairly new issue, Burke said. Tradi-
BY BROOKE EBERLE
Safety is also a priority to Kilcullen. He fears that women are at risk of attack if men can decide which bathroom or locker room to enter. “Someone posted a video where they were able to go into a Target bathroom, as a man looking just like me, and the staff felt that it would be transphobic to object,” he said. “You can’t really choose which bathroom you want to enter.” Danny Mathews, assistant director of the LGBT Resource Center, finds the predatory narrative associated with the bathroom bill problematic. He calls that a “gross misunderstanding of gender identity and expression.” “I challenge you to find a documented case where a transgender person assaulted someone in a restroom,” Mathews said. “The reality is that the trans person is at a higher risk of being assaulted in those spaces.” According to the Center for American Progress, 70 percent of transgender people surveyed experienced harassment, discrimination or physical violence in a public restroom. Mathews is in favor of gender-neutral bathrooms with multiple stalls being installed on campus to protect everyone. He believes people
SPECIAL SECTIONS EDITOR
Unrest on restrooms Letting people choose where to live on campus, or even where to use the bathroom, concerns Timothy Kilcullen. It’s all about discomfort and privacy. “(There are) issues with violating other people’s rights, rights to privacy because it’s not just a transgender student you’re hurting,” Kilcullen said. “I think there are plenty of non-transgender people that would be uncomfortable, say if I could just walk into the women’s locker room if I felt like it.” The former vice president of Illini Republicans and 2017 University alum aimed to voice his party’s views while on campus. This includes keeping bathrooms and rooms within the traditional gender binary system. “I support the North Carolina bill (and) so does the Republican Party, but in all honesty, I think it’s going to be decided in the courts, not the legislature,” Kilcullen said. “For public institutions, especially schools (and) courthouses, there should be a male bathroom and a female bathroom based on chromosomal gender.” The bill he’s referring to, which was repealed last spring, holds that people must use the bathroom of the sex on their birth certificate.
SEE CARE | 3A In Illinois, most people with intellectual and developmental disabilities live with a family caregiver, but some parents have not taken any action to ensure their child’s care after their death.
news@dailyillini.com
INSIDE Editorial: Parkland survivors speak out
SEE RESTROOM | 3A
PAGE 4A
71% of people with IDD (Intellectual and Developmental Disabillities) live with a family caregiver in Illinois.
Leron Black has arrived
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY HANNAH AUTEN AND KENYON EDMOND THE DAILY ILLINI
PAGE 1B
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