As a person with Autism, I know firsthand what it feels like to be a person in the United States, let alone New York State, with humiliations and broken promises. From fear of attending a school, to being looked down upon, to bullying, among other things. I know what it's like to wait for a very long period of time, and what it's like to beg and plead. I know first hand what DSPs go through, and what people with disabilities go through. I am also a proud Self-Advocate, and a proud person who supports the disability community. I have attended and presented at conferences in Niagara Falls, Rochester, and in Albany before the pandemic, DSP rallies in Rochester, and have attended Disability Pride in Downtown Buffalo.

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Furthermore, I also acknowledge and bow my head to the horrors of Willowbrook and similar state schools that have existed between the 19th century and as recently as the 1980s and mourn the people who have been treated horribly today - especially during COVID-19. I also strongly condemn the statements made by New York City Mayor Eric Adams on his views of Willowbrook, and I will ensure that Albany will do everything to protect people with disabilities at all costs.

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When I get into office, disability rights will be a top priority. And here's how it will happen:

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• First, I will make the minimum wage on the federal level for Direct Support Workers, agencies, caregivers, staff, and others who work with people with disabilities, the mentally ill, and the elderly from the current unlivable and demeaning hourly wage to a starting wage of $20/hour (along with healthcare employers) in medium and large sized employers, and increase work-from-home and in-person opportunities for all workers, including staff/client matchmaking incentives, new peer-to-peer support, and a call to fill jobs that have caused staff to become negatively frustrated or lose their own jobs.

• I will work on an operation to get people with disabilities out of shelters, and adults who want to move out be guaranteed that opportunity, with the Least Restrictive Environment possible at first attempt. This also means that, for adults who are capable, that they have their own apartment or house once they move away from their families, not just starting in a "group home". CHO (Caregiver Hands-On, the disability and caregiver equivalent to HUE) will allow adults, along with parents of children, to allow individuals 18 and over to receive a stipend for their care and empathy for working with people with disabilities. For teenagers 12 - 17, along with their role as an apprentice gaining skills and receiving points for their role as a teen caregiver, the equitant to such program will be known as TACAF (Teens as Caregivers and Friends) - meaning that they have a role to include young teens in outings, sports, classes, groups, camps, the arts, and many other things in addition to independent living and other basic skills needed to become successful adults.

• As people with disabilities continue to decide whether to risk their benefits or risk their income status, it is clear that people with disabilities have been continued to be ignored, despite the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act. To this end, and as part of an effort to reimagine Social Security, I will work across party lines to come up with a system that ensures that people with disabilities are entitled to keep their services and critical safety nets while working, no matter how much money one makes. Furthermore, I will replace the SSD program with the HUP program. This will get people who are blind and/or disabled that want to go to work or have more money and assets out poverty reaching their maximum potential. I will also end the Marriage Penalty and abolish the SSI portion of Social Security (which has placed many, many people into poverty), replacing the programs with programs that will encourage work, training, and creativity. 

• I will ensure that more is done for the purpose of accessibility statewide, including in cities and towns where accessibility is an issue.

• I will attend the regional SANYS conference in Niagara Falls, the statewide SANYS conference in Albany, the DD Day in Niagara Falls, and all disability pride events across Western New York, and allow every self-advocate to share their concerns or frustrations.

• I will increase work-from-home opportunities for every person with a disability both within the state government and for every business (new and existing) who want to go 100% virtual or hybrid.

• I will increase virtual town halls and host "at your service" meetings in person for those with disabilities or mental health needs.

• I will, crossing congressional district lines across New York State (from Buffalo and Syracuse to Staten Island and the Bronx) fight hard and tough to re-open the Museum of Disability History in Buffalo (once operated by People, Inc.) in a new, rebuilt, and improved location within Western New York (either in Rochester of Buffalo) and have it designated as a "national museum" with the potential to have national park status, and have anyone worldwide who has disability artifacts to donate - including those who are willing to return the sold museum collectibles in turn for an incentive or a payment.

• I will vouch to make September 17th (the day that Willowbrook closed in 1987) known as Willowbrook Remembrance Day and will pay a visit to CUNY Staten Island (similar to 9/11) where the state school once existed, with a Disability History exhibit on that same day. People disabilities will be able to have a recognized "day off" from their jobs or classes to acknowledge their contributions and fight for their own rights.

• I will create a nationwide Home of Your Own Program, and will call of Governor Hochul to return New York's Home of Your Own Program, and allow people with disabilities to work towards homeownership, self-directed living, and rent-to-own incentives.

• I will fight to create federal legislation to abolish and outlaw the Intelligence Quotient (IQ) Test in the United States, which has been a dehumanizing test to dumb-down persons with disabilities, and has it's links with Eugenics and Nazi Germany (justifying Hitler's use of concentration camps for the disabled).

• I will work with Amtrak and companies, concurrent with Operation All Aboard, along with transit agencies statewide, to create a paratransit rail pilot that is specific to passengers with disabilities and would also run on offline rail lines.

• In planning on reimagining education, I will also ensure children with disabilities are respected and their families wishes are granted. This means, in addition to having choices and the resources to do anything from homeschool to enrichment classes as proposed in Grand Education Reform, children with disabilities would have access to inclusive (not "special") environments, no matter how learning is handled. Furthermore, every child is different (many tie their shoe with one ear, and some tie their shoe with two ears), and allowing families and, to an extent, persons with disabilities to self-direct their own learning experiences (from therapy to buddy programs, and even DSP experiences), they will be acknowledged as people with ideas and not as second class. When work experiences (with adaptations as necessary), entrepreneurial practices, experience in the remote work environment, certifications, and the HUP is added, combined with other reforms proposed throughout this website, a person with a disability will be able to be part of the dream every American has upon turning 18 (not waiting many years past 21), and will have the ability to pursue life, liberty, and a pursuit of happiness.

• I will also fight to create pilot programs for adults and children with disabilities to have full social inclusion and new enhanced programs in companies, colleges, and even community events - such as the Autism Family Support program at SUNY Geneseo (the program I was in that made me fell in love with Geneseo State - to allow children and teens, as well as adults in certain cases to socialize with college students), and increase funding for participation of activity or programming statewide, along with promotion of inclusive participation in all activities from summer camps for children and teens to social clubs and nightlife outings for all adults.

• I will fight to end the marriage benefit charge on the state level and allow married couples (straight and gay) with one having a disability at the least to have the right to full protection and their rights of being a parent protected (allowing couples with disabilities who want to have the right to live however they see fit guaranteed that right).

• I will call on Albany to increase funding and other plans for those who want a skilled certificate to be guaranteed a job. Additionally, I will use the Hiring Crisis to allow people with disabilities to be guaranteed a job without hesitation.

• One of the most notorious institutions in the world, the Judge Rotenberg Center in Canton, Massachusetts, has used the Graduated Electronic Decelerator (GED) to inhumanely discipline residents with disabilities through use of electric shocks as punishment for even the smallest infractions. It has been widely condemned by disability advocates, many organizations, and even the United Nations who stated that such action is torture and is not even used in the worse prions and confinement encampments in the world such as Guantanamo Bay. As part of the plan to denounce the practice and to send a message that such action is cruel and unforgivable, I will create legislation to prohibit any person or provider to use GED or any device that is the equivalent to a GED (which is defined as torture) on any human being or animal. This law would be known as "The Rotenberg Act".