A2 Wednesday, April 10, 2024 Omaha World-Herald advocacy captain, and found someone to fill it. That person is Carrie Nath, an actor and a director who works with adults who have physical and intellectual disabilities at Oma- Ollie Webb Center. also studying for a degree in disability studies online through the City University of New York. Together, they came up with a framework for the job. and I talked about it as care for the actors, care for the crew, care for the audience and care for the Nath said.
Roughly of Nebraska, U.S. adults have About 2.2% of the U.S. adults between ages 18 and 84 were living with an autism spectrum disorder in 2017, according to re- search from the National Library of Medicine at the National Insti- tutes of Health. The percentage of Nebraskans with autism during that time was roughly the same, the study said. If you question why the work of an advocacy captain should extend to the audience and the community, consider the pro- synopsis of the play: son Zachary was diagnosed with autism at a young age.
After years of being his fierc- est advocate, she finds herself challenged when Zachary grows up and begins to have his own thoughts about his upbringing, especially the behavioral his mother put him through. When first year of col- lege goes awry, and Mary-Ellen gets her own fatal diagnosis, the two must say things to one an- other before time runs And consider some of the staging: loud music, flashing lights, fights with raised voices, references to intimacy and sex things that can be difficult for people with sensory sensitivity. To ensure a smooth and equita- ble rehearsal process, Osmundsen borrowed an idea from a musical called to Dance in in which actors with autism all play autistic characters, and con- ducted a pre-show survey of cast and crew to figure out what would make each person comfortable. had different access he said. all felt sup- ported and set up for No one was forced to disclose anything, Nath said, and the survey got a great response.
She want to talk specifically, but potential issues could include light sensitivity when the stage went from dark to bright and the conflicts that might arise when a person with autism wants many short breaks and others may want fewer interruptions because they are getting into the zone during scenes. talked about what happens when two needs back up against each other and had a conversation about how to honor wishes and she said. do staging that trigger a traumatic situation for the She, for instance, has a thing about loud noises, so they gave warnings during rehearsals when- ever a particularly jarring scene was about to happen. And at one point, a cast mem- ber came to the theater with a white noise machine. have clicky top pens, and I am a clicker, so they brought in the machine to cover random sounds in the audience during Nath said.
Everyone got she said, things you can offer when someone expresses a need that will let them piece together their own solutions. Nath said the notion of an ad- vocacy captain is new and always growing and changing. They work closely with intimacy coor- dinators who are professionally trained to ensure a safe environ- ment throughout the process. Audience members also have several safe options, she said. They can check out a at the box office that includes headphones, sunglasses and other items.
The Autism Action Part- nership in Omaha provided the kits. And there are chairs and a TV screen in a quiet hallway for those who find themselves overstimu- lated in the theater. Audience members can come out and watch the show and rejoin the produc- tion as able, Nath said. Reading at Great Plains Theatre Commons led to Omaha The world-premiere of of a ended up in Omaha after Osmundsen had a staged reading of the play at the Great Plains Theatre Commons. He wrote it after he won the Fu- ture of Playwriting Award from the Ucross Foundation, which included a residency in a small Wyoming town.
Reaction to the play, which in part examines a controversial treatment known as applied be- havioral analysis, has been posi- tive. Many people who identify as autistic decry ABA because it of- fers rewards such as candy or toys for positive behavior and, critics say, attempts to make someone with autism into a neurotypical person instead of honoring dif- ferences. Osmundsen said his favor- ite compliment so far came on opening night, when two students from the Autism Action Partner- ship happened to sit next to him and MacLeod in the audience. At the end, one of them told him the show was set out to write a rad- ical play, but the fact that some- one took it that way was Osmundsen said. Nath said she was thrilled to be involved in something she saw as essential to her passion as a dis- ability advocate.
Blue mission is to provoke emotion, thought, action and change. This speaks to that so distinctly. opening up a con- versation that needs to be had and addressing it in a way cutting she said. is beginning to understand that ev- eryone has different sets of needs and desires and we can take the time to honor she said. CONTACT THE WORLD-HERALD HOURS: Monday-Friday 6:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
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LOTTERIES To find the drawing results, check these websites: NElottery.com, IAlottery.com, powerball.com OR dial these hotlines: 800-224-5825 (Nebraska) 515-323-4633 (Iowa) MAIN NEWS BILL Abz Cameron, left, and Matthew Kischer meet at a college video game club in of a Dave play about an autistic relationship with his mom. The world-premiere play now is onstage at the Bluebarn Theatre. Theatre From A1 health centers serving un- insured people, start a new state grant office to pursue available funds, boost the state film office and sup- port innovation hub and entrepreneurship projects. He said he looked to the documentary stamp tax as a source of funding for those programs because it was last increased in 2005 and has not kept up with inflation. With the in- crease, he argued that Ne- tax would still be lower than 23 other states.
But the bill ran into opposition last week. To win support, McDonnell negotiated an agreement with Sen. Rob Clements of Elmwood to combine the documentary stamp tax increase with effort to eliminate Nebras- inheritance tax. Clements introduced a bill this year to phase out the inheritance tax over five years. But he told col- leagues last week that he did not expect LB 1067 could pass because of op- position from counties, which currently get the inheritance tax proceeds.
Counties are projected to get about $120 million from the inheritance tax in the fiscal year starting July 1. compromise The amendment on LB 1363 would use documentary stamp taxes to fill the budget hole for counties. It would reduce inheri- tance tax rates, but not eliminate the tax, and would offset the losses by more than doubling the amount of documentary stamp tax revenue going to counties. Under the amendment, the inheritance tax rate for aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews would drop to down from currently, while the rate for unrelated heirs would also drop to down from The amendment would bring in $17 million more in documentary stamp tax revenues. It would in- crease the rate by $1 per $1,000, bringing it up to $3.25, with 65 cents of the increase going to counties and the rest being divided up among the new uses.
On a house sold for $250,000, the documen- tary stamp tax would go up $250 under the amended version of the bill from $562.50 to $812.50. Some lawmakers argued against either version of the bill. Sen. Robert Dover of Norfolk said he wants to see the inheritance tax ended but not by increas- ing a tax on housing costs. He said the documentary stamp tax revenue should be used for housing pro- grams, not as a means to pay for unrelated pro- grams.
Sen. Machaela Cavana- ugh of Omaha also argued against increasing the tax and taking the proceeds for the proposed uses. She said the proposal amounts to paying for government through fees, which she said was a tactic used by politicians to claim that they are holding down taxes and general fund spending. Tax From A1 LB 753 that established dollar-for-dollar tax credits for donations to such schol- arship funds and is being targeted by the referendum. If LB 1402 passes, it would continue to provide public dollars to support private and parochial school stu- dents regardless of the out- come of the referendum pe- tition drive.
Petition circula- tors collected about 117,000 signatures to put the issue on the ballot. Linehan did not dispute that LB 1402 was an to get around the refer- endum during the pub- lic hearing in February. She said the petition drive was a unfortunate, dishonest If LB 1402 passes, she said, LB 753 could be repealed. Supporters of LB 1402 ar- gued for the benefits of al- lowing all Nebraska students a wide breadth of options for their K-12 education, regardless of income. district hope for things to get better to- said Sen.
Justin Wayne, who represents a district in North Omaha. Linehan worked for years to get the issue through the Legislature. The most no- table opponents were pub- lic school educators, who largely argued that such legislation risks depleting funding for public education and would give the biggest tax benefits to wealthy Ne- braskans. Linehan and other LB 753 supporters disagree with that argument. Line- han noted that lawmakers spent the last two sessions debating major increases to public school funding, and Sen.
Brad von Gillern of the Omaha area argued that the tax credits in the current law only offset the donations made to scholarship funds, so it financially benefit those donors. so not true, it is a Linehan said, referring to arguments made by op- ponents. Shortly after Gov. Jim Pillen signed the bill, a new group called Support Our Schools Nebraska launched a petition drive to force a vote to repeal the bill in the November 2024 general election. During the three-month petition drive, another new group called Keep Kids First worked to discourage people from signing the petition.
Linehan is affiliated with Keep Kids First. Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha said he signed the petition and circulated pe- titions himself, and said the language was clear. He and other oppo- nents argued the Legisla- ture pass LB 1402 because the voters deserve a chance to decide the issue at the ballot box. are jumping in the middle of what was a well- done referendum said Sen.
Jen Day of Omaha. Linehan made other ef- forts to prevent the refer- endum from reaching the ballot, including asking that the secretary of state remove the initiative from the ballot. That request was denied, but Linehan has talked about taking the matter to court. Lawmakers went back and forth Tuesday debating the constitutionality of LB 1402, based on a provision in the Nebraska Constitution that states the Legislature cannot appropriate public dollars for private schools. Oppo- nents claimed the bill would be a clear violation, but sup- porters said past cases sug- gest otherwise.
In a 1981 ruling, the Ne- braska Supreme Court de- cided that state-funded college scholarships, for both public and private schools, did not violate the state constitution. Linehan noted that the funding in her bill go directly to private schools, but rather to the students. But Sen. Wendy DeBoer of Bennington said a key differ- ence is that LB 1402 exclu- sively appropriates funds that support private schools, where the college schol- arship law Sen. George Dungan of Lincoln also noted that Nebraskans have a constitutional right to a K-12 education, but not to postsecondary education.
Linehan linked a pending bill that would increase state funding of public schools to the outcome of LB 1402, saying that at the end (of the legislative session) is connected to ev- erything Lawmakers are expected to take up that other mea- sure, LB 1331, on Wednes- day. It would carry out the school-related portions of property tax re- duction plan. As advanced from first-round debate, the measure would increase state aid to schools by $1.17 billion with the goal of driv- ing down property taxes. Linehan got hugs and congratulations after the vote. She said she thought that dropping the cost of the bill had helped win sup- port Tuesday, but she willing to predict what would happen during the next two rounds of debate.
see any issues, but until done, I will be she said. DeBoer said she would be disappointed if the bill passes. would take away the right of the people of Ne- braska to vote on the issue on the ballot, which they said they she said. Support Our Schools Ne- braska called the vote slap in the to the Nebras- kans who signed petitions to put the issue on the No- vember ballot. will continue the fight to ensure wishes on this issue are heard and said Jenni Benson, a group mem- ber and the president of the Nebraska State Education Association.
can in- clude another petition effort and a legal challenge to the constitutionality of this But Jim Vokal, chief ex- ecutive officer of the Platte Institute, hailed the vote. He called it monumental shift away from the out- dated, one-size-fits-all ap- proach to that meet the best in- terests of Nebraska children. legislation ac- knowledges that reality by empowering parents with the freedom to choose edu- cational environments that best fit their individ- Vokal said. staff World-Herald writer Martha Stoddard contributed to this re- port. Bill From A1.
