[00:00.00]This is IN THE NEWS [00:06.88]in VOA Special English. [00:10.02]Thousands of mourners [00:12.04]gathered Friday on Cape Cod, [00:15.69]Massachusetts, [00:16.86]for the funeral of [00:18.30]Eunice Kennedy Shriver. [00:20.40]She started the Special Olympics [00:23.20]for athletes with mental disabilities. [00:26.51]She died Tuesday [00:28.34]at the age of eighty-eight. [00:31.05]Vice President Joe Biden [00:33.26]was among guests at the funeral. [00:35.90]The service included [00:38.02]a Special Olympics torch [00:40.17]carried by a mother and son, [00:42.66]both Special Olympians. [00:45.36]Eunice Kennedy Shriver [00:47.36]was the sister of [00:48.91]President John Kennedy [00:50.77]and Senator Robert Kennedy. [00:53.90]Her surviving brother, [00:55.79]Senator Ted Kennedy, [00:57.86]is fighting brain cancer [00:59.86]and did not attend the funeral. [01:03.04]But what she will be remembered [01:05.19]for most is her activism [01:07.88]that grew out of the struggles [01:10.03]of her mentally retarded sister, [01:12.68] Rosemary, who died four years ago. [01:15.83]The first Special Olympics [01:18.28]took place in Chicago, Illinois. [01:21.01]About one thousand athletes competed [01:24.56]in nineteen sixty-eight. [01:26.91]Today, more than three million train [01:30.81]in one hundred fifty countries. [01:33.80]The next World Summer Games are [01:37.16]in Athens in two thousand eleven. [01:41.07]When Eunice Kennedy Shriver [01:43.86]began her work, the disabled [01:46.54]-- her sister included [01:48.34]-- often spent most of their lives [01:51.20]in hospitals or other institutions. [01:55.12]In the nineteen seventies, [01:57.66]she worked for passage of the Education [02:00.56]for All Handicapped Children Act. [02:04.32]That law guaranteed free [02:07.18]and appropriate schooling [02:08.97]for the estimated one million children [02:11.96]at that time who were not [02:14.32]receiving an education. [02:16.52]In nineteen eighty-four [02:18.96]she received the Presidential [02:21.06]Medal of Freedom. [02:22.60]EUNICE KENNEDY SHRIVER: "Let us not forget [02:23.78]that we have miles to go to overturn [02:27.22]the prejudice and oppression facing [02:31.41]the world's one hundred [02:32.89]eighty million citizens [02:34.98]with intellectual disabilities." [02:37.58]In the last two years, [02:39.14]more than one hundred forty countries [02:41.62]have signed a United Nations treaty, [02:44.72]the Convention on the Rights of Persons [02:47.45]with Disabilities. [02:49.47]President Obama signed it last month. [02:52.99]But there are still "miles to go." [02:56.21]Andrew Imparato heads [02:59.00]the American Association of People [03:01.49]with Disabilities. [03:03.34]He says the biggest challenge is jobs [03:07.19]-- the disabled have [03:09.30]the lowest employment rate [03:11.25]of any minority group in the country. [03:14.41]He says they are often [03:16.99]the ones earning the least, [03:19.15]and most at risk of losing their jobs [03:23.05]in the recession. Also, he says [03:26.68]reforms are needed so disabled people [03:30.65]do not lose certain health assistance [03:34.26]by taking a job. [03:36.70]More than forty million Americans [03:39.49]have some level of disability. [03:42.70]An estimated seven and a half million [03:45.88]have an intellectual disability. [03:48.87]In nineteen ninety Congress passed [03:52.10]the Americans With Disabilities Act. [03:56.14]It requires equal treatment in employment, [04:00.46]government services, transportation [04:03.76]and public places like hotels. [04:07.90]Doris Ray is a director of the [04:10.99]ENDependence Center of Northern Virginia. [04:15.02]She says another important effort [04:18.52]is a bill proposed this year in Congress: [04:21.97]the Community Choice Act. [04:25.17]Currently most federal assistance [04:28.06]for long-term care pays [04:30.62]for services provided in nursing homes. [04:34.09]The proposed law aims [04:36.40]to expand community-based services [04:39.43]for those who want to [04:41.27]receive long-term care at home. [04:44.37]And that's IN THE NEWS [04:47.02]in VOA Special English, [04:50.07]written by Brianna Blake. [04:52.06]I'm Steve Ember.