You might think that the nomination of a college student with Asperger’s Syndrome to the National Council on Disability wouldn’t be a controversial story. You would be wrong. Ari Ne’eman currently has a Senate hold on his nomination and it might because he advocates for more resources be devoted to helping people with disabilities live independently in their communities instead of focusing solely on research for a cure. Like a lot of disability advocates before him, Ne’eman argues for a view of disability that is based on a social rather than a medical perspective. The fact that his beliefs provoke opposition and condemnation demonstrates that the disability community still has work to do in helping the general public understand that getting “fixed” isn’t necessarily our top priority.

Examined more closely, the whole kerfuffle is kind of silly. Placing Ne’eman on the Council isn’t going to divert one dollar away from ongoing research efforts towards finding a cure. But we also need to recognize that most of the people living with various congenital disabilities are not going to benefit from the cures that are almost certain to arrive in the future. The smartest policy would be to adequately fund both research and community supports rather than framing the discussion as a zero-sum game. But professional “advocates” aren’t accustomed to think in such terms. For them, any attempt to portray disability as identity is seen as a threat to their messaging; messaging that all too often employs pity as a strategy for winning financial support.

I do hope that Ne’eman eventually gets confirmed. We need more contrarian voices like his on the national stage.

My van is going to be out of commission for at least a few more days, so after one day of paying overpriced taxi fares, I decided to try the city bus. Lucky for me, there’s an express line that connects the the Twin Cities downtowns. I was worried that my not-so-svelte chair wouldn’t fit in the bus’ assigned disability seating, but it worked well enough to keep me out of everyone’s way. The trip itself didn’t take any longer than usual, so hooray for efficient and accessible public transportation. I’m probably too spoiled to use the bus every day (especially in the winter), but it’s good to know that I have other options to get to work. And at least I won’t bankrupt myself on cab fares while simultaneously shelling out a ridiculously obscene amount to fix my van.

The NYT looks at how people with disabilities and chronic health conditions use the web and social networking sites to connect with other people, including those with similar conditions. The article is fine, but it feels like it’s something that could have been written in 2002. Is it really news that people with disabilities use the Internet or that they might use it to discuss issues related to their disabilities? The reporter could have focused on how people with disabilities struggle to afford broadband or how they are using social media to change perceptions about disability, but instead we get this fairly vanilla story. Try harder, Times staff.

One of the more unnerving aspects of living with a severe disability is how disruptive a technology malfunction can be. I’ve been working from home the last couple days because the sliding door on my van is jammed and refuses to open. I can get it temporarily fixed, but eventually I’ll have to replace the whole door at the cost of a few grand. As unappealing as that option is, it’s better than purchasing a new van at ten times that price.

The van is over a decade old, so this isn’t exactly a surprising development. And I’m lucky to have my own vehicle and the means to fix it. I’ll try to remember that when I’m staring at the repair bill.

10:38 p.m.: The reconciliation bill passes 220-211 and now goes to the Senate. Looks like one Democrat had a change of heart. I wonder what the story is behind that.

And that ends the liveblogging. But I’ll continue to blog about health care reform for a long time to come. As eventful as the last year has been, this is only one big step on a long journey.

9:55 p.m.: Roughly ten minutes ago, the House passed the Senate bill 219-212. It now goes to the President for his signature. Still up for a vote is the companion bill that would amend the Senate bill.

Even though the outcome became clear earlier today, I’m still a little stunned. This is, by far, the most significant piece of social legislation passed in my lifetime. We can still do big changes in this country. And now begins the long process of making this law even better.

5:28 p.m.: The House will soon begin actual debate on the bill themselves. Based on the procedural votes held so far, it appears that the Democrats have the votes for final passage. I expect that the debate will still be underway when I get back from the play, but I have no doubt I’ll miss some hyperbole and demagoguery of the highest form. And that makes me a little sad.

4:17 p.m.: The New York Times is reporting that President Obama will address the nation after the House completes its work tonight. My bedtime may have to take precedence.

3:32 p.m.: A little while ago on C-SPAN, Republican Representative Devin Nunes said this in defense of Tea Party activists who hurled the n-word and “faggot” at Democratic congressmen.

NUNES: Yeah, well I think that when you use totalitarian tactics, people, you know, begin to act crazy. I think, you know, there’s people that have every right to say what they want. If they want to smear someone, they can do it. It’s not appropriate. And I think I would stop short of characterizing the 20,000 people protesting, that all of them were doing that –

As long as Republicans continue to shrug off the darker impulses of their racist and homophobic base, it’s going to be very difficult for them to cobble together a ruling coalition in a nation with such rapidly changing demographics.

3:11 p.m.: Stupak votes yes after the President agrees to issue an executive order that says what the bill already says. Whatever works, I guess.

2:45: The actual votes on the bills themselves may not occur until later tonight. And I have theater tickets for 7:00. Liveblogging may be temporarily interrupted. And C-SPAN is now reporting that the White House and Bart Stupak, the leader of a pro-life bloc of Democrats, has reached a deal to secure their votes. That should make passage a nearly sure thing.

2:27: Representative Jim Langevin, who has quadriplegia, just made a speech on the floor in favor of the bill, saying everyone deserves health care coverage that he received and enabled him to give back to his community.

2:13 p.m.: And another procedural challenge from the Republicans. This is going to get tedious pretty quickly.

2:00 p.m.: Debate on the House floor has been underway for about an hour. Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan seems to be the point person for the G.O.P. delegation. He’s already claimed that the bill brings us closer to U.K.-style socialism. Expect to hear this sort of thing a lot today.