'IF you limit your choices to only what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is a compromise.'
Hello autism families!! This is a quote that Monica Harris (one of our awesome autism moms!!! J) sent to me today. Maybe you have seen this quote before; either way, I hope you are moved by it, as I was! Hopefully you have all heard by now that our fabulous senator from Gilbert, Thayer Verschoor, was re-elected last night over Eddie Farnsworth. Senator Verschoor won by 3% points—truly a close race. On behalf of EVAN, and countless other families that don’t even know they should be grateful (yet!!), I want to thank each and every one of you for the efforts you put forth. If you took even one moment to share your support for Senator Verschoor with a family member, friend, neighbor, or even a stranger at the grocery store, you did a great thing. Every single vote counts-this election proves it! We have tremendous political power within our community. Consider that statement for just a moment…. We passed Steven’s Law. We certainly had a large part in helping Senator Verschoor stay in office (something many folks thought was highly unlikely, given the long-time recognition of the “Farnsworth” family name). What is missing in our schools, communities, and other vital places for our children on the autism spectrum? What would you like to see put in place so they can best succeed and be a participating member of our community? What does your family need to be the best it can be? We have so many things to improve for our children and families. What part are you going to play?
I, along with several others, have given the last couple of years of my life to the autism community, and I do not regret a single day. With two boys of my own on the autism spectrum, I know in my heart that it is absolutely the right thing for me to do. I feel lucky to have made a difference in the lives of at least a few people along the way (thank you for that—you know who you are!). Our educational system needs drastic improvement, as do countless other systems. As far as education goes, I believe we need to create a reasonable vision for what our children need, and then motivate and empower those within each school district to act for change. I know I will be working very hard in Gilbert this year. What about Chandler? Mesa? Higley? Queen Creek? What about the school districts around the Valley and state that I cannot even begin to name? We are a HUGE community; remember our Candlelight Vigil on the Capitol lawn? The World News Tonight with Charles Gibson? Still doubting the power you have? Are you interested in making things the best they can be for our children in ALL of our school districts? We need more parents that are willing to be polite, well-spoken, but brave and speak up! Publicly! I am not talking about rebel-rousing. I am talking about a well-orchestrated, organized, united movement to make some hard-core changes within the educational system. There cannot be only a few vocal parents speaking out at the school board meetings. There must be a whole lot of us willing to band together and support one another in your efforts. We can all work as one team, valley- and state-wide, on pushing for the same changes—in each district, all at the same time. You need parents to come to your little bitty board meeting? Okay, then. Let’s ask our fellow parents from another district to give up a couple of hours of their time to show up, all wearing the same autism stickers perhaps, and support the parent speakers from that district. When the parent speaker ask , “Who here has a child with autism?” think of the impact it will have on your school board when most of the room stands up (make sure you have a little bit of media coverage, and you will be impressed at the possible reactions you receive). We have general elections coming up in October—including school board elections. I am ready to take on the next “big thing”; help me! PLEASE!! I am great at advocating for my own child—it would be a wondrous thing to be needed so much less to advocate for other people’s children because our school districts are finally doing the right thing for ALL of our kids.
Hello autism families!! This is a quote that Monica Harris (one of our awesome autism moms!!! J) sent to me today. Maybe you have seen this quote before; either way, I hope you are moved by it, as I was! Hopefully you have all heard by now that our fabulous senator from Gilbert, Thayer Verschoor, was re-elected last night over Eddie Farnsworth. Senator Verschoor won by 3% points—truly a close race. On behalf of EVAN, and countless other families that don’t even know they should be grateful (yet!!), I want to thank each and every one of you for the efforts you put forth. If you took even one moment to share your support for Senator Verschoor with a family member, friend, neighbor, or even a stranger at the grocery store, you did a great thing. Every single vote counts-this election proves it! We have tremendous political power within our community. Consider that statement for just a moment…. We passed Steven’s Law. We certainly had a large part in helping Senator Verschoor stay in office (something many folks thought was highly unlikely, given the long-time recognition of the “Farnsworth” family name). What is missing in our schools, communities, and other vital places for our children on the autism spectrum? What would you like to see put in place so they can best succeed and be a participating member of our community? What does your family need to be the best it can be? We have so many things to improve for our children and families. What part are you going to play?
I, along with several others, have given the last couple of years of my life to the autism community, and I do not regret a single day. With two boys of my own on the autism spectrum, I know in my heart that it is absolutely the right thing for me to do. I feel lucky to have made a difference in the lives of at least a few people along the way (thank you for that—you know who you are!). Our educational system needs drastic improvement, as do countless other systems. As far as education goes, I believe we need to create a reasonable vision for what our children need, and then motivate and empower those within each school district to act for change. I know I will be working very hard in Gilbert this year. What about Chandler? Mesa? Higley? Queen Creek? What about the school districts around the Valley and state that I cannot even begin to name? We are a HUGE community; remember our Candlelight Vigil on the Capitol lawn? The World News Tonight with Charles Gibson? Still doubting the power you have? Are you interested in making things the best they can be for our children in ALL of our school districts? We need more parents that are willing to be polite, well-spoken, but brave and speak up! Publicly! I am not talking about rebel-rousing. I am talking about a well-orchestrated, organized, united movement to make some hard-core changes within the educational system. There cannot be only a few vocal parents speaking out at the school board meetings. There must be a whole lot of us willing to band together and support one another in your efforts. We can all work as one team, valley- and state-wide, on pushing for the same changes—in each district, all at the same time. You need parents to come to your little bitty board meeting? Okay, then. Let’s ask our fellow parents from another district to give up a couple of hours of their time to show up, all wearing the same autism stickers perhaps, and support the parent speakers from that district. When the parent speaker ask , “Who here has a child with autism?” think of the impact it will have on your school board when most of the room stands up (make sure you have a little bit of media coverage, and you will be impressed at the possible reactions you receive). We have general elections coming up in October—including school board elections. I am ready to take on the next “big thing”; help me! PLEASE!! I am great at advocating for my own child—it would be a wondrous thing to be needed so much less to advocate for other people’s children because our school districts are finally doing the right thing for ALL of our kids.
2 comments:
Go Verschoor! Thank you for all the time and effort you put into what you do. I am very interested in doing what I can, but very limited on time. I know that just a little will help. Because of your research and for letting others know about your work, I put my Verschoor sign in my front yard. The funny thing about it is his opponent signs my paycheck. I love where I work, but I feel politics and business can and should be two separate things. I hope he feels the same way. :)
As far as education, I have and will again speak in front of my school board. I am a Higley parent. Last year I asked the school board to provide training for the paraprofessionals on the half days for staff training. They started doing that last year. This year the parapros are getting four days of training. I can't say it's exactly the type of training I would want for the parapro for my child, but it's a start. I know that as parents we can create change. I will be at the next Higley school board meeting. I will ask to speak. All I plan on speaking about is to say thank you. Thank you for the training, and for the many positive things that have happened in the past year with my daughter. If anyone wants to join me, it's this Thursday, September 11, and I believe it starts at 6:30. We can create change! America is supposed to be about the people/for the people, and if the people speak, they will listen. I think that Verschoor and little training have shown that.
Melissa, Holly & Katie,
I think politics is a very important part of the special needs discussion, especially with Sarah Palin in the ticket. There are fast changing developments in this area and several things that we need to discuss and showcase. Other listservers seem to NOT want to discuss these issues. I request you to start a blog on this so we can give our comments.
I think part of the call to Action should be to rally autism parents to fight for the rights of our children and the success of Steven's law has shown the importance of political involvement. I hope you can start a discussion on the National Politics as well.
-Manoj
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