February 2010

When people get a chance to make their child completely happy they go to Dismey World, or camping. When they get a chance to get their child a decent education....well, this is what has happened to our family. Our son Jeffrey finally received the monies to pay for his Life Care Plan, and we have moved for the school year. It is rathe rmaddening that w ehave had to move from our home, our goats, cat, nice neighbors, and that we've moved thousands of miles for Jeffrey to get an education, live in a truly integrated neighborhood that honors his differences and learn a whole new place. Don't feel too sorry for us, however, becuase we did not move to

August 25, 2009

Dear Friends, Strange that we are celebrating the anniversary of women's suffrage in the United States on the same day we are mourning the passing of one of the greatest advocates women, children and families has ever had. The passing of Senator Edward Moore Kennedy is also the passing of an era. For those of us old enough to remember we have always had Uncle Teddy to help with health care, disability benefits, workers rights, minimum wage.....my God the man did so much I sometimes expected him to show up at my house to wash the dishes for me!

What does one man's death mean to our greater community? How important is one person to the whole of society? Doesn't life move on, seconds continue to tick away on the clock, children continue to grow up? People change jobs, they are replaced with another worker. Stores close - we shop elsewhere. A parent dies, but we learn to take joy in our own children, our own personal victories as adults.

So why would Teddy's death, his passing into a place with no pain and sorrow, be so painful and sorrowful for those of us left on this temporal earth? Since 1962, Senator Kennedy has served us with steadfast loyalty and sincerity. Your child benefits from public service, whether it is Special Education, Medicaid, civil rights and liberties for people with disabilities.....all the benefits your child has come to enjoy, and you depend on, come in large part because Senator Kennedy lived, Senator Kennedy fought, and Senator Kennedy won.

He fought your battles before many of you were born. He fought your battles before any of us even thought of having children. He fought your battles because he knew they were too much for us to handle ourselves.

When a soldier dies the flags are half-mast, taps are played and we honor his great service to our country. We all need to take a moment to thank Senator Kennedy, Uncle Teddy, for everything he has helped us achieve, everything he has done for our children. Thank you, Uncle Teddy, for everything you gave to my son Jeffrey.

Faithfully, Martha

May 2009

Dear Friends,

It's been awhile since I wrote a missive.....I guess because I have been angry, depressed and overworked. It's hard to spend enough time to write with considerate thought when daily life is a speedway.

My son Jeffrey continues to attend school only 2 hours a day and his wonderful home-bound tutor continues to come at 3pm for 2 hours. The school won't let him take the morning bus because he has epilepsy. The bus stops at our driveway and picks another student up, but refuses to take Jeffrey. So we have filed a case for that. How many fights have we had with the school system? Lost count.

We continue to work on his pertussis vaccination lawsuit, something that has dragged on for 3 Presidents of the United States. We proved in a court of law that his seizures were caused by the vaccination, but now we are in the damages part of the process. Did you know that the lawyers working against us are government employees paid with our taxes?

Did you see the GAO report about abuse in private and public schools? Congressman George Miller (D-CA) held hearings to investigate restraint and isolation techniques used mostly in Special Education settings. The stats are not alarming to me, or anyone who lives in the Special Education trench. Mary's Family gets calls, emails and Facebook messages from parents who are angry and frightened because their child has been abused at school. This abuse goes from physical violence against a student to verbal belittling of a student.

If your child is being abused within the school setting please call our office. We are forwarding this information to the proper authorities, the ones in charge of Virginia's Special Education system

I continue to serve on the Autism Task Force that will make Medicaid easier for children with autism. I serve on the Virginia Board for People with Disabilities, and even submitted my name to become At-Large Member of the Executive Committee.

And I continue to go to my desk every morning, willing and able to help families. We have successfully gotten thousands of children their Medicaid and EDCD services. We work with insurance companies, HMOs and doctors to spread the word about Medicaid for children with medical challenges, disabilities and other specialized needs.

We schedule fundraisers to pay for trips to help others in places such as the Navajo Nation. We continue to submit applications to foundations, individual donors and companies.

But what we have steadfastly done is serve families - since December 2002 we have helped families around the Piedmont and throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.

I am still tired, angry and overworked, but it's a beautiful day. Our goat is about to have babies and the hummingbirds are back. Take your joy where you get it.

P.S. Many of you know that our family loves the United States Virgin Islands. Everyday I go on-line to read their island newspaper Daily News. Today I saw a Letter to the Editor from a mom, Rebecca Russell, who has a 3 year old son with Down Syndrome. She was happy that the Fredericksted Boys and Girls Club was planning a day of fun for children with special needs. They were offering friendship! She also said "We are not human beings going through a temporary spiritual experience but rather, we are spiritual beings going through a temporary human experience."

How true!