LISA'S POST ABOUT IDEA LETTERS

March 15, 2004

Wow, , what a powerful post! And so very true! Folks, this is important

stuff! Please take 's lead and help us out here - help OUR KIDS out here

- while there's still time!

It's so quick and easy - just take a look at the post below, and then use the

letter (this is the edited version - first one posted by had a couple of

very minor typos), so please use this one (but don't worry if you've already

used or distributed the first one):

Washington said, " The basis of our political systems is the right of the

people to make and to alter their constitutions of government. "

This is perhaps the most important email you will ever read if you are a US

citizen who cares for a child with a communication and/or any other impairment.

Please feel free to show support even if you live outside the US.

Many of us feel helpless at times when we have a special needs child. This

includes during an " IEP " meeting, a meeting which is supposed to bring our child

a free appropriate public education through an " Individual Education Plan "

(IEP).

Some here have preschool children and may feel this doesn't apply yet to their

child, so why bother reading today when one can deal with it when it matters

down the road. Some here may have older children already in school and

receiving appropriate services that they take for granted will always be there.

After all, up till now, through advocacy support and awareness raised through

grassroots nonprofits like CHERAB, books like The Late Talker, and websites like

Speechville.com and Ourchildrenleftbehind.com, we have learned how to help our

children succeed so that they too have a chance at a bright future just like

everyone else. We assumed this wouldn't change for 'our' child. We were wrong

- it is changing as we sit here and read this. Our truth today may become a

distant memory tomorrow unless all of us - including you - reach out to make a

difference.

Tricia Morin (http://www.cherab.org/information/silentnomore.html )is so upset

about what the future holds for her own son, , as well as for all of our

children, that she has volunteered to fly at her own expense to Washington D.C.

in just a few days now, March 24th and 25th, for all of us, all of our

children, so that the voices of our children can be heard. Tricia has already

set up appointments with various senators from all over the country who are

taking her concerns - our concerns - seriously enough to sit down and talk with

her about them. This is an amazing opportunity for each of us to make a

difference. We can all be there with Tricia, and that is what she requests from

us. You don't even have to fly to Washington, but if you want to do that you

can.

Tricia only requests of us something that will take each of us just a few

minutes, but will make a huge impact. It is up to us to share our voices for

our children who can not yet speak for themselves. We again can all can be

right there with Tricia; each one of us does and will make a difference.

Thousands and thousands of letters from us will help bring our children a voice.

This group is one of the largest for communication impaired children, with

thousands of members, and each of us as parents and professionals have others

that we can share this message with. Time is short so please, right after you

read the following, just cut and paste the following email, fill in the blanks

to personalize it with your message, whether you are a parent, an aunt, a

grandmother, a teacher, an SLP or OT or MD, to show as a group we DO care. Your

letter could be the one that has the impact needed for change. We do know that

the more letters Tricia receives, the more powerful the message, the louder the

voice we send. We were advised that actual signatures are not necessary and

that emails are sufficient. This should only take you minutes to do -again

perhaps the most powerful and important thing you ever did for your child. All

letters can be emailed to Tricia Morin at morinfamily4@... ( morinfamily4

at nc.rr.com )

Please feel free to either cut and paste the following and keep exactly the same

with just filling in the blanks, or send your own letter to Tricia.

Sample letter that you can just cut and paste and personalize:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Name____________________

Address__________________

( if you don't want to include, please include State)

State____________________

Date: ___________

Senator ______________ (Find your Senators here: http://www.senate.gov/ )

Washington DC 20510

Re: Letter Regarding S. 1248

Dear Senator ____________,

There are 6.5 million children in this country who desperately need help that

only you and the other Senators on Capitol Hill can provide.

As a _____________________ (examples: mother of two children with apraxia,

parents of a special needs child, father of a child with autism and ADHD,

teacher of special needs children, speech pathologist for a rising number

of speech and language impaired children, neurologist who is researching

neurologically based disabilities in children, etc.), I am asking that you vote

NO to S. 1248.

Education is the key to independence and future success. It is critical to

getting a well paying job. Before the passage of the Individuals with

Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1975, which granted all children with

disabilities a free, appropriate public education, many children with

disabilities did not attend school. They did not have access to school

buildings or general education curriculum. IDEA was reauthorized in 1997.

IDEA 97 is giving children with disabilities access to education so unlike years

ago, almost all with special needs graduate today! Please leave IDEA alone - it

is not broken, nor does Part B need to be reauthorized as it is already

permanently authorized.

The " Education Gap " is the difference in levels of educational achievement

between people with and without disabilities. S. 1248, eliminates many important

provisions contained in current law (IDEA 97), provisions upon which parents

have relied in obtaining a Free Appropriate Public Education for our/their

children. For example, the proposal to write Individual Education Plans (IEPs)

every 3 years instead of the current annual schedule is setting children up for

failure without accountability. No professional can write a document that will

cover 3 years worth of specialized and intensive instruction for a speech and

language impaired child, for example. If passed, S. 1248 will condemn children

with communication and other disabilities to struggle against the same

segregation, neglect, and abuse they faced more than 30 years ago.

As ____ (a parent/s of a beautiful son named who is speech impaired, a

professional) I/we believe that current IDEA legislation should be enforced to

allow students with disabilities to close that gap. The enforcement of IDEA

has been left largely on the backs of parents. ______ (examples: Parents/As a

parent I) do not have the resources, money and teams of lawyers at my/our/their

disposal. With the passage of this bill we/they will have nowhere to turn when

______(our/their) _______(examples: our son who is tested to have above

average intelligence but who has a severe impairment of speech, children with

disabilities) is/are not getting a free, appropriate public education.

School districts are only now beginning to implement IDEA 97 and No Child Left

Behind. Even though IDEA has been a law for thirty years, only in the past few

years have we seen the districts actually begin to provide appropriate speech

and other special services. Please give IDEA 97 and No Child Left Behind a

chance to work. The bill you are about to vote on, if passed, will directly

affect 6.5 million American children with disabilities and their futures,

including _____ (examples: my innocent and intelligent five year old son

who deserves a chance not to be " left behind " due to his inability to speak/ my

patients) Please look at the long term consequences of this decision by you and

the rest of the Senate, for it will have a lasting impact on our society.

The question is simple: do we want those 6.5 million speech impaired and other

special needs children of today to be independent, contributing taxpayers of

tomorrow, or do we want them to be forever reliant on the government, a burden

to society?

Please help bring our innocent children a voice, and a future, and vote no to

S. 1248

Sincerely,

____________________________

(optional phone number)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ End of letter

Again, we were told actual signatures were not necessary - so just fill in the

above email and " mail " to Tricia Morin at morinfamily4@... ( morinfamily4

at nc.rr.com )

Our thanks for taking this seriously on behalf of all of our children and for

acting on this ASAP, and for passing this on to everyone you know that also

cares for the children's futures.

=====

March 15, 2004

Hi Sandy,

Thanks again for also helping parents understand that we can make a

difference,people have to realize the bigger picture not only for right now!

Jeanne

> Wow, , what a powerful post! And so very true! Folks, this is important

> stuff! Please take 's lead and help us out here - help OUR KIDS out here

> - while there's still time!

>

> It's so quick and easy - just take a look at the post below, and then use the

> letter (this is the edited version - first one posted by had a couple of

> very minor typos), so please use this one (but don't worry if you've already

> used or distributed the first one):

>

> Washington said, " The basis of our political systems is the right of

the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government. "

>

> This is perhaps the most important email you will ever read if you are a US

citizen who cares for a child with a communication and/or any other impairment.

Please feel free to show support even if you live outside the US.

>

> Many of us feel helpless at times when we have a special needs child. This

includes during an " IEP " meeting, a meeting which is supposed to bring our child

a free appropriate public education through an " Individual Education Plan "

(IEP).

>

> Some here have preschool children and may feel this doesn't apply yet to their