a year of stalling, failing and manipulating should be a criminal charge

I recently sent this message to an activist group here in my new home state...Spedwatch.

I have had it with school districts predetermining my children's potential and acting as if they are experts, when in fact the only thing they are experts at is cliques and social manipulation. It is what schools have been doing for years. The top layer of school districts all over the nation, not only those in Massachusetts, are poisened by the egos of our highest-payed administrators. They pull out all the stops with the help of their lawyers. This is not only an outrage because I am paying them to harass my family, but also because the BSEA, DOE and other regulatory and governing bodies have no power to fight this, yet we also are funding their offices. How about using this "fighting" money to actually educate and encourage greatness. We MUST change the IDEA law to better suit all families. And we MUST protest to our communities the harm that is being done to OUR families who are already facing daily challenges that most do not endure within a lifetime. This must stop...and the CIVIL SUIT must be full force for the sake of all budgets, all citizens and for the sake of families, kids and teachers. Everyone needs a better education. We MUST tell this story. INCLUSIONREVOLUTION.blogspot.com Please tell your story. I am a mom who moved my two children on the spectrum across the country because Massachusetts won my nationwide search for Autism support for older children...I was tired of being a trailblazer in Washington State. Public Schools here heard that I filed a citizen's complaint in WA, then left, and now the entire year has been a political game. What a waste! Single mom...very tenacious, but tired and have no trust left in me for this system. Anyone?

Out of sight. Out of our minds. Abandoned.

Do you people even care?
Care if we are scared...
Scared everyday
wondering, waiting, fighting for life
a life
any life
where he's loved
she's accepted
an education beyond meanial tasks:
like washing your hands after urinating
shredding paper or wiping tables
YES valuable for independent living, but being known, visible and challenged
are essential to school, community and family life.
my family
my babies
with feelings
intellect
spirit and fire
clearing away the mess of those who do not see, connect or grasp
the beauty within them
is heartwrenching to watch.
I sometimes feel trapped in an alternate world.
One where I cannot be heard or considered valid.
I ache for my children and other individuals trapped here too.
Sweeping floors and handwashing are hardly tools to those whose concrete reasoning,
makes no sense of the nonsense we call culture.
Scared of love
will love, intimate, baffling, mind-blowing love
be a part of thier lives?
And if the answer is yes,
will the expression of that love meet the required etiquette of society
or will it be thrown away as invaluable or not as valid
due to our awkwardness with it?
Scared
that the teens may be the tragic end
of either freedom
or life.
by freedom I mean, the freedom to develop as an individual
with friends
foes
feelings and family.
the tragedy would not be death
but to live...
to live
as expected
and rejected
in a drug-induced trans
quiet and sentenced to live with caretakers and similarly-silenced souls
rocking,
but not too hard
singing,
but not too loud
reaching,
but not too high.
Scared that the experts will tell ME
when to give up on MY
child
as they did long ago
when their expert training ceased.
Scared that when they give up
the wavelength of thier doubt
played out with my defeat
will eventually form a chord
no longer dischord
but a tone
flat and broad
that travels over the valleys and hills of our culture
a culture of sameness
denial and complacency.
Scared that the toxic world that created
the very disfunction
and malfuction
not of our children
but of society's values
will implode due to disconnection.
when those in need
of specialized care disappear
in the busy combustion of consumption
and the consumption is so great that
we no longer notice, regulate or respond
to cries, concerns and coersion,
then I can no longer weep.
I can only be
Scared.
Friends, romans and countrymen and women
lend me your tears
find them and weep once again
for the loneliness we all share
and the inclusion we must dare
to create.

me- 7-2-2010 first edit
me- 7-3-2010 second edit

School budget myths revealed by a blogger in Cali

My son and I are having a tough time convincing the district we recently moved to, that inclusion is the law and until they have effectively tried it with the proper tools in tact, then I cannot agree with an out-of-district placement. The alternative placement would likely require a driver and an aid to transport my son at least 45 minutes away from his home community and sister who is one year ahead of him in school. The "school" he would attend is surprisingly NOT held accountable to any state or federal agency...nor would they write the IEP. So, the expense that has already taken place for over a year now, just to employ the administrators to say no and intimidate their staff rather than educate them. It has been topsy turvy and I feel that with the amount of time spent acting as if they were following the law...when they were not...they could have taken the five admin's salaries and brought back all the students with ASD in their district, in alternative placements and started their own school for half the money. With budgets being cut, I often wonder if we could rid ourselves of the middle layer of administrators and get more done in the educating department.

This article is stellar...http://www.squidalicious.com/2010/02/we-are-not-sparta-real-justified-costs.html

This made me laugh out loud, which I often need to do...you may too

This is a blog about special education law that I stumbled upon and although my children don't have any physical challenges aside from SIB's and sensory EXTREMES...I did relate to this woman's "list of terms." Read it and laugh...then add your own here:

http://specialedlaw.blogs.com/home/2010/04/special-needs-as-a-second-language-by-lori-miller-fox.html#more

He's really happy, means he is squealing and giggling uncontrollably and pretty soon he is going to run fast and hard into that wall to complete the cycle. LOOK OUT.

bro (poem I wrote about my son)

bro

What could the boy do?
He can’t speak to you!

The label you gave
Says he misbehaves.
Scale fixed.
Outcome mixed.
Your every doubt
He’s figured out.
Due to years…
And lives evolved.
Witnessed tears…
And problems solved.
He understands
And he demands
ATTENTION!
Empires, governments, churches and rules
Taming life with useless tools.
Shaming the wise. Idiots! Fools!
Too conscientious
and conscious to swim.
Afraid to drown making waves with him.
The fearless dolphin swims
with pleasure and pain
In circles, with giggles, in love and insane.



10.01.05

Be the Change, Be the Change, Be the Change

I repeat the mantra as if it will bleed into the lives I come in contact with. Sometimes I believe it will, and today...not so much. I believe that those resisting the change I am attempting to be...those who are in the position to reject change, must be now put to the test of the legal system. The only way to defeat or better yet, win over this audience is to band together.

Once we gather as a force, the decision must be made..."What sort of change do we wish to be together?" I envision a change for all children, adults, animals and, what the heck...the universe.

Today, I will create a list of resources and save my personal story for the next few hundred entries. I will divulge one detail of my daily life. With all of these many resources, support and intentions, the fact remains, change must be created and I have not been as convincing as I thought I could be...if that makes any sense at all. I have found that passion alone cannot complete the task...a community of passion is required. A passion that looks tangible to the less passionate.

So, I share these links, books and tidbits as sparks to create a communal passion for change...change that includes all. It is possible. Anything is. We can look at our own children as proof of that.

Read, learn and get fueled up for the passionate endeavor of being the change!


Author Paula Kluth
The Autism Checklist
Just Give Him The Whale
http://paulakluth.com/inclusive-schooling.html


Author Barry Kaufman
Son-Rise: The Miracle Continues
http://www.autismtreatmentcenter.org/index.php

The Movie Autism is a World
http://www.inclusioninstitutes.org/index.cfm?catID=8&articleID=58

My son is using this device independently and we just randomly introduced it at home last December. Very inexpensive and fully equipped. I do all the programming and I am soooo low tech.;)
http://www.proloquo2go.com/

Author William Stillman
Autism and the God Connection
http://www.williamstillman.com/about.html
http://www.udservices.org/communityResourceslinks.asp

The Horse Boy
Movie and Book

I see you. I hear you. I accept you.

I recently read and article a friend sent me about a greeting in a distant country where the people press forheads together, look into one another's eyes and say, "I see you." The response is, "I am here." I put this into practice with my children and saw them light up with confidence and the beauty of being recognized and loved.
A worldwide movement of seeing, hearing, accepting...does it start here? Peace?

Let's talk about me, my family, and societal inclusion. I am a mom of two beautiful souls. In our societal view...they are considered 'disabled' with autism. I believe they are intuitive, brilliant and exceptional people with unique ways to teach us.

Throughout thier lives, I have asked, demanded, requested, created and envisioned inclusion for them in the public school systems and society. This vision has been viewed as a privelege, not a right by those I have come up against. Typically the administrators and decision makers in school districts' Special Services offices are allowed to say no, not follow the law, and even lie to parents about the law or their actions in order to save face. Do citizens realize that they pay BIG TAX DOLLARS to pay these people to go to meeting after meeting as well as to trial against parents like me, just to tell us, "NO. We refuse to think outside the box and help your family."? In many cases the law that was brought about to help families like ours is used to harass, isolate and punish families like mine for expecting more. The money spent to say no, could be spent to say yes...and believe me, hours and hours of meetings, paperwork, failures, abuses and covers are where your money is going...not to helping our kids. Teachers, staff or professionals who agree with parents and want to try innovative measures and teach outside the box are often punished for going against the will of the administrative minority.

This is an abuse of power, one of which I think citizens must be made aware of. I feel that on my swim thru the procedural channels I have not been heard. When I am not heard, as the 'advocate/expert/parent' of my children who cannot do this on their own behalf, then my children's lives are being compromised and minimalized.

I believe and envision them being seen and accepted as whole human beings with gifts and dreams...and the ability to share those dreams with everyone...not just those who resemble them. Call it segregation, limitation, misrepresentation, or exclusion...I call it OVER. No MORE!

My frustrations and endless battles led me on a quest. Across the country...in search of excellence, community and education I found a surprise within me instead. And I found that many are still struggling through the muck I thought had started to clear. I found shame, sadness, hopelessness, unawareness and isolation. Tired families, afraid of where to turn for support. A lack of resources and no lack of innovation. I found the need for inspriration, hope and a restructuring of our "norm."
Today I wrote the words...INCLUSION REVOLUTION...on my car, on a sign and I started this blog because the surprise I found was passion. This vision within me is driving my life. I hope INCLUSION REVOLUTION unites many to venture outside the box and see each human dance as an intricate, essential part of our culture.

Please share, listen and insprire throughout our "inclusion revolution" journey. Consider this OUR place to create momentum, power and love as we share and conquer struggles and resistance.

I am open and enthusiastic.

This blog and this movement are for them...my babies in all their glory...and for all of us who share the hope of unconditional love for everyone. Let's put an end to separation.

INCLUSION REVOLUTION!!! Let's do this...TOGETHER.