Why We Have to Stand Up

I will explain my passion to those that don't know me or don't understand me.
I had never been an activist. I had never been political. I had been raised to do what I was told and to trust people in charge.
My son is autistic. He went to a wonderful school in Illinois that did all that they could for him.
My husband and I wanted to move back to KC. That is where we grew up. My husband interviewed every school district in the area. We wanted Jake to go to the right school.
We picked Lee's Summit because we bought all of the bullshit that they sold us. I told them that the school in Illinois felt that Jake would not do well in a large classroom. They told me that they were the experts and that they knew best.
I believed them. I bought into it all. I never questioned them or educated myself. After all, I was a housewife and they were educated people.
At the age of 13 my son came home and said, "Your life would have been better if I had never been born." I pray that none of you ever have to hear those words or feel the guilt that I felt for not standing up for my child.
I will spare you all of the details. It would take me days to write down everything that the "experts" did to destroy my child.
That day I started reaching out. I spent hours on the phone crying. I didn't know where to go and who to talk to. At the end of it all I realized that the only person that could save Jake was me.
I met another mom, Debbie Blair Shaumeyer. She was going through the same thing with her son. We started the Lee's Summit Autism Support Group so that we could help other families going through what we were going through.
We contacted our Representative in the Missouri House. We went to Jefferson City and spoke to anyone that would listen to us. We were desperate.
I became a member of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Special Education Advisory Panel. I reached out to the United States Department of Education. We had many talks that lasted for hours.
My Representative took everything that I told him back to the school district and used it to gain favor. I have a whole blog on what he did to steal our children's futures. He used my son as a stepping stone in his political career.
So, when I rant, as so many of you like to call it, I have good reason. I have worked for the last eleven years to make changes. If an elected official isn't doing their job I will call them out on it.
It is not because I am radical. It is not because I belong to a political party. It is not because I am a hater. It is because I am a mom that was forced out of her quiet life and into politics.
I pray that your child never goes through what my child has been put through, but if they do, I pray that you will stand up and make changes for them. If not, don't try to hold down those of us that are doing all that we can for your child.

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