And so it begins. Shea has aged out of Early Intervention and will be starting pre-school. Federal mandate requires that the school system provide any child with whatever they need to get an equal education as the rest of the children. In our case, that means an interpreter. She starts school tomorrow - we don't have an interpreter yet!
After our 3-year check-up this morning, I have been on the phone for the past 3 hours, literally! This is a copy of what has been e-mailed to Governor Robert Bentley of Alabama and the entire State Board of Ed as well as the US Dept. of Ed:
"My name is Beth Mitchell. I have called and am now e-mailing you as the President of the Board of Education. My daughter is 3. She has aged out of Early Intervention and will be starting pre-school tomorrow. She needs an interpreter. Because of the new rules you have made, they can not hire someone who is not certified, even though we know her and she interprets for our daughter at church. She is an interpreting student and she takes her test in June. You will, however, allow them to hire an aide. She doe not need help feeding herself, she needs an interpreter! I'd love to hear your reasoning for this. And thank you for making my job as the parent of a child with special needs that much harder!
Please be aware that I will not stop until my daughter has what she needs. I have an appointment next Monday with an Advocate from the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program. It is my great hope that you will be able to help resolve this issue before then.
Thank you for your time and attention to this matter."
If you have to advocate for your child - DO IT! DON'T STOP!! You'll become a much stronger and more confident person in the process.
If it helps you, take my words and use them to write your own letters to get whatever your child needs. And if I can help in any way, contact me! My e-mail is signingwithshea@gmail.com and I will always answer. If I don't know how to help you, I will point you in the direction of someone who can!
