Special Needs

I received this email on Thursday from a friend and colleague, a writer, who actually wrote a book about her "special needs" daughter, Cara. Martha worked at the Philadelphia Inquirer for years before going off on her own. She is an accomplished medical writer.

She asked all of the recipients to share it and post it on their blogs, and I am happy to oblige.



To the Editor:
Like Gov. Sarah Palin, I am the mother of someone with Down syndrome. I deeply resent and reject her statement that parents of children with special needs would have a friend in the White House. Using our children as a political pitch is a cheap, insulting, condescending pander.

Does Gov. Palin really expect us to vote for her and John McCain? Why would we support Republicans who, only a few months ago, fought the expansion of health insurance for children? She must recognize that many children with special needs require above-average healthcare services, yet the GOP wasn't willing to extend coverage to children.

This is not surprising. The Republicans have long appealed to our families, then failed to deliver. Only four months after his inauguration in 1981, the Republican's great hero, Ronald Reagan, attempted to repeal the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975. After all, the Republicans always argue, we must cut spending. The same has been true of their "No Child Left Behind" act – great rhetoric, little money to back it up.

God bless Trig Palin. May he grow up to be a healthy, happy young man. But let's tell his mom to leave him out of the political limelight. And if she truly wants to be a friend to other parents whose children have special needs, and if she's a reformer who even takes on members of her own party, she can start by shining some light on the GOP's lackluster record.
--Martha M. Jablow