Dear Senator, Our 22-year-old son Bennett McCall was born with a rare genetic disorder. He’s nonverbal and uses a wheelchair to get around. He also loves to swim (he can walk in the water), roll along greenways and meet up with friends. He started early intervention at 6 months old and continued through the public school system until he was 19 years old. Ben is a product of the special education program. I am deeply concerned about the Administration’s decision to fire nearly all staff in the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) at the US Department of Education. For 50 years, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) has had strong bipartisan support, and we are counting on Congress to ensure these firings are reversed. If not, this will have a devastating impact on babies, toddlers and all children with disabilities. The staff in OSEP are the people who ensure states follow IDEA, the law that guarantees children with disabilities the right to a fr...
These stories describe our journey with Ben, our oldest son. Ben is a sweet and energetic redhead, born with Rett Syndrome, a rare genetic mutation. My husband, Ryan, and I try to keep up with Ben and his two younger brothers. I intend to shed insight into raising a child with disabilities and pass on the wisdom we’ve earned over the past two decades.