Listening Goes Both Ways

We've already heard a lot of name calling in the months leading to the upcoming elections.

Our governor has told us that to help balance the budget, we as middle class citizens will need to pay more in taxes.

The past two governors talked about having to cut costs by increasing our hardships --  many of us pay for our childrens' supplement for services on a reduced family budget, because funding has been slashed for the Regional Centers. Our schools are reeling from recent budget cuts and broken promises to replace monies already robbed from their budgets.

Our Congress seems more intent on religious and political vendettas rather than listening to their constituents, building consensus with We the People, and taking steps to preserve our quality of life now and in the future.

The presidential candidates don't seem to have those on the spectrum on their radar. This is not good, because in 10 years, the first waves of 1 in 88 children diagnosed on the spectrum will be adults. What will their lives be like? Where will they live? What jobs can they hold? What is our national plan to integrate them in society?

It's not Chick-A-Fil; it's about children.
Our children. Our future.
In a decade, 1 in 88 adults will be on the Autism Spectrum; will we be ready?

It's time for our politicians to listen to us, and those on the spectrum.

Please register to see how you can get involved and make your voice heard.

My confirmation of registry email.

This is how we start.

Parental Phone Activist

Okay, here goes -- I am blogging while making calls to Jerry Brown, Governor of California, to ask that he pass SB 946.

I am going to call several times and blog about the process. In part because I am fairly phoneophobic at this point and partly because I procrastinate well heading into the unknown (it's like whistling in the dark for me):

11:01 am. Busy signal. Okay, off to find the cool Dr Seuss-like illustration from Autism Votes that I saw on FB. Back soon ...

11:03 am. Screenshot captured. Dialing. Busy signal. Okay, now to get that picture into this post.

From the Autism Votes FaceBook page

11:05 am. Here goes something ... aaaaaand more busy. Hey, company! Keep on phonin'!

11:06 am: What the hey? Okay, busy! Get some more staffers in there. how about an anchor tag while I wait, so provide more bill info?

11:11 am - busy! Test the anchor tags ...

11:18 am -- stoopid code. Busy.

11:21, :22, :23 and :24 am: ditto. Where is the love? Will work on grocery list and keep calling. If I haven't got through by the end of my list, I take a break from calling.

11:25, :26 ... busy.

11:27 am -- hey, that's ringing! Pressing 1 for English ... Pressing 6 to speak with a staff member.  Recording that my call is being transferred. Holding. Listening to a recording that a staffer will speak with me shortly. repeat 5 times.

11:30 am -- speaking to a live staffer! very polite. I ask that the governor sign sb 946. As a parent of a child on the spectrum, it will help get him the services he needs now so that he won't need more later. I am assured that this message will be passed on to the governor.

I ask if there is anything further I can do to let the governor know how important this bill is to our families and many others like us. He suggests sending a fax to the governor's office or sending an email through the governor's website, being sure to select sb 946 from the drop-down menu. I thank him and we wish each other a nice day.

11:31 am -- hang up.

11:32 am - find governor's website and start email. I select that I need help and find sb 946 alllll the way at the bottom of the drop-down menu for PLEASE CHOOSE YOUR SUBJECT:

11:57 am -- email sent.

If you're reading this -- please consider calling and making your voice heard.

Autism Families: Becoming Represented

Hooray for the members of Congress and Senate for passing the Combating Autism Reauthorization Act (CARA) of 2011 by unanimous consent. Waiting to hear that President Obama has signed it into law. We need more research so we can find better treatments for our loved ones and future generations of children and people on the Autism Spectrum.

More support for research might also give us answers for how we might be able to prevent Autism from occurring among our children in such devastating numbers (currently 1 in 110 children; 1 in 70 boys).

As a long-term resident of California, I have been urging Governess Brown to sign SB 946. Thank you, California Senate President Darrell Steinberg for making this a serious priority.

We Voted!

This is what our kids get to do while Mom votes:

Our local polling place is at the K-1 school, where James' sister and now James go. I like the kids to see people going to vote, and thankfully it's also close to our house.

This time there were no initiatives that directly target autism-related issues, but it's always good to be involved.

Meanwhile, a little Halloween political candy: