Have you ever lobbied for a cause you believed in?
Today I did something I have never done before. I visited our state house in Boston, MA along with hundreds of other families and co-workers that are served by the Early Intervention (EI) programs in our state. EI provides all types of in-home and community playgroup services to children with developmental delays and disabilities. A developmental delay means that a child may not be achieving skills at the same rate that children their age are, and this could impact their ability to walk, talk, or play as their peers would do. EI employs amazing, dedicated professionals like teachers, social workers, nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech therapists. We work with children with disabilities that might cause developmental delays like Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down’s Syndrome, Extreme Prematurity and various other neurological and genetic disorders. Most families utilize their private health insurance, but in our state, many pay a family participation fee based on income to access these services. The problem is MANY private health insurances do not actually cover the cost of these services at all, and our state is now currently footing the bill for the services that are denied.
In our state of MA, this year our governor Deval Patrick is proposing a 27% cut to our budget, which would desecrate these services. So we rallied together in force to let our legislators see the children this would be impacting and to let our frustrations be heard. EI has always been on the budgetary chopping block, but this year is the worst funding cut proposed.
I have never stepped foot inside our state house before. I have never felt empowered enough to feel that my voice and my opinion would have the ability to change people’s minds in a political forum. But today, I felt heard, and
it felt great. I had the ability to sit down with our local representatives on a one-on-one basis and really talk about the issues at hand. I begrudgingly vote, often annoyed that my little check marks won’t really make a difference. Today, it was so empowering to at least feel like the legislators are listening to our concerns. Thank you to those who supported our cause by re-tweeting my pleas on Twitter and even to those who sent a thought our way as we tried our best to educate our politicians about the importance of supporting these children and their families –so we can give all children the brightest future possible.
More importantly, I was proud of my individual efforts in lobbying for such a great cause. I think it’s important for all of us to show our children what it’s like to take a stand, work together for a greater initiative and fight hard for what we believe in.
If you have any concerns about your child’s development speak to your pediatrician or call your local early intervention program for an evaluation. EI is a federally mandated program in the United States.