RavenSoul

This is one of my oldest and dearest friends Diane. Her daughters story is below. This is one of many times Diane has gone to bat to protect the innocent. She is even going to school to become an attorney to help fight the system that has so many failures in polices and leaves children who desperately need a little extra effort out in the cold. Please read her story below and if you agree please sign the petition. Thanks so much RB! Vonne

The Story of One Little Girl vs. Edmond Oklahoma School Policies.
Thank You for visiting our web page. My name is Dianna and this story is about my little 12 year old daughter named Rachel. The school’s say they care about our children? My daughter attends Edmond Central Middle School, 6th grade. She has Asperger’s (autism), generalized convulsive seizure disorder, and asthma. The school had a recent outbreak of H1N1. 77 students were sent home and 38 were suspected of having the virus. I made her stay home as to not take a risk of her contracting the virus. I was picking up her school work, having her complete it and returning it back to school every week. They informed me that I needed a Dr.s note saying that she had this diagnosis and she was at high risk of developing flu-related complications if she contracted the virus. I did have a Dr. agree and he signed it.

I went to the IEP ( individualized education plan) so we could change it to allow her to stay home and continue doing her work until the crisis passed. They refused to hear anything I had to say about H1N1. They refused to accept the Dr’s letter of recommendation of Rachel’s diagnosis and her high risk of dying if she contracted the virus. I presented evidence from the CDC that says” People at high risk for developing complications to the H1N1 flu are, Neurological disorders such as epilepsy and asthma. They recommended the educators to permit high risk students to stay home while the transmission is high in their community.”I showed them the CDC stated, “Healthy high risk students who are sent home out of precaution could take home curricular packets so that they don’t fall behind.”They gave ideas such as deliver content via conference calls, audio recordings, or teachers could call students and parents to provide lessons, checkins and tips to create a learning environment at home. I showed evidence of the CDC statement saying, “Two thirds of children who died from H1N1 virus had neurodevelopmental disabilities. Two thirds of the children who died had high risk medical conditions. Nearly all of them had an illnesses related to the nervous system, including epilepsy and other seizure disorders.”CDC highlights H1N1 risks saying, “Nearly 70% of these children who died had high risk medical conditions including asthma. I showed them what Sandy Garrett, the State Superintendent of Public Education recommended, “There are people who are more at risk for H1N1 complications and may want to consider staying home until it subsides. If a student opts to stay home because they are at high risk for contracting the virus, the IEP team can determine which services can be provided such as tutoring by phone, or the internet.

I don’t even care about speech, or OT services; I just want her to be safe and have an education. The school said I either send her to school or I pull her out and home school her. They said for her to be allowed home I had to have a Dr. recommend that she needs to stay home. I pleaded with the Dr’s at Children’s Hospital to write me a letter saying they recommend it but they informed me they could not, because they would have to recommend it for everybody. They can only recommend staying home if you have the virus. I pleaded with the school saying if Rachel contracted this disease, she could die! 70% chance of dying! This isn’t the regular flu that we are dealing with; this flu is KILLING our children, especially our special needs children. I requested, Please let me continue picking up her work, I will even grade it too and return it so she doesn’t get behind, just until the number of cases subsides. They said they cannot tolerate the absences that were occurring because of this situation. They refused to work with us about Rachel. They said they cared about her and wanted what was best and being in school was best for her. Yet, they would rather her to stay home as suggested and not have an education than to work with a loving mom who just wants her daughter to survive this epidemic and not be another statistic like some children who we have already had to witness the unbearable pain that their loss has caused their families.

I am a struggling mom who is in college to be an attorney so that I may give these children voices that will be heard, and now I have to find some sort of an education for my daughter. I don’t understand why even our President called this a national emergency and has made a big deal of the H1N1 virus, The CDC makes a big deal of the H1N1 virus, The State Superintendent makes a big deal of the H1N1 virus, and school officials act as if I am a hypochondriac because I make a big deal of the H1N1 virus. Why is it so wrong to want to keep my child well? Why doesn’t the school want to provide my child an education when I am willing to do all the work? Why is Sandy Garrett in charge but she doesn’t have a voice? Is it wrong to want Rachel to have an education but not at the expense of her life? My desire is to change the policy that states we need a Dr. to recommend that a child needs to stay home. We as parents have to provide many documents that prove our children’s disabilities so that they can be placed in Special Education or have IEP’s, Therefore, not everybody can afford to bounce from Dr. to Dr. to get a recommendation of a fact that has already been proven. This is time consuming and costly for parents to have to search for one Dr. that agrees with them. I will be putting up a petition on this sight to try and change this policy. Please help us in our quest for change, Please sign it so that the parent’s voices shall be heard. We should not have to choose between our children’s lives or our children’s education. That is what I have been forced to do.
Thank You for your support.
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