We Aren't Our Children's Voices

Published: Fri, 06/03/22

Disabled children are too often silenced, and their voices need to be heard.

~ Charmaine Thaner

This is the text in the image below.

We are not our children's voices.

We speak up for them when they're young AND we must realize this can't be a lifelong habit.

We can model advocacy skills for them AND most importantly we must nurture their self-advocacy skills.

As parents, we can only identify with our children with disabilities so much. One of the lessons I learned when our son Dylan was young was to listen to and learn from self-advocates.

Ian Watlington, self-advocate, policy wonk, the fighter, thinker, and changer is someone I continue to listen to and learn from.

I encourage you to watch the replay click here, or click on the image below.

Here are some selected highlights from our conversation with Ian.

If your child/adult with disabilities needs legal support one place you can call is your state's Protection and Advocacy (P&A) organization.

They are charged with giving support if a disabled person is experiencing abuse, neglect or discrimination, are experiencing a legal problem because of their disability or are having challenges obtaining disability services.

You need to know each P&A decides on priorities for their services. Some P&As are more involved with education issues than others.

There is no guarantee that when you call the P&A will take your case. To find your state's P&A, go to the National Disability Rights Network and click on your state.

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We want to educate children in a way the world looks and the world is full of all sorts of different people.

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Ian's advice on The Role of Therapies And Interventions in Kids Lives:

have a balance of therapies and time for kids to be kids
find activities they like doing and use that time to help your child stretch and move their muscles
listen to your child if they're telling you through their behavior that the intervention is overstimulating.

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We talked about the importance of parents realizing the ultimate knowledge they have. Ian shared, "You may not have credentials hanging on your wall, but you have the ultimate knowledge, of knowing your child."

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Some people hear Ian speak and will say to him, "You're so high functioning!"

Our children are not High or Low Functioning.

Using the label, "high functioning" dismisses the person's needs or struggles. Using the term “low-functioning” discounts or dismisses a person’s strengths and capabilities.

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Transportation barriers impact the lives of disabled people. We often take our privilege for granted, to hop in our car and go where we want to, whenever we want. When people depend on public transportation that limits their choices of where they can live.

Friends have asked Ian about moving back to Colorado and he tries to have them understand that he would have to give up his mobility and his independence when living in communities that do not accessible public transportation.

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Many parents know their child's rights under IDEA. Once your child is an adult there are many systems to learn how to navigate. Ian's advice is for parents to learn more about the civil rights laws, American With Disabilities Act (ADA) Act of 2008 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

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You may contact Ian through email

[email protected]

I encourage you can watch the replay and learn more from Ian, a powerful disability activist. Click here.

Let's keep on keepin' on. We can create change for the 7 million disabled children and the 45 million disabled people in our country!

Charmaine Thaner

[email protected]

P.S. Our next live show will be Thursday, June 16th!