Partners in Policymaking

Everything in the world we want to do or get done, we must do with and through people. ~ Earl Nightingale ~

Last weekend, I attended the Partners in Policymaking (PIP) seminar at Cornell University.  It was a powerful and empowering experience.  PIP is a leadership training program for persons with disabilities, parents and caretakers.  The basis of the program is to gain a better understanding of policies and issues that directly impact persons with disabilities.  Participants are partners.  We proactively pursue positive changes in systems to influence a different way of thinking about people with disabilities. We learn to be better equipped at working toward creating positive change in policies at all levels.

My motivation for becoming a partner is due to the challenges I've been facing seeking a FAPE for my son.  Over the course of the past two years, I've learned about the alarming rate parents struggle with school districts to have their children's educational needs appropriately met.  It is widespread across the U.S.   I find the struggles parents endure negotiating a flawed system unacceptable.  Although we have laws in place to protect people with disabilities, it is not enough.  By and large, many caregivers lack the ability to positively partner in a collaborative effort with agencies responsible for making important decisions that directly impact quality of life issues.

I'm privileged to be part of the 2011 group.  I look forward to learning more and finding effective ways to influence policies.

"Welcome to the real world", she said to me
Condescendingly
Take a seat
Take your life
Plot it out in black and white
Well I never lived the dreams of the prom kings
And the drama queens
I'd like to think the best of me
Is still hiding
Up my sleeve

They love to tell you
Stay inside the lines
That something's better
On the other side

I wanna run through the halls of my high school
I wanna scream at the
Top of my lungs
I just found out there's no such thing as the real world
just a lie you've got to rise above

So the good boys and girls take the so called right track
Faded white hats
Grabbing credits
Maybe transfers
They read all the books but they can't find the answers
And all of our parents
They're getting older
I wonder if they've wished for anything better
While in their memories
Tiny tragedies

They love to tell you
Stay inside the lines
But something's better
On the other side

I wanna run through the halls of my high school
I wanna scream at the
Top of my lungs
I just found out there's no such thing as the real world
Just a lie you got to rise above

I am invincible

As long as I'm alive

I wanna run through the halls of my high school
I wanna scream at the
Top of my lungs
I just found out there's no such thing as the real world
Just a lie you've got to rise above

I just can't wait til my 10 year reunion
I'm gonna bust down the double doors
And when I stand on these tables before you
You will know what all this time was for

He that does good to another does good also to himself. ~ Lucius Seneca ~