Meeting with a legislator

A few weeks ago, I wrote to our United States Congresswoman, Cathy Kastor, who represents the Tampa, St. Petersburg, Fl area. I have met with other legislators through the years but, this was the first time with a national representative. I saw,in her bio, that she was very interested in diversity issues. I thought this might be a way for her office to meet with me, after all, a disability is a diversity, isn't it? So I contacted her office through e-mail. About a week or so after my e-mail, I received a call from The Congresswoman's Outreach Coordinator in the Tampa office. We set an appointment for this past Monday, which was only 3 days away from the phone call!

The time I needed to think about and organize what I would say came over a particularly busy weekend. On Sunday afternoon, I began to panic just a bit. I felt totally unprepared for what I hoped would be an important positive meeting. I "locked" myself in front of the computer and tried to write down the issues I wanted to speak about. Would you believe, WRITER'S BLOCK! I guess more than that I just couldn't chose the topics that were most important. Having had experiences with legislators before, I knew that my time was limited, 15 maybe 20 minutes at most. What are the most important issues to discuss?

I finally came up with a plan. I prioritized my presentation by what I saw around me including some of the issues from my own experiences and others I have read about on Facebook. Like those on Mommies of Miracles, Cerebral Palsy Awareness, AutismTalk and many other pages and sites. I finally came up with my topics: ADA accessibility, equipment needs, best educational possibilities, continued Health and Wellness after aging out of school (over 21). I began to work finding statistics, related stories and other information. I thought that would round out the 15 or so minutes I would be there.

On Monday, I arrived to a very friendly welcome where coffee was offered and was ushered into a very impressive and comfortable office with a small table and leather chairs. It was much more intimate and less intimidating than a big conference table. After a few minutes a young business looking woman came in to the room. She had a friendly smile and an outstretched hand and she introduced herself as a Staff Assistant. She apologized for the fact that the gentleman I was originally supposed to meet had to pick up the Congresswoman from an event. We began to discuss my list and I could see that 15 or 20 minutes was not happening. She was just listening to me, discussing whatever I brought up and writing down all the questions I had, as well as the thoughts and information I was able to give her. Shortly we were joined by the person who had originally scheduled the meeting. Together, we spoke for almost 2 hours! It was a good exchange of information I found out about some places I could contact that were doing some pilot work on the issues. They asked questions and offered their thoughts. I really felt comfortable that they were listening! They explained the procedure as "What was gong to happen next". The two of them and some other office assistants, specializing in the issues I brought up, would have a meeting and put together a report that would then be sent to me for approval and then given to the Congresswoman. I was told that we would meet again with the effort being placed on how to make an impact in some of the areas we had discussed.

I did walk out with a good feeling. Visiting legislators is not always as easy as this was, but I am hopeful that this will help to bring to light issues that face the needs of our children and families.

Meeting with those that have the ability to write legislation and offer relief for those in need is an important part of not only advocating for your child but for others as well. Please take the time to find out who your state and federal officials are and write to them and express your needs and those of others you know in the community. There are over 54 million Americans who are disabled. 1 in 4 who will be disabled at sometime in their life. These numbers do not include family members and caregivers who together can be a driving force for change, growth and inclusion. We are an incredible collection of people who can have a great but fair influence by expressing our needs and desires to those elected officials who can understand the reasons to want to help. Let them know you are out there and a show of their concern and support will make a difference in who we rally behind.

This was not a place for pictures, so I am posting an image of my daughter Laura-Lee who is Ms. Wheelchair Florida USA which is a service title helping her to advocate in many different ways, and the governor of Florida, Rick Scott at a news conference in Orlando, Fl.