And good evening.

Thank you for joining
Disability and Progress where we bring you

insights into ideas about and discussions
on disability topics.

My name is Sam.

I'm the host of the show
thanks so much for tuning in.

Charlene Doll my research team.

Hello, Charlene.

I'm out here. In here. You're here.

Good evening, everyone.

We have several people in the studio

and out of the studio as well.

This week we are speaking to Sherie
Wallace with from the Wallace Group

who will be talking about several things,
one of them

being their class number 39.

Wow. Of the Partners in Policymaking.

And joining her will be three of the class

participants
that have worked hard in this.

I'm understanding are Arbdella Hudson.

Good evening Arbdella.

Good evening, Sam.

Thanks for having me.

You are so welcome.

And Cassie Kallis.

Yep. You got it. Hi, Sam. Hello.

And then Nicole Laudont Is that right?

OK Hi.

Nice to see you. Hi.

Thank you guys so much for coming.

I really appreciate that.

And I appreciate you guys being here.

Sherie are you here?

I am here.

I can hear you.

Can you hear me?
We certainly can. So great.

Thank you so much for

being the outside participant.

Yes, right.

I want to go round first by

let's see.

Sherie, why don't you just give
a little description

of what Partners and Policymaking is,

and since people who have just tuned in
May not have heard you before.

OK, be glad to.

It is a

training program that individuals, 35

individuals are in this program
from September to May.

They spend Fridays and Saturdays
once a month in this program

skipping December, because the December
always has so many other things going.

But these are individuals
with disabilities as adults

or these are parents
raising children with disabilities

and the dynamic is so powerful
in each class

as they are studying different things,
they hear about the history

of how people with disabilities
have been treated.

Then they talk about school
and what are their responsibilities as

parents with

educators and getting a good education
for their children.

And then they talk about the county
and what does the county do

to be part of helping families
with disabilities basically

the the county supplies the money,

but also

then they talk about housing
and they talk about jobs.

And they talk about
how do you connect with your legislator?

In March, we go to the Capitol and have

although in the past couple of years,
it's been very difficult,

the Capitol's been closed
or things are shut down.

But that is a very powerful experience
there.

Then they, in April, they're hearing about

the Congressional decision

making, decisions that are made on
a congressional level in Washington, D.C.

And then this month in May,
it's a very last class.

It's the graduation.

But they will learn about opportunities
that they can be leaders

in their own community because the goal is
that they become better advocates

for themselves
and others with disabilities.

And this is a
these are three people from this class

that were just outstanding
in how they took the ball and ran with it.

And they are all you'll hear,
they are all doing

very well to advocate for disabilities
and to bring people's attention to the

we want individuals to have

as many opportunities as any citizen.

So their stories will be fascinating.

Yeah. And I think yeah, I don't know.

I mean, we've had you on before.

I don't know if every state
I can't remember if every state has

something like this.

But at one point, every state
had a Partners in Policymaking program.

This is
where it started and it spread to Denmark.

And Ireland and Australia.

And it just really caught hold
because of the value of speaking up

and the training teaches you to speak up

in many different avenues for yourself

if you have disabilities
or for your children.

But at one, at one point,
every state had a program.

That's not the case now.

It ends up being a very expensive program
because

you bring in experts.

And so these people in the studio
have heard experts from around the country

who really have stood up and done
very strong advocates in their lives.

And, you know, I can't imagine that,
especially now.

It just feels so much like it's each state
really needs a program like this.

So, yes, I do want to start out

by having each person
introduce themselves.

Please.

If you would go around
and introduce yourself where you live

and the connection
you have to the to disability.

So our Arbdella do you want to start?

Yes. Thanks. Sam.

My name is Arbdella Hudson.

I live in St Paul
and I'm a person with disabilities

who advocates for myself and others.

I've been diagnosed with multiple head
injuries,

formerly known as Traumatic Brain Injury,
but today they identified as B.I.

And I'm glad to be here. Huh?

I, I didn't know they changed that.

So good to know. Yes.

I'm Nicole Laudont

and I live in Maple Grove,
and I am the single mom of a four year

old with autism
and I'm a very big advocate

for school inclusion.

I'm Cassie Kallis.

I live in Plymouth with my husband,
and we have three children

with a condition
called Fragile X Syndrome.

So I need to just take a step
a minute sideways here.

Nicole, I used to live in Maple Grove.

Oh, really? Did you hear about the bear?

I'm always hearing about the bears
on the neighborhood,

about the bird feeders.

I was rooting for the.

Bears of the bears.

You know, everything's got to eat there.

And don't leave your bird food out.

Don't leave you.

Next to the bears. Don't

So anyway, well, OK, I sorry, I digress.

But anyway, thank you for that.

Well,

I'm sure that this is has taught
you guys a lot of different things.

So can we talk about
first of all, go around and I don't care

what order you go and

so you guys can decide amongst yourselves,
but talk about why you decided

to sign up for Partners in Policymaking
and you know why that program.

Well, so Nicole and I decided to sign up

because I had an awful IEP

meeting with my son's schools.

Well, several school districts, actually.

And I was incredibly frustrated
with the lack of creativity

and the lack of inclusion opportunities
that they were giving him.

And I was just so incredibly

frustrated at 4:00 in the morning,
at my computer

Googling and thinking to myself,
this can't be how the system is.

And it brought me Google
brought me to Partners in Policymaking.

And it has absolutely been life changing,
not only for myself, but for my son, too.

Who next

I'll go.

OK, yeah. This is. Cassie,

so mine is kind of a long journey.

I lived on the East Coast
with my family for many years

and we moved to Minnesota in 2019

and previously we had never had any issues
with the school,

my boys had pretty much everything
I could ask for them and more.

And when we moved to Minnesota,
we encountered a very different situation

and I found myself really struggling

to advocate for my sons.

I just felt like
I didn't have the knowledge that I needed.

And so I found Pacer
probably from Googling,

and I did a bunch of webinars
through Pacer,

and I attended a early childhood family
learning summit,

and that was super educational for me,
just learning about IEPs

and different ways to advocate.

And after participating in that

the leader sent out an email

advertising Partners in Policymaking,
and I was super thrilled

because I was just looking
for more opportunities

to learn more
so that I could better advocate.

So I think I got the email and applied
like in the same minute.

So I had to wait many months to find out
if I got in because I applied right away

but yeah, that that was my story. OK.

I'm Arbdella Hudson
and I've been diagnosed and I've incurred

multiple head injuries starting at birth

before they had a name for it

and I came in contact and my interests

in policymaking through a disability
writing program

that I was a part of
and I was encouraged to go further.

And I had a personal interest myself
because I'm a recipient

of a waiver program currently.

They're making tremendous
adjustments to that program now.

And I was having trouble with services

and didn't know where to go, what to do.

And when I heard about policy

and what I could learn there
and the opportunities, I jumped on it

and I took the advice of friends, family
and colleagues.

Excellent, thank you.

So, Nicole, yes,

I can relate to some of this

frustration in school stuff
because one of my sons is dyslexic

and has a processing disability, although,

you know,
shouldn't have been a problem, really.

But they made it a problem.

They're good. at that.

Can you tell me what you know, what things
did you feel were not being met?

So my son really struggles

with social skills
and emotional regulation.

He does not have a cognitive or language
delay

and really the only choices
that the school was providing me

was an exclusionary classroom for him
just because he was diagnosed

with autism and
that was not an appropriate fit for him.

I felt like I felt like
he could be successful in the classroom

along with a peer support

or his behavioral therapist support,
which is what I was asking for.

And the answer was just,

no, we don't do that.

And despite
continuing to advocate for him,

the answer was just no, that they don't
they don't do that.

And that was my only choice was to put him
into an exclusionary classroom.

So I eventually just said no,
and I declined an IEP for him.

And just enrolled him
as a mainstream student in preschool.

And he has been super successful.

He needed maybe eight weeks of support

from a para,
and then now he's just on his own

and completely in a

mainstream classroom
being successful, a typical four year old.

And it's interesting,
you said eight weeks of a para support,

but that's like if you think about it,
that's like nothing in the lifetime

of schooling that the kids will have.

And sometimes it does amaze me
with what it is true.

There's a little bit of work,
you know, on the short end,

but in the long run it will work out
much better if they would just take the,

you know, take the little bit of work
that it would take

so let's see

which one has children with Fragile X.

That would be me. Cassie? Cassie,

can you tell me what Fragile
X syndrome is?

Yeah, it's an intellectual disability.

It is.

It has a wide spectrum.

It's very similar to autism in that way.

It is the only known
genetic cause of autism, actually,

although it doesn't always cause autism.

But it looks very similar.

There's a lot of
sensory processing struggles.

Obviously, cognitive delays

there's a lot of behaviors,
communication problems.

So it's a it's a wide spectrum.

Some people, you know,
you maybe wouldn't know right away.

And then there's some people that are
you know, more severely affected and,

you know, can't communicate.

Both of my sons
struggle with communication.

And you have two or three.

I have two sons and a daughter
and all three of them have Fragile X.

And what are their ages?

My oldest is about to turn 11 and

I have an eight year old
and then my daughter just turned five.

So this is a genetic.

Yes, it is. Yes, I'm a carrier.

So in my case,
I passed on the Fragile X and it

and it fully mutated is what it's called
in all three of my children.

Although my daughter is developing
typically so far

because it's Fragile X,
because it's on the X chromosome. Yes.

So my daughter has a healthy X,

you know, given by my husband
that compensates for her affected X,

whereas my boys obviously don't
so they are more severely affected.

When you say

more severely, could you give an example?

Sure.

So, I mean,
I don't like to talk about high

or low functioning or scores or levels.

But just to kind of illustrate,

my boys are more similar to toddlers
in a lot of ways

when it comes to safety awareness
and some of their cognitive abilities.

My oldest son struggles a lot with sensory
processing

in particular auditory processing.

He wears noise canceling headphones.

He struggles in public places

very, very sensitive to sounds and crowds.

And my middle son is much more outgoing
and doesn't struggle as much.

He's more sensory seeking.

So he loves like rough and tumble play
and basketball

and people and is very social,
but they both still have that, those

cognitive delays and just sensory issues
in different areas.

What aspects of the program from the,
you know,

if it's the presentations,
the interactions

and meetings with legislatures or

what were the most interesting

surprising
and caused you to think differently

about yourself and
others so who wants to start?

I'll start OK

the interacting

with the presenters
and being in this program

not only did the presenters present

they also allowed for use

of what was taught during the presentation
helping

to clearly understand
how to use the skills and training

that was presented
in the Partners program.

Which

help encourage and build

leadership and advocacy skills

both for the parents, caregivers,

the individual with disabilities,
and a lot of empowerment

come from that in self-confidence

as well in the disability arena.

As far as where to get information,
how to get information

and training in many other aspects

of disability on the information
and what's really out there.

Did this did a lot of the stuff
you learned surprise you

about what your rights were
and things like that?

Yes, a lot surprised me
because I was unaware,

because the people that are in authority
and that's responsible

for making sure that we get
that type of information caregivers

and people that are in the field
providing delivery of services.

It's just not an open book

and therefore it hinders

a certain

part that could be more beneficial
to the individual,

whether you helping them
or if it's yourself like myself.

Arbdella.

I'm curious because I,

and I'm, I too am not immune

when I sometimes
get really frustrated, but

there's, it's easy to get very angry
when you're dealing

with some of the people
and you're trying to advocate is there

what keeps you calm
when you're advocating for yourself?

Training, of course, and having knowledge

and self awareness,

awareness of the individual and knowledge.

And a lot of that's obtained
through various training programs

and advocacy itself and going through

the Partner's program has really enriched

and informed me
and being able to go to the Capitol

and know my representation,

their names, and being able to be
a part of the policy process

and perhaps even implement deals
and meet those people.

Great. Thank you.

Well,
Cassie or Nicole, which one wants to go?

I can go, Nicole.

It's so hard to pick
just one thing that was like

the most influential
because it all is just so important.

You can actually go down the list

and just tell me, like, how
these different things were influential.

Yeah.

So first and foremost, I think the thing
that made the biggest difference for me

or that I liked was just the community
aspect of the class itself,

the other participants,
the relationships that you build with them

and not feeling so alone.

I think that's one of the big things that
as a parent of a kid with a disability,

you're out there advocating
and you just feel like you're up

against a brick wall all the time
and you hear the word "No" a lot.

And it's so nice to go into a ballroom
full of people who understand

what that feels like
and who also have experiences

that they can lend their hand to
and give you advice.

And I also, as I say, it's like my church
or like my AA that I go to every month.

It's like it's just a great space to go
and to be understood.

So that's my ultimate
favorite part about it.

The speakers are wonderful.

I have learned how to communicate

more effectively
with people that disagree with my opinion

rather than
just continuing to shove it in their face,

finding a way to work with people

so you're successful
and everybody gets what they want

and I think the connections too.

So every class we get emails

and phone numbers
of these really important people and

we send them emails
and they email us back and it's,

you know, we get to talk to people
from the Department of Education

and people who are experts in public
speaking.

And it's just great to be able to have

all those resources right
at your fingertips.

And also being very comfortable
talking with a microphone.

If you had asked me to do this a year ago,
I would have said absolutely no.

So, I'll ask you the same thing.

What keeps you calm in times of extreme
frustration?

Wine would be my answer.

To that. Excellent. I can relate to that.

Yeah.

And just focusing on

why I'm there and what I'm there for

and for my son and making sure I'm doing
what's best for him.

Advocating.

And so he is in the least
restrictive environment

possible Cassie.

Yeah.

I echo a lot of what Nicole said.

I think the community
is the first thing that stuck out to me

just from the very first day,
the very first session.

I felt super comfortable with everybody.

You know, social situations
can be kind of awkward sometimes

when you have children with disabilities
and nobody else does.

And they're talking about things

that you don't relate to
or that you can't contribute to.

So I think just that warmth right away

and making those connections
and making friends for life

is really important
because we all really need that support

network as we're advocating for ourselves
or for our children.

And then

another favorite is just
the presenters were amazing

and very inspiring.

And for me personally, I came in to this

very burnt out with advocating
and I am still burnt out.

It's like a full time job,

but I am inspired and I'm educated

much more than I was before.

And I think for me, there's

only so many times that I can get
an evaluation or a piece of paper

that describes my children
as severely affected or severe

or severely discrepant or,

see the age and number of months
that they are

cognitively and it can wear you down.

And so one of my favorite presenters,
I remember him saying that

he doesn't call people with disabilities,
people with disabilities.

He calls them people with possibilities

And that was Patrick Schwartz,
I hope I said his last name, right?

Yeah, but and that that sticks with me.

I remind myself of that all the time.

And he showed,

pictures and slides and gave data

on all the children and adults
he's worked with

and how successful they've been and how
they've been fully included in school.

And these would be people,

children like mine,
that are quote unquote, severely affected.

And yet they are still able to do so much

more and able to be included.

Another speaker on customized

employment was super inspiring for me
because he said there isn't one person

that he's worked with that
he couldn't find a job for.

And it's it just,
I have high hopes for my kids.

I see their potential.

But when you're constantly sitting around
tables with people that are telling you

otherwise, it takes its toll.

So I've been completely inspired.

I see more potential in my children.

I see more possibilities for them.

And I know what the options are now.

Now I know what I can advocate
for in school and how to do it.

I know what community options
there are waivers from the county.

I know that they can get a job.

I know that for sure now.

And coming into that,
I would have thought,

I don't know
if my kids can work or live alone.

And now I'm like, Yeah,
we're going to do it.

I know the way.

And so super

inspiring, super hopeful
and just so informative.

There we get slides after every session

that we can come back to
and that our resources forever now.

So it's not just educational
while you're in the conference,

but it's for your lifetime.

So yeah,
I mean, I could go on, but I won't.

A bookshelf
of resources that they've given us.

But where do you
where do you dig down deep

when you have sources of frustration
and time that you have three kids? Yes.

Good grief.

And it's one thing to have three kids
and one with a disability.

But if you have, you know, all three kids
with different things going on,

it's got to be a lot. So what do you do?

Yeah, it is that is something
I am still working on and figuring out.

I don't have it all figured out yet.

I have little mottos.

My favorite one that's gotten me through
the last couple of years is

"what stands in the way becomes the way"

that's my favorite quote.

And I continually tell myself that.

And when there's an obstacle
or someone tells me

no at school or I feel frustrated,
I just remind myself and, OK,

what are we going to make out of this?

How am I going to make this better
for my kids

and their classmates with disabilities?

And what change am I going
to make out of this and breathing?

I've been working on breathing lately.

Yeah, yeah.

And it can be so frustrating.

And I imagine, you know,

being, you know, I teach technology
and things to people with disabilities

and I can tell you that you're taught
you know, you're raised in this certain

even if you have a disability,
certain realm of things and you're taught

if the person is going to be
successful or not and there's this line

and there's this measurement
and that and then

there's a way to teach.

But how many people teach outside
the box is what I like to call it.

How many people are willing to go
and do something different?

And especially in your situation of the

of a public school situation,
which I do think that, you know,

most kids, I think, should be integrated
into classrooms.

There can be exceptions
where it can be hard but I really feel

like a lot of kids that even weren't

and in in the same classroom
as other kids 20 years ago, even

more of

them are being put in the same classroom
and more of them should be. Yes

I think I give the teachers credit
because I

teach generally one person

at a time
sometimes they have more than one but

I will tell you that I can't imagine
having 24, 27 whatever kids

and teaching outside the box
for just one or a couple or

you know
I think that would be very difficult. I

I think that's what you have your parents
for and how many teachers utilize that.

So I'm

glad to see that you're getting so much I,
I wonder if each of you would go around

and tell me one really positive story
that you have

done or seen happen in the way
you've been advocating after this.

You know,
as you've moved through this program.

I'll start.

OK, you are so brave Arbdella,
you just go for it, don't you?

Sam, I was listening to you

when you spoke on you teach people

with disabilities technology,

and that's a real touchy

piece of I,
I had a child with disabilities.

This was before Pacer and many years ago.

But today in policy for me, I'm an adult

with developmental disabilities and

from Partners I've been able to network.

There's been a story that

the writing

classes that I took,

the style of teaching and their approach

to the individual from the neuro

diverse thinking perspective,

which enabled me to grow

and to understand my disability,

not my disability, but my challenge better

and to live

a life of choice and in Partners I

I learned what inclusion really
means and what it is and

having a network as such.

There's multiple persons
with disabilities, not just parents,

but many other areas

that I've been able to make choices

on where I want to direct

my advocacy or to advocate.

And I've become a much better advocate and

attitude,

where to find information

and what's really out there,
what's available.

And another thing about the presenters

we can always call or go

back, set up a meeting.

They opened themselves up.

It was more than just a class,
they're always open.

But things are different
for an adult with disabilities

and for me and particularly people

sometimes misunderstand me.

People have little knowledge
because it's a disability

that you can't identify
or you don't see. Exactly.

And if you're not dedicated

to the individual, all you will know.

And a lot of times, you know,
there's feelings of rejection and

a number
of different things that comes with brain

injury, that comes with an adult
with disabilities.

Thank you.

Nicole, actually, I'll pick on you next.

Why don't you tell me something
that has that

you feel like
you've done in a positive role

going through this class, something you've
noticed that you were able to achieve?

Yeah.

So my son, luckily,
I was able to advocate for him

to be included in a mainstream classroom.

And he is successful there.

And he's going to be going
to a mainstream classroom next year too,

just as a typical student.

But something that I always think about in
this class has made me

consider is thinking about advocating
on a much larger scale,

that it's not just about my son,

it's about all the other kids with that
this is happening to.

They're being put in exclusionary
classrooms when they shouldn't be.

And so I actually just recently ran for

and got elected to a school board
in Saint Paul.

And so I really hope to use my knowledge
and especially of inclusion

and help that school start
thinking about those things differently.

And the way that they're educating
their students.

Great. Cassie.

Yeah.

So on a more personal level, I think

my oldest son, who struggles a little bit

more and is in a more restrictive
setting in school,

I was able to advocate successfully
for a lot more inclusion for him

than he's ever had
well that he's ever had in Minnesota.

And he's been so successful and happy

in those settings
with his general education peers.

And I think it's had a positive effect
on the culture

and environment in his school.

I think the school that he's
in, in particular, really struggles

with inclusion
and with creating an environment

that's supportive of people
with disabilities.

So I think that that's one really
positive thing that's come out of this.

I got some good tools that I used to get
him more inclusion that he deserves.

He still deserves more,
but I'll take it for now.

And it's just been baby steps.

Yes, exactly. Yeah, I'm working on it.

And I think just the confidence
I've gained.

I spoke at our school board
meeting on Monday

just a few days ago, and I am

hopeful for the outcome
and I think I'll continue to be able

to have the confidence
to do more things like that, to advocate

for the student and his program as a whole
and not just my son.

Great.

So why don't you each go around
and tell me

why would you recommend this program
to others?

And who do you think would benefit
most from this type of program?

Who wants to start?

I would say anybody who has a child

with a disability and who feels alone.

That was one of the very big things
that brought me to this class

is that it's very isolating
to have a child with a disability and

this class

just really provides
that community for you.

I can't say it enough.

I will never forget the first class

that we had,
and they had previous participants

and they said, by the end of this class,
you're going to have friends for life.

And I think all of us were just like,
yeah, yeah, yeah

Yeah.

And here we sit at the end of the class
and it's so true

that we all are going to be friends
and resources for each other

and our kids are going to play together
and all these things

because of Partners in Policymaking.

And that is seriously priceless.

For me.

Yeah,

I don't know who I wouldn't
recommend it for.

Any parent of a child with a disability
or any self-advocate, There's

so much value in the course.

I've already told anybody
I know that has kids with disabilities,

I've told them about this opportunity
and this is the handbook.

Like when you have a child
with a disability

or you're a self-advocate,
I'm speaking from a parent perspective,

so you don't get a handbook.

When my son was diagnosed
with Fragile X Syndrome,

I had to go on Google
like I had never heard of it.

So I had to educate myself about his
disability when he was in school.

I had to learn like, what is an IEP?

Nobody pulls you aside and says, you're
going to do this early intervention.

Now you do an IEP and this is the process
and this is how it works

and this is what your rights are
and this is what your child's rights are.

There's no handbook.

You're just you're thrown into it.

And then on top of that,
you have the chaos of your daily life

and raising your children.

And so it's hard to even find the time
to educate yourself.

And so this goes from, as Sherie said
it's school,

it's employment, it's county services,
it's housing.

Yeah. It goes to the legislative level.

So I've made connections
with my senator and representative, and

it's the guidebook for the whole journey.

So it's what every parent needs,

I think, because it is really hard
to access that information.

I did not know that there were waivers
my kids could be on.

I was fighting for things
that I kind of thought were a good idea.

But like, this has given me
the affirmation that actually, yes,

this is your kids, right.

And this is why it's their right
and this is how you get it.

So, like I said, to me, it's
just the ultimate handbook for disability.

So I've already recommended it
to a lot of people.

And I hope anyone that's listening will
check it out, because it is so worthwhile.

And Arbdella, why would you recommend
this program to somebody?

I would recommend Partners in Policymaking

to anyone who has a family member

or anyone
that is directly delivering services

and to individuals with disabilities
themselves in particular and

especially those,

that are not immediately identifiable,

which falls in the range of developmental

differently
thinking, differently processing

because the network that's available

for the individuals

that are there
that have disabilities themselves

and work with others with disabilities

that would enable them to understand
and know the resources

that's out there available

and how to use those resources.

And this program has enriched

my life has improved my quality
of wellbeing

as well as opened doors
and allowed me to be able

to be involved with other organizations,
with adults

with disabilities
and advocate for them as well.

Thank you.

OK, who am I going to bust for
not silencing their phone?

No, it's no.

I'm just kidding.

Sort of.

You know.

The thing is I thought I. did, I swear
I thought I did it.

What's so funny is
I had somebody who who came on this show

and he ran a cable TV program.

He should have known better.

And he didn't silence his phone.

So it's all good.

I'm turning it off now, everybody.

We've all been there and done it.
I just thought I would just,

you know, I'm the teacher.

Someone's got to do it right.

Can we talk a minute

about the day at the Legislature,

the Capitol,

does anybody want to talk about
what that was like for them?

And was it different
than what you expected and if so, how?

Yeah, I, I was not expecting to be so well
received.

I think
you hear a lot about politicians and

things don't get done.

And, I just
I didn't have a whole lot of confidence

when I reached out to my to my people,
but I got responses immediately.

I got appointments, and my senator
and representative in particular

took a lot of time with me
and really cared about what I was saying.

And, like I said,
have continued to follow up with me.

So I was very surprised about that.

And I didn't think
about it the way it was presented to us.

That you
you can be a resource for these people.

Like they don't know about these issues
necessarily and they don't know about

the ways that disabilities are affecting
families, the way that education is

not being

run properly
when it comes to special education.

And so they don't have you know,
they can't know about every issue.

And I never thought about, well,
hey, like,

you could just make a connection
with this person.

And then they can call on you
when an issue comes up.

I just never thought about it
on a more personal level like that.

And so that was something I learned
and I did make good connections.

And I think, you know,
you look at them as politicians sometimes,

but they are people and a lot of times
they you know, sometimes.

Yeah.

Yeah. Right, right.

But my experience was positive
and I think,

you know,
people can get burnt out over time.

But I think the people that I met with,
they care.

And that's a lot of times why you get
into a job like that is because you care.

So I was really encouraged and surprised.

Arbdella What was it like for
you being at the Capitol?

Did it surprise you? And if so, why?

Sam Having a brain injury.

I met with the wrong legislator.

Nevertheless, this person

listened, I felt heard

the issues were addressed

and did not even advise me that

it wasn't the legislator

of my

area.

Oh, wow. In Saint Paul.

And I learned from that, that

I am and people are being heard.

There are people there that do care.

There are policies and legislation

and people working with those things

to try to make a difference
and understand what it is

that they can do to change things

or meet the needs of disabilities
as a whole.

They are there.

Nicole, it sounds almost like
yours is a little tougher.

Me my experience.

Yeah.

So, unfortunately,
this is going to be my plug for

we need to pay people more
that take care of kids with disabilities.

So my PCA had quit,
so I did not have childcare that day,

so I was unable to attend that day.

You should have brought them.

I suppose I would have been like,
you take care of them for a few hours.

See how it goes.

Out them and turn them loose in the office
and say, Okay, this is a day in my life.

Yeah, yeah.

But yeah,
so that that must have been hard. But,

you know,
I'm not sure what Sherie thinks of this,

but I do encourage
you guys to bring your kids to things like

if not like short meetings, knowing

that you may not get

a ton out of it.

But I think the, these people

don't always see
all these different disabilities.

And I really think that's beneficial
for them.

They don't see
what the parent goes through.

They hear your stories.

But it's not
the same as is watching Sherie,

I'm curious to your comments on there
what your thoughts are on that.

I really like the idea.

Not only does it give your child
a sense of this is part of the world

or people have meetings
and they're all adults

and you're going to this place
or this place

and it just helps to introducing them
to the rest of the world.

Right you also are a big part of Partners

is in the word Partners in Policymaking

that we all go through life

and some people are are easily
our partners.

They get it right away.

They really want to help
you and then other people are

they sort of

ignore you and
they don't really want to hear your story,

but you still want to eventually

treat them as if they are going to be
your partner someday.

And the whole thing about

Partners, you learn the proper

protocol to interacting with legislators.

You use the right words also.

You send thank you notes.

And that's all part of

really introducing yourself
to their world.

Certainly
if you have your son or daughter with you,

you are giving them a chance to interact
and see.

That's also part of your world.

And it's I think it's respectful of them
and respectful

of your situation that they are part
of what you're talking about.

And clearly you can make it
so it's an easy interaction

but still make it possible
for them to get a taste of

getting to know your son or daughter.

One thing just in talking about that

whole theme of Partners in Policymaking
just the story of one

individual (picking on Maple
Grove again) her son was in

kindergarten and she came into Partners

just about to beat up
that kindergarten teacher.

You don't understand, blah, blah, blah.

You're not on my side.

But the theme of Partners
comes through over and over again.

She finally realized, you know,

that kindergarten teacher is not my enemy.

They are really after the same thing. And

ended up.

She said, "I'm
the one that has to change." And I

and she ended up by January

really beginning to have a

good relationship with that teacher.

And it ended up, of course,
much more beneficial for the student.

And that's just part of what Partners
talks about.

Certainly you go to legislators or

you go to the IEP meeting,
which you as a parent are in charge of.

That's what
a lot of parents don't realize.

Right?

It's their meeting
and they are in charge of.

But you also want to
with all those naysayers whether it's

the school board or the county board
or that teachers in the IEP meeting,

you want to treat them that they will
eventually become a good partner with you

because you will remind them of the whole

the bigger issue
and what that's all about.

So I think bringing your child
to the meeting,

you could definitely bring things
that will keep them busy

so you can have the meeting or maybe
you make sure it's just a short meeting,

but that your son or daughter

is part of your world
and what you're talking about

and they can see how you respect
your son or daughter.

And that's part of them getting a sense of
this is seeing the potential.

Another last thing
just to say real briefly, one woman said,

I think she said this in the May,
the very last class,

"I thank Partners
because when I first started

I was regretting

that my son was ever part of my life."
and she said, I'm sorry to say that

to all of you, but I now feel "hope"

that is what I'm getting from this class.

I have hope for their future.

I have hope for the world
that's going to be for them.

And that totally changes a parent's
attitude.

When you have hope for your child.

And that's what I wish
for every single parent

that comes through the Partners class
because that is so powerful.

Sherie real quick,
talk about how someone signs up

for the next Partners
in Policymaking class.

Yeah, thank you.

Partners in Policymaking is

on the Internet,
but you want to get to Partners

in PolicymakingMN
because that's the program in Minnesota.

There are many in other states,
but you want the Minnesota

program is for Minnesota

parents raising children with disabilities
or Minnesota adults with disabilities.

But there are people who may be listening
in other states now.

So if they query Partners in Policymaking,
they might find

and put their states initials.

Definitely definitely
put your state there.

If not, move to Minnesota.

That's all there is to it.

It's that good of a program.

Oh. Yeah, it is.

I want to also say it's free.

And we made sure that it's easy
as pie to come.

We pay for your transportation, reimburse
you for gas mileage,

reimburse you if you had to have
somebody else watch your kids

while you were in the class.

We pay for your meals

and all of your training material.

You're going to go home with a whole file
cabinet full of materials.

And as people have mentioned,
we want to launch you into

being the strongest advocate you can be

for your children and for your community.

One county in this state is committed.

They have seen such changes in people

in their county
who have taken the Partners program.

They want one person from their county
every single year

to be accepted into the program.

And that will change.

If you have hopeful, assertive parents,

you get a change in those kids
that are being raised in that county.

Thank you, Sherie.

Just a reminder,
this is Disability and Progress.

Hey, I didn't tell you to start oh,
my goodness.

And the views expressed on this show
are not necessarily those of KFAI.

I guess we're going to wrap it up.

So thank you guys very much for coming.

I really appreciate it.

It's been great.

And you guys were excellent.

Thanks so much for having us.

Thank you for having us.

Thank you very much. You're very welcome.

Good luck.

And everyone,
this has been Disability and Progress.

The views expressed on
the show are not necessarily those of KFAI

or its board of directors.
My name is Sam, and I'm

the host of the show
Charlene Doll is my research team.

And if you want to be on my emailing list,
you can email me

at Disability and Progress
with Sam, Jasmine, at Sam Jasmine dot com.

This week, we were speaking with Sherie
Wallace from the Wallace Group,

along with some participants, which

OK, I know we're at the end,

but that's OK for the participants
that were here were Arbdella

Hudson and Cassie
Kallis and Nicole Laudont.

And thank you very much, Sherie,
for putting this together.

We always appreciate
that. It's been great.

Thank you.

You did. A great job.
Thank you for having us. Yep. Good night.