Part 3-The Call to Protect What We Have Built
Advocate · Create · Teach — Pam’s Den of Creative Fun
I really never thought we’d be here again—having conversations about whether children with disabilities deserve support. Whether inclusion is too expensive.
Whether rights won decades ago should be handed back to chance.
But here we are. And the decisions being made right now will determine whether the next generation inherits a future of opportunity… or a future full of locked doors.
Is this about Politics?
It is not Republican or Democrat to want children to learn.
It is not partisan to believe families deserve support.
It is not “taking sides” to say that human beings with disabilities deserve dignity.
This is about values.
This is about promises.
This is about legacy.
A Few Facts to Hold in Mind
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The promise Congress made in 1975 was that the federal government would fund up to 40% of the cost of special education.
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Today, schools receive only about 13% of that support.
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Oversight is weakening, staffing shortages are growing, and more families are fighting just to get the basics their children need to learn and thrive.
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When support in schools shrinks now, the impact will hit adult services later—even harder.
These decisions will ripple across a lifetime.
A Story That Keeps Me Up at Night
A caregiver once told me:
“Pam, we are trying to hold people’s lives together with duct tape. And every year, the tape gets thinner.”
When schools don’t provide services early,
when communication devices aren’t funded,
when sensory needs are ignored,
when therapies are denied…
The system doesn’t save money.
It just shifts the burden downstream—to families, to caregivers, to adult programs, to society.
Every cut has a cost.
That cost is a person.
The Question That Matters
When we look back in 10 years… or 40…
What will we say we did?
Did we notice the warning signs?
Did we speak up?
Did we protect inclusion?
Did we invest in dignity?
Or did we quietly assume someone else would?
The Call
I am asking you to join me—not in anger, but in awareness.
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➤ Learn what’s happening behind the policy language
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➤ Share the stories that show what support makes possible
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➤ Contact your legislators and ask where they stand
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➤ Vote with compassion and equity in mind
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➤ Stand with families and individuals who cannot fight alone
Because every time a child gets access to speech…
every time an adult finds meaningful work…
every time someone is included instead of excluded…
that is IDEA in action.
We Must Decide What We Stand For
Do we want to be the generation who let progress slip away quietly?
Or the generation who rose—like those parents at my mother’s kitchen table—and said:
“Not on our watch.”
With care,
Pam
Founder, Pam’s Den of Creative Fun
Occupational Therapist · Sibling Advocate · Creative Liaison