Re: Legislative Advocacy & Town Hall Meeting: Novemb...

[Guest guest]

Senator is my hero. I absolutely need to take time off that evening to come. His testimony from August on behalf of our children made me cry.

NHC-ASA is awesome to bring so many awesome people to our community. I so thank all of NHC-ASA board members for your commitment to excellence and bringing to us people that really can make a difference in our lives.

May I bring my digitial voice recorder so I can share with some of my friends not living in the Houston area who are also big Senator fans?

Hilda

Special Legislative Advocacy Workshop and Town Hall Meeting

Thursday, November 6, 2008

6:30p - 9:00p

The Northwest Houston Chapter Autism Society of America is pleased to announce a special event for Thursday, November 6th, from 6:30p - 9:00p at Graceview Baptist Church in Tomball, TX.

This special event will focus on "Legislative Advocacy for 2009" - and will feature Colleen Horton speaking on Legislative Advocacy for parents; as well as a Town Hall Meeting with Senator Dan .

We encourage all Autism & Disability organizations to participate and help us spread the word about this wonderful opportunity to learn about Legislative Issues facing our children, youth, and adults with disabilities; and to speak directly to Senator about these issues!

Senator Dan represents District 7, and the following school districts: Aldine, Cy Fair, Houston, Humble, Katy, Klein, Spring Branch, Spring, Tomball, Waller.

Parents in those school districts are encouraged to attend this meeting in a show of support for Senator taking the time to share from his heart, and hear from ours - as to the issues we face.

The Town Hall portion of the event with Senator Dan , will only focus on Autism and Disability issues in Texas, and in the Public School System.

Please do not invite those to this meeting who do not have a direct connection with autism or disability. The questions or concerns chosen to be asked will only be those concerning autism or disability issues in general or in the public schools.

We want Senator to not only hear about issues from those in our area, but from all over Texas. If you have a concern for Senator but cannot attend the meeting or live elsewhere in Texas, we welcome you to e-mail us your testimony.

Please e-mail to: MGuppyTexasAutismAdvocacy (DOT) org and put "Senator " in the subject line.

If you will be attending the Town Hall Meeting in person, we ask that all questions and concerns you have for him, be sent to us by e-mail by November 4th. We will print them all out and put them in the notebook to give to him that night.

We will also select from those submitted, a broad representation of views and concerns, and call upon those individuals at the meeting, to ask the Senator their question or share with him their concern.

We want questions from parents, professionals who work with individuals with autism/disability, and from educators.

We want questions on:

school vouchers, due process, school funding, Special Education teacher training issues, medicaid waiver services, community supports, programs for youth and adults with disabilties, transportation issues for adults with disabilities, employment issues for adults with disabilities, childcare issues for single parents, etc.

This is a free event, but reservations are required so that we may have adequate seating and handouts.

Please - if you will attend this event, we need to know, so that we know what size room to use in the building!

Childcare will be provided on a reservation only basis and is limited.

You must register with Tonya Magagh at Respite4All no later than November 1st. There will be no at the door requests for childcare. Childcare will start at 6:50pm, and your child will need to be picked up at 9:00pm. If your child is on a special diet, you must bring all food for your child.

We realize this is an earlier start time and traffic will be heavy, we will have drinks and snacks available.

November 4th is the deadline to register and submit your question or concern to be called upon that night.

You will be notified by e-mail if your question or concern is chosen to be asked at the Town Hall portion of the meeting.

Registration procedure:

Send an e-mail to:

NorthwestHoustonChapterASA

In the subject line put "Town Hall Meeting".

The body of your word document or e-mail should have at the top:

* Your full name

* Your address and zip code

* Your contact information - e-mail preferably.

* Please indicate if you are a parent of a child with a disability, a professional who works with individuals with disabilities, or a public school educator or administrator.

And then the issue or concern or question you would like the Senator to be aware of.

If you have any questions, please contact:

M. Guppy - NorthwestHoustonChapterASA

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About Colleen Horton:

For this special event, we are honored to also host Colleen Horton, the Public Policy Director for the Texas Center for Disability Studies at the University of Texas in Austin.

Colleen is also the Chair of the Children's Policy Council for Health & Human Services Administration in Austin.

Colleen is the parent of a youth with autism, and will be discussing the various Legislative items that will be brought up for the next Legislative Session starting in 2009.

Colleen will share how parents can be a part of this upcoming session, and how to be more effective advocates.

About Senator :

http://www.senate.state.tx.us/75r/senate/members/dist7/dist7.htm

Senator has this event on his calendar and is looking forward to meeting everyone that night. However, if some urgent Legislative matter calls him back to Austin, he will not be able to attend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

M. GuppyMy autism journey isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain....

Texas Autism Advocacy: www.TexasAutismAdvocacy.org

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