Palin's Lack of Experience

For Governor Palin to believe that her four months of experience as a mother to a special needs child qualifies her as an expert/advocate shows that she has a total lack of understanding on what being a parent to a special needs child entails. Experience and effective advocacy come only after spending years fighting insurance companies, the state, and school districts in an often futile effort to get your child the multitude of services they need. You must have years of visiting doctors, specialists, and therapists under your belt to understand the kind of stress that this type of intense care puts on the caretaker and the rest of the family. In addition, you must have had to make dozens of anguishing decisions about what services to keep and which ones you can no longer continue because of the tremendous costs associated with the special needs child. Finally, you must have cried yourself to sleep more times than your want to count because of the guilt and frustration you feel at not being able to get your child the services they need in order to reach their full potential and become independent tax paying citizens. Truly it is only after years of ups and downs, disappointments and exhaustion that Governor Palin will have the experience necessary to be an effective parent/advocate for her own child and for the rest of us fighting for our special needs children . I wish her luck navigating the world of special needs.