Tara is a young mother of four, whose husband, Mike, is in the Army. Their youngest son, Isaac, has been diagnosed as autistic. I don’t know Tara personally–she was looking for another person with the same name as mine on Facebook, we started chatting, and reading each other’s blogs. Her story is amazing–you can read what she has to say at Red, Green, Lellow. Tara spends a great deal of her time fighting for her son–first to get a diagnosis, now to get treatment and help for him so that he can return to a normal life. I sincerely hope that her efforts pay off and that he will be a healthy, happy, normal little boy again.
In the mean time, Tara’s husband is being deployed somewhere again. I don’t really know where or for how long, but this means that she will be by herself again with four children until he comes back. They are planning a ONE DAY “vacation to Virginia Beach before he goes away. I would like to see them be able to go for two or three days, and for them to be able to take the children to see some of the wonderful sites in that area, like the Virginia Aquarium .
I am so interested in her story, I guess, because it is one that is repeated so much here in the United States. Our health care system is NOT the best in the world. Even if you have insurance, like Mike and Tara do, that does not guarantee that you will get the health care or services you need and deserve for your family. Tara has had to fight tooth and nail every step of the way. It shouldn’t be so darn hard. Can you imagine how much harder it would be with no insurance? I surely can’t, but there are many many people just like Tara and her family, who have struggles like this every day, who do not have insurance to help pay for it, who get nowhere in their struggles.
Tara has no idea I am doing this, but if you would like to make a donation via paypal, to help they have a much needed few days at the beach, send me an email or make a comment and I will send you her paypal address. Let’s make this a great trip for this little family that is trying so hard.
This is such a great blog, I love it. You really are a Fabulous Grandma :). I have a website, http://www.shareWIK.com, and would love to hear from you! ShareWIK (share What I Know) is a website devoted to bringing together women from all different situations and backgrounds (as well as a few men!) to talk about their experiences and learn from each other. We are taking about Celiac Disease this week on ShareWIK, and I would love your intake. Just sign up to get started. Hope to hear from you!
– Diana Keough
P.S. And keep up the great work!
Thanks for the compliment on my blog–I really appreciate it.
It was amazing to read Tara’s description of her son and her mindset – that used to be me. Wow. She’s got a lot of passion. But what I really hope she has is community, that is what has ultimately made the biggest difference for me and my son and my family. We talked about it a lot during the BlogHer10 autism panel:
http://www.blogher.com/official-blogher-10-liveblog-personal-blogging-autism-shattering-myths-opening-eyes-and-finding-your
When she’s ready, she may want to read some of the essays on The Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism. Specifically posts on parenting and attitude:
http://thinkingautismguide.blogspot.com/2010/06/autism-parenting-and-importance-of.html
And on Identifying and Avoiding Autism Cults:
http://thinkingautismguide.blogspot.com/2010/06/identifying-and-avoiding-autism-cults.html
I really do hope she finds the support and community she needs and deserves especially with her husband’s deployment. You’re a good friend.