Got Involved - May 3, 2016

HASSAN: All families have challenges. What’s really important is that they also have community. Our son Ben was born with cerebral palsy. And we were really worried if he’d fit in. Twenty or thirty years earlier we would’ve been pressured to put him in an institution. It was Ben’s first day of school, and I had a lot of anxiety. Would he find friends? Would they understand how smart he is? Would he be fully included? When the school bus pulled in and the wheelchair lift came down and we wheeled Ben on the bus and off he went to his first day, and I found myself thinking as the bus pulled out, about all the families that came before the Hassan family. Teachers and the champions for kids like Ben and families like ours who made his inclusion possible. That’s one of the reasons I got involved in public service. Because it made it so clear to me how much you can accomplish when you work together. I’m Maggie Hassan and I approve this message.