To the editor:

As an average working mom, I have to wonder why there’s such a fuss about Ms. Palin – especially regarding her comment about being a special-needs friend and advocate. While I commend her for some improvements to special-education funding within the relatively flush Alaskan budget, the much bigger issue is the ability to afford excellent care outside the classroom.

If the kids are lucky, they will be helped for 13 school years. What about early diagnosis and treatment, especially for all those special needs that aren’t initially obvious? What about summers? What about the rest of their lives after they finish with their schooling?

Sarah and her husband make $200,000-plus annually. They can afford health insurance for their entire family, including a member with a pre-existing condition such as Down syndrome. They can afford to drive to and pay for specialists, and get testing and therapy that insurance might not want to pay for. They can afford to have extra sets of eyes and hands working on that child when they are not present. They can afford to buy the healthiest foods. They can afford to start a fund that will care for that child into adulthood and beyond.

How many parents of special-needs kids would like to do all of this and more for their children? How many can afford it? Health care reform is your real issue, and Sarah Palin won’t help you. Health care puts all those innocent children first.

Rebecca Henry,
Lawrence