After I heard you present in Rapid City, and you talked about the value of inclusion, I put my son Micah in an afternoon "typical" pre-k (in addition to his morning sped pre-k). Then I heard you again when you presented at our SD Partners in Policymaking class in Pierre, and you talked about the number of parents who have told you their children were never invited to birthday parties—like you said, these are very ordinary, but very precious events, in children's lives—because they didn't have friends as a result of being in segregated classes. When you said that, I thought, "YES!" That's why I put Micah in that pre-k program, so others could see Micah (not his diagnosis) and see how great he is!  Well, our Partners session was just last weekend and Micah has received TWO invitations just this week to birthday parties. If I hadn't heard your presentations, Micah would NOT have been in this ordinary (and inclusive) pre-K class, and he wouldn't have been invited to these birthday parties!   :)  Much love from one mother to another.

Angie from South Dakota