Children who need Occupational Therapy (OT) only are being denied assistance in schools because of the limits of the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA). Children who need this assistance are being falsely labeled with other diagnosis so that they can fit under the umbrella of the IDEA guidelines. Children who only need OT are either labeled as something they are not, or they are left to fail. The extra year from failing a grade may or may not be enough time to help correct this issue. Do we really want our children to be taught that failure is acceptable and that we cannot help them?

I believe in Oklahoma! My wife and I chose to stay here rather than move out of state because of the people and the environment and the schools. I know we are low on the national polls, but there is no better place to raise your children than in this state. We need to introduce a state statute that allows for OT to be a stand alone item for an IEP. A little help early on can keep these children on the right path. If we choose to continue stand idly by then we choose to accept failure and allow these children to start down the wrong path. Confidence is a huge part of education. Allowing these children to continue to struggle as other pass them by is unacceptable. And the only option currently is to find loopholes in the system. The system has flaws, it has broken bridges, but it can be fixed. The educators in Oklahoma are amazing. Everyone should be so lucky as to be taught by an Oklahoman. Help us fix this part of the system so the teachers don't have to watch another kid struggle and feel helpless.

I say all this because I was inspired to act by an event with my own daughter. She was a failure to thrive baby and was expected to have some issues because of this. One of these is some difficulties in her fine motor skills. She came to live with us in October of 2014 and my wife and I have worked with her constantly to help develop her skills to the point they are now. Once in kindergarten we noticed she still needed some extra help. Throughout the school year we have kept in communication with her teacher and she has told us that she will need OT, but that it is very difficult to get on an IEP for just that. We received a referral from her primary doctor and are currently on a wait list to get her into a therapist office after work. We still believe that the school will be the best place for her to receive the extra help. They can see how she reacts to different scenarios in class also. Our situations is just that, ours. It is different from others, we have different variables, and different level or resources. My wife and her aunts are teachers, I feel that helps us immensely. Not all of the families affected have the same level of resources. After learning through the school that she did not qualify, my wife and I looked into other options, but we still feel that she would benefit the most from the school environment.

A bill to correct this issue would help my daughter. That's a given, but during our time researching this issue we have been contacted by multiple families, teachers, and counselors who have run been affected by this gap in coverage for kids. Please support a bill to help all of the children affected by this. I refuse to believe that the state I love will stand by while we watch children struggle and fail and lose confidence in themselves. Paperwork is the only thing stopping these children from receiving the help they need. This is where we need to be hard on the process, not the people.