I am the proud mother of Jacob, a growing twelve year old boy who was diagnosed as being on the Autism Spectrum at the age of three. Despite being classified as non-verbal on paper, Jacob is able to communicate effectively. I believe that God gifted Jacob to my family so that we could demonstrate to the world that children with Autism matter and that parents who work hard to help their children deserve as much support as the children they are caring for.

Our current system is not supportive to the difficulties that families face when raising a child with exceptional needs. I have established this petition in an effort to raise awareness of autism on a global scale, but particularly in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where I live with my family. 
 
It is quite difficult to juggle a full time career while raising a child who has special needs. During the pandemic it was challenging to work a 40-hour work week, and my position with the City of Tulsa did not provide time off through the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to help with the scheduling conflicts. After struggling for a whole year to juggle everything, the City of Tulsa let me go. I had applied for all the same options that were offered to my coworkers who were of a different racial or cultural background, such as the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which expanded the time off offered through the FMLA, as well as the option of working remotely from home. 

1. As I had done each year prior, I applied for FMLA. I finally received the approval from HR but only two months later I was terminated from the CIty of Tulsa.

2. I then applied the FFCRA, which allowed employees to work from home when their kids were unable to go to school during the shutdown. My boss inquired where Jacob would be during the break in school, but refused to allow me to work from home. It was after this happened that we were compelled to work from home for three months because of the city-wide shutdown by the Mayor-G.T. Bynum. 

3. I eventually received HR's approval for FMLA , then FFCRA, but I was then questioned about my decision to keep Jacob out of school and work from home, even though it seemed that everyone else was doing the same thing. I felt as though, despite his special needs and my decision to keep him out of school, my employer believed that I should put Jacob's life in danger by sending him to school in the middle of a pandemic even when school were closed.

4. After two years of working together, my coworker decided to stop using the restroom we shared between our offices. Jacob, who has autism, utilized her bathroom, as did her two children, which I never had a problem with. Due to her claim of "germaphobia", the supervisor/CEO and HR supported her request to no longer share this bathroom with me. However, they never once explained the situation to me or provided me the chance to move to an office with a bathroom. Instead they just abruptly locked the bathroom without reason.

5. Lastly, I was fired on 12/3/20, after stating my opinion to the HR Manager that the City of Tulsa did not support mothers who have children with special needs and who needed to utilize the benefits of the FFCRA, as I saw other mothers doing, who did not have children with special needs. Unfortunately, Mayor G.T.,Bynum supported their decision. I believe I was fired because I told the HR Manager that I was going to let the whole world know about how they treated "working parents of children diagnosed with exceptional needs." 

The month of April is designated as Autism and Asperger's Syndrome Awareness Month. Autism is a complex brain disorder that often impairs a person's capacity for interpersonal interaction, communication, and environmental awareness.

Please go to Jacobsbridgetolearning.org to see how I am achieving my goal of educating everyone across the globe. Children on the Autism Spectrum should NEVER be excluded. The caregivers need to be treated with dignity and respect as they're advocating for and protecting these special humans, who often cannot speak for themselves in the face of discrimination.

Sondia Bell vs. City of Tulsa