It has become increasingly difficult to find any hope lately. You see, my family has to all live together (my husband, myself, my mother-in-law, my father-in-law, & my sister-in-law—with her 2 autistic children). This is not a sustainable life-style for my family, nor a very fulfilling one, as we all have to try and balance work and helping my sister with her children. The eldest, Jackson, is 7 this year, and the youngest, Eddy, is 2 years old. Over the years I have met many other women in similar situations in the state of Alabama. Women that have to work, that have to keep house, & women that should be retiring and relaxing but are, instead, raising their grandchildren. All of this has weighed so heavily on me. My family has tried to find schools to send them to, therapy, doctors, Nannie’s, and autism friendly facilities for kids. Unfortunately, our state has let all these amazingly strong women and their family’s down. I love my home, my family, and I love Alabama, but this is something I cannot accept, nor show affection for. The lack of school programs, assistance, and help for autism and autistic children in our state is simply disgraceful. These children are suffering because they do not have access to the tools they need to grow into healthy, independent, adults. The people of our state, our home, are suffering because they are at a loss for how to help their beloved kids and families. These families cry themselves to sleep hoping that their children/grandchildren aren’t bullied or hurt. They ache every single day at the gut wrenching thought that their child/grandchild will be wrongfully persecuted, killed, or end up hurting themselves because there are no accommodating places for them to learn how to grow, and function properly in our society. Please, sign this petition in hopes that our state will find a way to establish better systems and educational facilities for autistic children. If they can make this a reality then it would change so many lives here for the better. I humbly ask that you read this with great care, and that you take the time to consider all of the possibilities. We have no one else to turn to, and I can no longer bear seeing all these wonderful kids suffering any longer. My wish is that we can work together to make our state a better place for these kids. After all, if there is no hope for our children how can there be any for our own future?