For
Immediate Release:
Announcing the formation of Mothers From Hell
2 (MFH2)! MFH2 is a national grass-roots parent advocacy group, fighting
for the appropriate education, community acceptance, desperately needed
services, rights of , and entitlements for individuals with disabilities.
We offer support and empowerment for families of individuals with special
needs. The original MFH was founded in 1992 by a group of mothers of
children with special needs in Eugene, Oregon in response to the extreme
difficulty of obtaining services. At the end of 1999, due to various
personal reasons, they decided to fold their MFH. Four mothers from
Northern Illinois could not let this valuable support and resource
disappear, so they have formed Mothers From Hell 2. MFH2 advocates
individually, locally, and nationally for the rights of every individual
with a disability to receive the services and inclusion to which they are
entitled, as well as working to educate the general public on these
issues. MFH2 educates, entertains and empowers families with a newsletter
(Brimstone Bulletin), presentations, exhibits, products, information
referrals, members only listserv, and a website (www.mothersfromhell2.org).
Why the name Mothers From Hell 2?
Unfortunately parents and families of individuals with disabilities very
often have to become quite adversarial in order to obtain the basic rights
and services the individual is entitled to. It is commonplace for those in
a position to administer or deliver services to be resentful of this
insistence and to refer to the parents in disparaging terms -
"mothers from hell" being one of the more printable names. As a
matter of fact, the very first booth MFH2 registered for, at a Technology
Fair in Northern Illinois, denied the registration because they wanted to
"only portray the school districts in a positive light" - this
is what parents are up against!
The Brimstone Bulletin, produced quarterly, is
unique in that it mixes humor with valuable information in order to
relieve stress, feelings of isolation and helplessness.
The organization relies completely on
memberships (a modest 10$/year), donations and product sales (T-shirts,
buttons, pens, mugs, etc.) for financial support.
It can be a difficult concept for the general
public to grasp that community inclusion and appropriate services for
individuals with disabilities are entitlements in our country. They are
not frilly extras or a second dessert! MFH2 explains it like this:
Anywhere in the United States when your house and garage are on fire you
call the fire department and you fully expect them to arrive promptly and
complete their job entirely - it is an entitlement here. Now, what if the
fire department came two hours after you called, put out only the garage
fire and told you that you should be darn glad they did that much? You
would be outraged! This is exactly what happens when the child who needs
occupational therapy, speech therapy, adaptive physical education, and an assertive
communicative device in order to participate in his natural
environment of a third grade classroom receives only speech therapy,
started after the school year is well under way, and the school district
presents this grudgingly and as though they were doing the child some sort
of favor. Thus the outrage! Thus the creation of the Mothers From Hell 2!
Please contact the Mothers at PO Box 19,
German Valley, IL 61039, 815-362-5303, www.mothersfromhell2.org.
