Mailbag - Aug. 26, 2000

My letter is in response to yesterday’s article (“Raising Thomas,”

Aug. 16). As a parent of a child with Down’s syndrome, I feel empathy for

Thomas’ mother. Parenting a child with significant challenges is not

always easy, and the way to navigate through the system in order to

access the appropriate educational supports and services for your child

can be perplexing.

As a veteran parent, and also a professional in the field, I would

like to share with your readers some of the many resources they can reach

out to for help. Team of Advocates for Special Kids is the

parent-training information center in Orange County funded by our federal

government. It provides free telephone support and advocacy to anyone who

has a question regarding educational rights and opportunities and they

offer many other services to help educate and support parents and

professionals.

Each school district also has a community advisory committee that

meets on a regular basis during the school year to discuss issues of

concern to both educators and parents of children with special needs.

There are also parent support groups representing a wide range of

disabilities throughout Orange County that hold regular meetings and

provide networking opportunities. Many times mentor parents can be

connected with parents in need here as well.

I can’t speak for other districts, but it has been my experience that

Newport-Mesa has worked hard at being responsive to parent’s concerns and

students rights. The 1997 reauthorization of the Individuals Disabilities

Education Act strengthened students’ options and the parents right to

participate. While the system itself is still not perfect, and

educational timeliness incredibly frustrating to work with, it has been

my experience that the administrators and educators in Newport-Mesa want

what is best for its students. Finding the perfect recipe for success is

not a simple process. It takes time, creativity and most of all

communication.

It’s nice to know that we parents of children with disabilities are

not alone. The answer, support or solution is not always easy to find but

it is out there. I wish Terry Meek and all other parents luck in their

search.

SANDI AMES

Costa Mesa

Please leave the American Legion alone

Apparently nothing is sacred anymore. To relocate our American Legion

Post 291 for the accommodation of a new hotel on the peninsula is

inconceivable (“Decision time? Not any time soon,” Aug. 22). Besides the

obvious fact that the peninsula doesn’t need any more traffic, people or

chaos, no one deserves that piece of property more than the people at the

American Legion.

JULIE MATTSON

Balboa Peninsula

Halloween banners aren’t as ugly as other things in city

Who makes the rules in our city? The powers that be are whining about

some Halloween banners in a parking lot (“Halloween spirit or advertising

hook?” Aug. 22), while the Car Gallerie on Harbor Boulevard (which used

to be Hollister’s Nursery) just painted it’s roof to look like a circus

tent.

DAVID JAMES

Costa Mesa

Dunes resort could ruin the look of the bay

The proposal to build a large hotel on the Dunes property brings to

mind what took place at Port Ludlow in the Puget Sound area in Washington

state. For years we thought this was a scenic, charming and attractive

place to visit. But then a huge hotel was built on a spit of land out in

the bay, and it completely ruined the entire scenic atmosphere of Port

Ludlow.

We now face a closely similar option at the Dunes. A large high-rise

hotel at the Dunes is aesthetically as ruinous of the attractiveness of

that part of Newport Beach as that monstrosity is at Port Ludlow. It

would be like putting a shark in a goldfish bowl. Now is the time to

bring this folly to a halt before we are confronted with the miserable

consequences of mindless expansion.

DAVID H. WALLACE

Newport Beach