Back in February 2009, it was announced that a clinic for children with special needs was closing down. It was one of the only two such facilities in Wasilla, Alaska. The provider, Providence Health & Services, cited financial difficulties as the reason for eliminating that particular service.
A few months earlier, Sarah Palin promised parents of children with special needs that they would have an advocate in the White House if she was elected vice president.
She wasn't a good advocate for the 85 people (adults and children) who found themselves without access to much needed therapies. As the governor of Alaska, she could have bailed them out. (Didn't she bail out a certain dairy?) After she quit her job to become mega-rich, she could have injected some cash into the clinic for the benefit of children like her son.
Presumably, Sarah Palin didn't need the services for Trig. Other parents, however, badly needed them for their children:
And they had tried very hard...
Shawna Tidwell, a Wasilla area certified nurse assistant said her son Caleb needs both occupational and speech therapy for help with communicating and learning to modify some of his behaviors.
"They're closing their doors and there is nothing else for special needs children out here," she said.
The Valley has one other full-time practice that offers occupational, physical and speech therapy for children, according to Tidwell and other providers.
It's called Mountain Magic Therapy and Valley Kids Speech Therapy and is located on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway. But therapists there said they have waiting lists dozens of children long.
Tidwell said her son was on the waiting list for more than a year and didn't get in.
She also was on a waiting list for the Providence center before she was accepted about six months ago.
Before that, she drove her son to a clinic in Anchorage twice a week, a chore that was costing her almost $500 a month in gas and drove her and her husband to take out advances on their salaries.
Sarah Palin did nothing for people with special needs as governor. Her credentials as an advocate are non-existent. Her own son is simply a mere prop she parades around the country. She uses Trig to attack other people. She takes money to make useless speeches on behalf of special needs charities.
Talking is free, Sarah Palin. You talk the talk (badly), but we're still waiting for you to walk the walk.
[Somebody sent me the link to the ADN article, but I can't find the e-mail. Have a H/T, you know who you are...]