Sorry if this is long, but I strongly feel the need to make this situation as clear as possible.
Based on my experiences, these three systems of Montgomery County, Maryland are in dire need of reform. Here is what needs to change and why:
1. Special education system
My experience: to make a long story short, I made the terrible mistake of getting myself into the flawed Individualized Experience Program [IEP]. It only got worse and worse as the years went on; at first, I was made to take certain classes. However, as the source of OCD [disability I had] was in one of those classes, I had to constantly wash things. I was then, without my nor my guardian's consent, hastily forced to go to a "more" Special Education Program at another school, when all I needed to do was take the classes I wanted at the first school or stay in the mainstream program at the new school. However, I couldn't have a voice for myself. My disability ceased to affect me in school immediately after I transferred. Eventually, I was forced to stay, again without my guardian's or my consent, in that same program at another school much farther away than my local high school. There is a long story behind this, but let me conclude that the despicable decision made by the program's inconsiderate and deluded staff led to me having to go through extreme emotional pain for a whole school year and left me traumatized for a year and a half more [I have also wrote a fourteen page speech on my experiences with the special education system and the county's mental health system as well, which will be discussed after this]. My disability was no longer affecting me in school so why did I need to stay there then? It obviously wasn't for my best interest. What they did to me is intolerable and unacceptable.
What needs to change: Student rights NEED to be protected! If a student in the Special Education System proves that their disability no longer affects them in school, they should given the chance to relocate back to mainstream at their local high school. I was never given that chance. I had to fight for it, and still be trapped for the next whole school year. There should also be people willing to listen to students trapped in a Special Education Program, especially in consideration of the many parents who don't really consider their best interests and full potential.
2. Mental health system
My experience: I was forced to go to a Behavior Health Center [mental institution] for a reason I'd rather not disclose and still don't tend to agree with today [please note that this is something I don't normally tell people, but for the sake of evoking change, it needs to be heard]. There, I witnessed many injustices that take place between these closed walls, such as the misunderstanding the staff had for the patients. For example, I met a girl there who claimed to have been encountering negative spirits. However, instead of having their minds open and attempting to understand and comfort her, whether what she was experiencing was real or not, the staff arbitrarily classified it as hallucinations and left it at that. But what if it was real? Should that really even matter anyway if she is not a danger to anyone? I also was threatened by the head of the unit there that if I continued to ask her when I would be leaving, I would be forced to stay longer, even though I already stayed there for an unnecessary for an unnecessary two weeks. I did find out after leaving how the leaving date is planned in advanced. Shouldn't it depend whether the patient is in a good enough state to leave after a careful, unbiased evaluation?
What needs to change: As patients in these institutions become "property of the state," there needs to be an emphasis of understanding by ending the biased, arbitrary classifications of conditions, accepting that what the patient is going through may be unconventional, and realizing that they are scared and "trapped". It shouldn't actually matter if it's real or not; focus should instead be diverted to actually treating the patient with whatever component or method works best. Also, as it is easy to become victimized by the staff there since you don't really have a voice there or anyone to reach out to [in reference to what the unit head told me], considerate people who are not associated with the mental health system should visit these patients and try objectively evaluating whether there is abuse or not by the staff in trying to gain the trust of the patient.
3. Court system
My Experience: I cannot express enough of my extreme disappointment with this system. For over eleven years, they miserably failed my younger sibling and I and continue to do so. For some ulterior motive, they have done and continue to do the exact opposite of what they should be doing; they have allowed both us to be abused for years by making us stay with the abusive parent, even when proof of abuse was obvious as no consideration was taken [agents of Child ["]Protective["] Services would always say there were no signs of abuse]. They also didn't even allow me to speak for myself in court so I could tell everyone what was being done to my younger sister and I, even though I was eleven years old and was fully conscious of what was right and what was wrong. The parent who never had abused us and was not a criminal, for some reason, continues to be pitted up against this day by the court system in association with Child Protective Services. As of more recently, for the child support hearing, I, again, was not given the chance to speak for myself, with the judge saying "I was not needed," and was refused to get involved with the proceedings that still go on, even with the consent of my own parents, even though I am over eighteen now. All of this is completely unacceptable. I must mention that there is really a lot more to this than what I have stated. I also should add that not too long before that most recent hearing, the same guardian who had been abusing my younger sister and I [and still doesn't acknowledge it], was met by a hostile gentleman who was bitterly saying how my father should be made to receive the harshest penalty and "should be put in jail," even though, as I've said, that other parent is not a criminal nor has ever abused us. In consideration of all these circumstances, as I've said in the beginning, I have concluded that there is not only a sick and twisted ulterior motive present, but that there is some powerful influence within the government that does not serve the best interest of the people; to go against my guardian like that and indifferently do the exact opposite of what they are supposed to do, it is seems quite obvious that that guardian did something that angered those in power; since this started taking place around the time my guardian started speaking in public mediums about discreet, government injustices, I find it likely that they felt angry and/or threatened by him, so they would sickly pit up against him without consideration for others.
What needs to change: It should be required that children of an age where they are able to speak for themselves and consciously know what can be right or wrong, when needing to, should be able to speak for themselves in court, especially when they could be in an abusive situation. If a bit too young, they should be questioned in a through, understanding manner. Having a voice in these matters is ABSOLUTELY important. When a teenager, it should be required that the child become involved with the legal proceedings if they choose to. After all, it's about the children themselves in the first place, right? Also, all signs of abuse must be taken seriously no matter what; this is also to say how there other court systems/officials with the best interest of the people in mind should reach out to those being victimized by corrupt court systems.
I don't usually tell people about what I went through, but it is essential that awareness spreads about these despicably flawed systems. They need to change! Please sign this petition and share it if you can! Thank you.
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