Woman With Deaf Son Questions Palin On Special Needs Care
(DES MOINES, IOWA) - After Sarah Palin spoke to an overflow crowd in Sioux City, Iowa, a woman in the crowd approached the governor to query her about what specific things she'd do to improve special needs care.
Palin asked the woman — who later identified herself as Jessica Haas from Le Mars, Iowa — whether she had heard her speech in Pittsburgh on Friday about the subject. Haas said that she had not.
Haas explained that she was having trouble getting her two-year-old son—who is deaf—access to the services to which he's entitled.
"Have you been working with your local elected officials?" Palin asked.
Haas said that she had been doing so but was not satisfied with the results. A Palin staffer then tried to break up the conversation, reaching down from the stage and putting his arm between Palin and Haas.
Palin asked the woman if she had a specific question.
"I mean, what can we do so that parents don't have to demand that the rights be given?" Haas said.
"Well, you need to have faith that your—that your elected officials will demand that for you, so the bureaucracy is—is enabling you to get those things, well, taken care of," Palin said. "… as the advocate in the White House, that's what I will ensure."
"OK, I hope so because it's been a rough ride," Haas said.
After the encounter, I asked Haas whether she was satisfied with Palin's answer.
"I was pretty content with it, yeah," she said.
