Michele Westmaas

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT MICHELE WESTMAAS

I had been an elementary school teacher, a preschool teacher, a day care provider, and was mom of a blonde, snake-loving young boy when Aubrie was born. My husband, DJ,and I were shocked to find that the baby girl we\'d long anticipated was born with a host of medical problems due to Kabuki syndrome. I became a full time learner - about medical issues, early intervention, balancing the needs of two very different children, navigating the special education system, and understanding disability rights. When I finally returned to the work force, I entered the world of disability advocacy along with many other parents drawn to this work by the needs of their children. I have worked with families statewide for over a decade. I have been connected with families worldwide who share my daughter\'s diagnosis. I have supported local families struggling to find their way through the service and educational systems. I have successfully advocated for my daughter\'s full inclusion in general education in our local district - where she was the first and only student with multiple challenges to be included. She is now attending college! My personal and career goal is to improve the world for people with developmental disabilities in small and large ways by impacting individual lives, government policies, local systems, and societal views in the best ways that I can using my skills and talents. My personal vision is overall respect, dignity, inclusion and full human and civil rights for people with developmental disabilities. This is the last minority group to remain unseen and systematically disregarded despite federal laws to the contrary. My mission is to chip away at this last frontier of civil rights. one person and one closed mind at a time.