Concerns About Oliver (March 21, 2008)

Oliver's Placement‏
From: cam huegenot (cameocares@live.com)
Sent: Fri 3/21/08 11:12 PM
To: dicksiedael@aol.com; hollybeanpole@aol.com


I wrote to the AG tonight. Here is a copy of part of what I wrote:


I want change of venue and I want my son to be moved closer to me, in Bellingham. I want gradual introduction into another family in this area, and I want to meet them several times before another placement. My family has always been controlling, manipulative, and are known religious nuts and I am having difficulty with having some of my son's basic needs met, in addition to finding he is sometimes getting corporal punishment by slapping of his hands and who knows what else. While in general, I would not want to move my son and do not believe it is generally in his best interest to be moved back and forth, I feel it is in his best interest to have more visitation time with me, and if Wenatchee CPS is going to both claim they are interested in reunification and also in the best interests of my son, they would want to facilitate more visitation. The excuse I got was that it was difficult with "the distance" and they didn't have "the money". My son's best interests are not about developing a bond with the Bairds, my mother's side of the family, which I've had problems with ever since I moved to Wenatchee, but in keeping the bond and contact up with his mother, and having good, stable, loving, and intellectual needs met in the meantime. I also have concerns he is not getting enough play time with other children, but I do NOT want him around other "neglected or abused" kids because he's never been either abused or neglected and is well-adjusted and I don't want him developing problems. My family, in their religious zeal, has lost sight of the real objective here. My son is also still not speaking, and as I've said before, and said for over a year, this is not normal. I know how he was talking before and he doesn't speak now. I had him signed up for an appointment with a speech therapist in Canada and I want that for him here. He should be seeing a speech therapist first, and then move on to other testing. My son loves doing hand motions for songs, and I feel he should have the opportunity to learn sign language at this point. I don't mean all hope is gone that he will speak, but I know something happened and he has changed. I also want an MRI of his brain to find out if there is an identifiable problem, but first things first. I also did some research about a children's hospital, an Adventist hospital in Colorado, which I really would rather he receive evaluation from than anyplace in Washington, but that may be difficult now. I want to talk with someone about transition of my son to the Bellingham area, so we can be closer. Number one, my son should simply be immediately transfered to me. You have NO grounds with which to hold him and prevent our reunification. I do not present any danger or harm to my son, in any way. It would be better if my son was returned to me and CPS simply checked on us all the time, than to go to another family, but we need to be seeing more of eachother, period. I think my family has lost sight of this, in their excitement that now my son is going to a bona fide Pentacostal church.