COLUMBIA, S.C. — As a mother of two children with disabilities, one Midlands parent is hoping her story will encourage other parents to mask their kids before heading to school.
For Jena Martin, sending her kids to school during the pandemic has been no easy feat.
"Yes, of course I worry, parents worry,” said Martin.
Her son Dakota has had to overcome many challenges to do well in school.
"He ended up needing glasses, hearing aids, he had two visual impairments, he was completely deaf in his left ear, his speech was about 30% intelligible to other people," Martin said while explaining the hurdles her young son has had to overcome.
Due to his disabilities, it's imperative for Dakota's education to be in school, but his mom worries he'll be exposed to COVID-19. And, he's not the only son she's worried about.
"We thought that [Dakota] was kind of our kiddo with disabilities, that was the one we were going to advocate for, he was kind of the challenging one, but then came along Jack,” Martin said with a smile.
Jack, the latest addition to the Martin family, has his own set of challenges.
Those challenges are "mostly around respiratory, compromised immune system, so during COVID he is the one we’ve really had to protect," explained Martin.
The Martins have four kids total, and all of them are adopted.
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Like many parents, Martin wants to give her children the best life possible, which means keeping them safe.
“I know my children are masking up and doing the right thing, and we’ll continue to do that, I just hope that others will also,” she said when talking about school.
Martin worries the South Carolina proviso that bans mask mandates in schools permits danger, especially for kids like Jack.
“I just feel like you can’t mandate something that takes away the safety and well-being of others,” Martin said.
Martin hopes her family’s story will inspire others to mask up so they can all stay in school.
“When I think about all the years of therapies and hard work, like Dakota going from a self-contained classroom to now being able to be with his peers in advanced classes, he’s done all the work, just please don’t take that away," Martin pleaded with other parents.
Disability rights groups have sued the state of South Carolina over the proviso arguing it makes it unsafe for students with disabilities to attend school.