Saturday, January 1, 2011

THE NEW YEAR IS HERE!!

It's time!  It's time to get this case done...it has now lasted over seven years.  I'm sure all of you have outstanding things that need to get finished.  Join me in resolving to just get it done this year.  Now is the time.  Get it done and move on.  I think that is what I want most, to just move on with my life.  It's hard to believe two men and their lies could effect so many lives.  It changed the events and direction of my life forever. It has effected all those who are close to me, most especially my two boys, my husband, my mom and sister and all those who have helped my family and I  in so many different ways.  And I can't forget the negative influence it had on my dad's deteriorating health before he died.  You know it had to have effected all those who falsely testified, and all the others who were drawn into the scheme one way or another....that number is far greater than the few who lied on the stand.

One of the things I think about the most though is how it impacted the kids (and their families) who attended The NOAH Project.  Many of you do not know how this all started.  I will tell you. 

I developed, along with a core group of Board members, a special school for children with autism, which was designed to eventually include kids with ADD and ADHD as well as other learning differences.  The school was named The NOAH Project.  It incorporated the best therapies and methodologies, including special gluten and casein-free diet and nutritional intervention.   One man, Eric Williams, the Director of Reese Technology of Lubbock, Texas testified it was a state of the art [school/program], he had seen nothing else like it any where in the world.  He described it as in a class all its own.  We took a program that had always been home-based and put it into a school setting.  The program results had always been reported in an anecdotal way.  We were changing that by recording the details of every session in computers outside each child's play/work room and accumulating that data for research.  We were pursuing research grants with NIH (National Institute of Health), in partnership with several Texas universities.  With regard to the universities, talks and plans had progressed furthest with Texas Tech University (Special Ed) and Reese Technology in Lubbock, but we were also in discussions with University of Texas - Austin (Special Ed) as well as University of Texas - Southwest Medical School in Dallas (Child Psychiatric Dept) and had just begun talking to medical people at Baylor in Dallas. 

Everybody was impressed with what they saw at the school and the initial progress of all children who attended the school.  Children who had never talked in their life (even the 10 -12 year olds) were now speaking in meaningful phrases and occasional sentences.  All the children were making progress that was believed would never happen....connecting in ways that previously seemed impossible...calling out Mom and Dad's name for the first time, making eye contact, playing interactive games, laughing and interacting in the most spontaneous way.  Miracles every single day.  These were kids who previously had been obsessed with the most rigid of routines and never chanced even fleeting eye contact, rocking back and forth for hours, flapping their hands, or even screaming for long periods of time with their hands over their ears.  With the program we were able to quiet their environment and be there with them, joining them in their world, in the most unobtrusive way.  Building trust and eventually a bridge over to our world.

I directed this school on a volunteer basis while I continued to do my accounting and finance business.  I had worked with my clients for approximately twenty years.  Originally we all worked together in the Trammell Crow Company, but as they left Crow and started their own companies I worked on a consulting basis for them and their companies.   As an anonymous donor one of those clients agreed to fund the school in its build-out and initial operations while we were securing grants and other charitable contributions.  I also contributed approximately $50,000 each year.  I was surprised when he called me one day and said he could no longer fund due to his divorce.  We scrambled trying to obtain emergency funding while we took the extra time needed to get grants in place.  Parents and board members alike came forward in this endeavor, nobody wanted to see the school close.  We did have to close the school after one year of operations and amazing results just 30 days after the notification from my client.  My clients and I had decided to do a one month transition period (coinciding with that 30  days) where I finished work for them, then continued on with the school, trying to keep it open or reorganize it so we could reopen.

You can imagine my surprise and shock when I received a call from a Dallas police detective, about a month after the closing, saying I was being accused of stealing the money to fund the school.  I immediately told the detective to obtain the computer and its records from my now ex-clients.  He did not do it.  That was the beginning of Dallas County's attempt to hide my innocence at any cost, in favor of the very wealthy and influential men of Dallas County, my ex-clients.

And that is how all this began.  I will continue to blog the details.  I have received the go-ahead from my habeas attorney to "blog-away" with regard to my case.  Everything I am telling you here is part of public records.

At The NOAH Project one of our main beliefs was: A relationship building, intensive, one-on-one, child-led program is a key to opening the doors to emerge from autism.............

6 comments:

  1. Great post.
    I'm so glad you're telling your incredible story... and that your attorney is encouraging you to do so.
    Oh yes.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh, my dear and sweet friend! If called, I would have been such a witness to your integrity, devotion, and generosity through the 15 years of knowing you!
    I would have told of a mother who pulled her son out of public school to find an optimum learning environment where her son could flourish.
    *Who researched and traveled, learning Son-Rise techniques to use in her own home and to train others to do the same.
    *Who celebrated the holidays by opening up her home as a place for these children to be entertained by "elves" and Mrs. Claus, providing goody bags and treats.
    Who showered me (her son's teacher) with love, gifts, and words of encouragement when I gave birth to my own son.
    This is PLAIN injustice! You are one of the most unselfish people I have ever met in my 37 years. I am ashamed that there are people who can discredit an innocent person to save their selves. The truth WILL come out and PREVAIL!
    Praying that God convicts the hearts of these criminals. Praying for 2011 to be a year of healing. Love you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I LOVE this picture of "Noah" Nate! I made sure to get lots of animals for my boys and they loved them, too! Every time they would say, "Help me stand them up, mommy!" I would always think of Nathan and you. You are such a wonderful mother!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yes, Nate was my little NOAH...as I'm sure you remember he spent endless hours lining up his animals. And as it turned out, joining him in this, rather than trying to stop the repetitive behavior was how he finally allowed me to connect to him. Honoring and respecting our children, just as they are, is the key to connection and progress. This is one of the enduring principals of the program at our school and set us a part from the public school at the time.

    With regard to your comment ahead of the NOAH/Nate comment...many people were not called to testify on my behalf....because of one of the most interesting documents of my case and one that assured the prosecution would win. It was a Motion in Limine that was filed 10 days before the trial by the prosecution. This document said I(or anybody else) could not speak in the trial about the school, the children in the school or their progress. It also said I could not speak of my false accusers'- any "bad act" they may have committed or their divorces...which takes away any possible testimony for motivation on the part of the false accusors. The jury was never allowed to hear what actually happened....only what my false accusors contrived. My own attorney did not bother to tell me about this Motion so everytime I went to speak in my testimony I was interrupted by the prosecution and was having everything I said (or even tryed to say) thrown out...caused me to look like a total idiot. I'll speak more of this in a blog coming up. Thanks for all your kind comments...there are several who were baffled by the fact they were not called to testify on my behalf.

    ReplyDelete
  5. That Motion was INCREDIBLE.
    NO WONDER.

    That's all I can say: NO WONDER.

    Also the word EVIL comes to mind.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Indeed...that emphysizes the importance in prayer and faith. The four years coming up to the trial I did very little prayer, believing I could just get it done. The three years in prison gave me plenty of time to rethink that strategy and learn to really surrender and trust God. I finally accepted the fact that this was much bigger than me. How many times during those three years did I read that our God was stronger than evil and would prevail. I lift this up to Him daily and sometimes moment to moment...letting go and trusting is a tremendous relief.

    ReplyDelete