Getting Through Together

Tracie Smith

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Tracie Smith’s father standing in a sunny field wearing an orange and black jersey, smiling with a backdrop of green grass, trees, and a clear blue sky.

This is a shout out to the New York City Special Education Hearing Officers (SPED Judges) and the NYC Department of Education (“DOE”) attorneys and representatives who supported and accommodated me during my recent trip to Australia….

Two weeks ago I received a call from my mother in Sydney, Australia advising me that my father was in hospital and would need to undergo an emergency surgery due to complications with no guarantee of a positive outcome.

My reaction… I called my travel agent and was booked on the next flight out of NYC to Sydney. I had not been home (Australia) for 9 years and it was imperative that I took that next flight to support my mum and be there for my dad.

As it turned out, two (2) of my staff had planned vacations due to the upcoming Thanksgiving break so I had to move a lot our work around. Both the NYC Special Education Hearing Officers and my opponents at the NYC DOE rallied around to accommodate me so that I could concentrate on my family as the difference in time zones made it extremely difficult for my scheduled cases.

So today, and on Thanksgiving, I am thankful for my family, my friends, everyone in my severely autistic and non-verbal son’s life who have supported him and our family over the years, my dad who is now back home on the farm and recovering, my husband who stepped up and rocked it as a single parent for 13 days, my kids who kept it together without their hands-on mom… at one point when I checked in to ask my 13 year old daughter how all was going… she texted back “all is stable” :), my wonderful clients (many of whom I consider dear friends (you know who you are), the NYC Department of Education hearing representatives and attorneys and our NYC Special Education Hearing Officers who not only accommodated moving dates for me for my cases but who often reached out to enquire how my dad was doing and then proceeding to wish me safe travels back to the States.

I am back in New York this afternoon and our office will be back to all hands on deck on Monday.

I always say that kindness comes back and it really does.

Below is a picture of my dad the day he came home from his 10 day hospital stay :-)