My “Top 11” #AdvocacyGoalsRevised

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Here’s my version:
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Top 10+ #LeadPoisoningPrevention Advocacy Goals/ Dreams:
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1. Change the national legislation so ALL SCHOOLS for ANY CHILD or ADULT ANY AGE (including colleges and graduate schools) are required to be lead-free/lead-safe (water, soil, play grounds and paint.)
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2. Create a curriculum by which med school students actually learn about all of the medical impacts of lead exposure in a comprehensive course.
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3. Finish and distribute my film.
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4. Start a small private SE Portland school for special needs kids who are also really smart/ crave learning — for whom the public school system does not currently offer any viable options (current classes are designated to “manage behavior”, but tend not to offer tailored learning experiences appropriate/essential to the (frequently quite high) intellectual capacity – and innate hunger to learn – of the children assigned to these classes).   [This building would be perfect if someone wants to buy it for me to be able to do this! ;-)]
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5. Offer free blood testing during active sessions of congress to all senators and congressmen and their staff/ aids and their children (until we find a politician who personally tests positive for lead and is moved to become a champion for this issue!)
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6. Start a FREE summer camp for lead poisoned children and their families.
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7. Make more films about children’s health and environmental toxicity impacts (or related)
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8. FIX the CPSC legislation that somehow says it is permissible and okay for a f’*****g child’s sippy cup to have an “allowable” amount of high-lead paint on it.
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9. Help with any precedent-establishing actions that will hold the lead industry financially accountable for paying to clean up the mess they have historically been responsible for causing.
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10. Create a diagnostic code in the DSM for the cluster of symptoms that is “Brain Injury Due To Lead Poisoning” so that lead poisoned children can be diagnosed honestly and not lumped in with “Autism Spectrum Disorder” because the professionals don’t know where to put them.
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11. Secure the right for children with a mental illness diagnosis to qualify for allocated respite care and other resources — comparable to children with an autism diagnosis. (These children are currently excluded from being eligible for any resources through county disability services.)

As always, please let me know if you have any questions! (Or anything you think I should add to this list too!)

Tamara Rubin
Environmental Activist
Filmmaker
“Unexpected Lead Expert”
Mother of Four Boys

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I don’t have a “day job”!  This is what I do full time. I spend most of my days either writing (answering questions via this blog) or communicating directly with parents who have concerns about lead (phone calls, e-mails, and answering questions on Facebook!)

If you want to help me continue my advocacy work, please consider making a donation on GoFundMe!  Most important right now:  I am raising funds to cover attorney fees necessary to defend my work against those who challenge it.  Even $5 adds your name to the campaign and makes a difference! I have a short-term goal of raising an additional $5,000 towards a retainer for attorney fees this month if at all possible. Here’s the GoFundMe link! Thank you!

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You can also continue to support my advocacy work by shopping on Amazon as you normally do (click HERE or click the duck to learn more!). For your purchases in April 2017 I can earn up to 12% of what you spend at no extra cost to you!