Journal-News.com

EDITOR'S NOTE: What's on the minds of Butler County voters as they prepare to vote in the presidential election? In this series of stories leading up to November, we let them tell us.

OXFORD — When Dawn Clark steps into a voting booth for this year's presidential election she will be thinking of her two sons, ages 9 and 12. Particularly the older boy, who faces a challenging future.

"I have a special-needs child," Clark said. "He has Fragile X Syndrome. Ten percent of kids who have Fragile X Syndrome also have autism, and that's also my child's case.

"(He) has to have occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech therapy, and ...medication. MRDD (Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities) a lot of the time will help, and Medicaid, and some kids get social security benefits," Clark noted, "but so far my child has been denied (social security benefits) ... I'm looking at his future and hoping he will be taken care of."

She looks beyond the fundamental necessities for her child, the basic quality of life. She wants that life to expand and blossom.

Clark works as a secretary in the Miami University football office at Yager Stadium. She is in her 26th year at Miami and has lived in Butler County all her life, having grown up in Hamilton and graduated from Garfield High School. She now resides in Hanover Township.

"Another issue I care about is how to improve education," Clark said. "The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act established guidelines for schools to follow. It would be nice for (a presidential candidate) to have a voice for children with disabilities, to make sure schools enforce the laws. A lot of schools don't follow the laws."

Clark said she has been interested in the political process long before she became a mother.

"I was always interested in different issues," she said. "I always vote for MRDD stuff, I always felt strongly about that, but even more so now because I'm affected personally."

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197 or pconrad@coxohio.com.