A Corpus Christi mother says education freedom accounts could help families of students with disabilities pay for specialized services.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — For Laura Cable, her daughter Liesl’s success in the pool is about more than medals. It’s proof of what she says children with disabilities can achieve when given the right support.

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Liesl, who was born with Down syndrome, recently won the 50-meter freestyle at a local Special Olympics swim meet. Laura says moments like that highlight her daughter’s abilities — and the importance of educational environments that meet her needs.

“My daughter taught a neurotypical kid (a child without an intellectual disability) how to swing and how to do a cartwheel,” Laura said.

But Laura says those abilities were overlooked when Liesl was ready to start school. When it came time for kindergarten, her family’s parish school — where Liesl’s four older siblings attended — was unable to accept her.

“When it came time for Liesl to go to St. Patrick’s, they refused us,” Laura said. “It was just heartbreaking because that’s our home. I don’t want to give them a bad name — they didn’t have the funds.”

Laura later enrolled Liesl at Fannin Elementary in Corpus Christi ISD, where she says a smaller campus and ample resources for students with disabilities helped her daughter succeed.

“It was small, so she had the ability to feel success navigating that school independently,” Laura said. “She could go to lunch in the cafeteria because it wasn’t huge and so loud, and she didn’t have to look different by wearing her headphones.”

Now in middle school, Laura says the environment has become overwhelming for Liesl. The larger campus led her daughter to refuse to attend school, prompting Laura to begin homeschooling, a decision she says comes with significant costs that could be offset by an education freedom account. 

“I can now get those services for her privately — occupational therapy, speech therapy, music therapy, and a specific reading tutor,” she said.

Laura hopes Texas’ proposed education freedom accounts, also known as education savings accounts, could help families like hers pay for those services. Even if her family is not among the 50,000-100,000 families to receive funding, she says the program represents something parents of children with disabilities often lack: choice.

“I just hope that people allow parents to make a better decision for their child,” Laura said. “To make an individual family decision and still make it affordable.”