GOVERNOR KIM REYNOLDS HAS PROCLAIMED FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 24TH AS “MIA PETERSON DAY IN IOWA” TO COMMEMORATE THE 50TH BIRTHDAY OF AN UNDER-RECOGNIZED IOWAN WHO WORKED THROUGHOUT HER ADULT LIFE TO PROMOTE SELF-ADVOCACY AND EQUAL TREATMENT.
PETERSON WAS BORN IN SIOUX CITY IN 1973, GREW UP IN WEBSTER CITY, AND BECAME THE FIRST PERSON WITH DOWN SYNDROME TO SERVE ON THE IOWA DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES COUNCIL.
SHE WOULD GO ON TO TESTIFY BEFORE CONGRESS, SERVE ON THE NATIONAL DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES COUNCIL, AND BE VIEWED AS A NATIONAL TRAILBLAZER FOR SELF-ADVOCACY.
THE PROCLAMATION INCLUDES PETERSON’S BELIEF THAT WE SHOULD “LET PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES, AND DON’T LET OTHERS SPEAK FOR THEM.”
PETERSON PASSED AWAY IN 2021, BUT HER LEGACY ENDURES.
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