Advocates for intellectual disabilities join to speak as One Voice

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

139 Main Capitol Building, Harrisburg

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Advocates for intellectual disabilities join to speak as One Voice

HARRISBURG, April 30 – Strength and unity were on display today at the Capitol as the autism and intellectual disability communities announced the creation of the One Voice coalition, an effort to bolster advocacy by combining the efforts of several entities.

Parents, advocates, and self-advocates joined Speaker of the House Dennis O’Brien and Sen. Jane Orie to outline the One Voice agenda for the current legislative session.

“Tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians live with autism spectrum disorders or intellectual disabilities. They don’t all have the same needs, but they all deserve fair treatment and adequate services,” said Speaker of the House Dennis O’Brien, who hosted today’s event.

While advocates for each special-needs community have worked hard to ensure that affected individuals can access necessary services, the different communities have not always worked together.

The One Voice coalition is a new initiative to combine forces and thus bring added strength to the voices of those living with autism and intellectual disabilities.

“This coalition will allow the advocates from the intellectual disabilities and autism communities to leverage their resources, time and talents,” said Sen. Orie. She described the leading role in neurological research of several Pennsylvania institutions, including the University of Pittsburgh.

Stephen Suroviec, executive director of The Arc of Pennsylvania, talked about the needs of people with mental retardation, whom his group has been helping for more than half a century.

David Fine, the parent of a child living with autism, described the challenges faced by family members and their loved ones living with a disability.

“Just as we are coming together as partners today, we are requesting a partnership between the executive and legislative branches as they work on this year’s state budget,” Fine said. “There is a long waiting list of people with different service needs. That backlog of services must be addressed.”

David Gates of the Pennsylvania Health Law Project joined in calling for state funding in the next budget to at least match what Gov. Ed Rendell proposed in February. He said this would go a long way to eliminating waiting lists for services.

Debbie Robinson, a self-advocate and executive director of Speaking for Ourselves, a statewide advocacy group, underlined the importance of greater public awareness about the needs, wishes and potential of people with disabilities.

Timothy McCullough, a 24-year-old self-advocate living with autism, spoke about the need for more state support of employment assistance programs.

“I want to work. With the help of a job coach I found work last year with a catering company, but then my coach left because funding ran out. With a support system I can be a good employee,” McCullough said.

The fight for those with autism spectrum disorders has been a top legislative priority of O’Brien for many years. He and Orie are co-chairs of the Joint House and Senate Autism Caucus.

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