Working Together As One; Legislative Breakfast

This annual breakfast brought together an impressive 600 individuals; local legislators, service providers, and family members of individuals with developmental disablilities to discuss our gains in the past few years. I was pleased to hear how many progrms New York State has to offer children like Christina, pictured here with Diana Jones Ritter, the Commissioner of the NY Office of Mentally Retarded Developmental Disabilities (pictured here consciously NOT touching the stroller, as Christina needed some space!) She was very understanding, saying that she is a mother herself. It's reassuring that a mother can rise to such an important position, offering care to thousands of handicapped individuals in New York State.

My fellow parishioner of St John's, Roy Probeyhahn, father of three sons with autism is at the podium, giving testimony to the gains made during his sons' lifetime in terms of community services.

New York State offers some of the best services in Early Intervention, and community-based care for the mentally challenged. I told many of the attendees that Mr. Blue Sky will be shown at the Babylon Theatre the week of November 9th, and I hope to see them there. The 2007 Daniel Milch Award was given to James Sisto who has done various Broadway plays with mentally challenged individuals. He expressed a great interest in attending the opening of "Mr Blue Sky".

In his talk, Mr. Sisto quoted a young self-advocate, Cliff, who stated so succinctly the entire purpose of the day's talks, "We want a LIFE".