URGENT SUNDAY DEADLINE: Tell your military autism story to Congress

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by Jeremy Hilton

Next Wednesday, June 20, at 1430 (in Room 232-A Senate Russell Bldg), the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel will be holding a hearing on the issues impacting our military families affected by disabilities. I will be testifying along with four or five other witnesses. Here is the specific info on the hearing: http://armed-services.senate.gov/e_witnesslist.cfm?id=5303

I suspect a large portion of the testimony and discussion will be referencing a potential Senator Gillibrand amendment regarding ABA and the recent OPM decision to include ABA as a medically necessary therapy for the dependents of federal workers. I intend to address that issue in my written testimony, along with other issues relevant to our community including special education, Tricare, Medicaid waivers, and the EFMP programs.

I’d like to ensure your voice is heard as part of this process and hope to be allowed to include your story as part of the official record. If you are interested in participating, please send me your family’s story on one page (I know, not a lot of space) in either a word, jpg or pdf document (NLT than this Sunday night…I have to submit on Monday). Please include a picture of your family on the same page and bullet points and/or a short synopsis of the primary issues to you and your family.

If you have something positive you want to share, please do so. Remember that Senate staffers or the Senators themselves will be reviewing these so please remember appropriate decorum. If you are interested, email me at jlrmhilton@gmail.com and I’ll be happy to send two examples of what I’m looking for. You can also see the Wrightslaw post for more information. Please repost on Facebook and disseminate to your friends and networks that are similarly impacted.

If you are in the DC area, I would encourage you to come to the hearing as it will open to the public. For those of you on active duty, I would recommend you don’t wear your uniform.

This is our chance to indicate the level of interest we all have on this issue! It may be our only chance for a very long time. Please participate.