We include this web page so that Vermonters can quickly and easily weigh in with legislators about important issues. The section titled ?The Issue? provides you with background information and ?talking points? you can use your letter. Drop-down menus allow you to select the legislator(s) who will receive your letter. When choosing the subject of your email, make it specific but brief. Remember that legislators receive many messages each day; a subject line that identifies the purpose of the message is important.

The Issue:
SERVICES FOR VERMONTERS WITH AUTISM: A range of services should be available to all persons on the Autism spectrum within their communities. Different combinations of supports and approaches will be needed; in all cases providers must have training and demonstrated competency in the appropriate methodologies. Capacity for services should be equitably distributed across the state and people should be equally eligible for a variety of wrap around services based upon their need. NOTE: Talking points are offered as suggestions ONLY.

Talking Points:

• There is a serious shortage of information, appropriate expertise and access to effective services in Vermont. Availability of expertise is unequally distributed across the state.
• The state’s “white paper” on autism spectrum disorders outlined a set of needs and gaps in services; the time to act upon these is now- not in several years. Vermonters with autism and their families can’t wait.
• As with other developmental disabilities, effective services for Vermonters with autism must be available across the lifespan, age-appropriate, and seamless. This implies coordination and collaboration among state departments and with our communities.
• Developmental research on children on the autism spectrum emphasizes the critical function of intensive early intervention, which is associated with long-term gains and reduced reliance upon services.
• Families frequently have to fight for appropriate early services, because the state has not provided adequate resources for this important investment.
• Children whose families cannot afford to supplement available supports may be at a significant disadvantage, in both the short- and long-term.
• Access to new children’s Home-and Community-Based waivers in Developmental Services was “suspended” by the state in 2001, resulting in a 2-tiered system of “haves and have-nots.”
• Thus, two children with very similar diagnoses, functional impairments, and family resources can have dramatically different supports and opportunities to meet their potential. Stressors upon families of children without waivers are typically greater.
• Vermonters with autism and their families must be core participants in framing and monitoring changes in this area. Many families have, by necessity, developed expertise that is in short supply in the service system.

Please select which legislators you would like to send your letter to in the boxes below. To make multiple selections hold the CTRL button and makeyour selections.

Your Name:

Your E-Mail Address:

E-Mail Subject Line:

Salutation:

Give your legislator some brief background information about yourself and why you are sending this letter. Be sure to identify yourself as his or her constituent.

In this box select some of the talking points provided above and tell your legislator why they are important to you. In particular, describe how your life (or the life of someone close to you) will be impacted for better or worse, as a result of certain actions (e.g., funding shortfalls, changes to a program, failure to improve a policy.)

In this box you can write any closing comments you may have. Be sure to thank the legislator for his or her attention and request a response. Let him or her know the best way to reach you.