An Open Letter to Bob From Speaker O'Brien, PA

July 12, 2008

July 12, 2008

Mr. C.

Co-Founder, Autism Speaks

2 Park Avenue

11th Floor

New York, NY 10016

Dear Bob:

We have a collective mission to create a world in which persons with

autism have every opportunity to participate fully in society, to

live meaningful and independent lives, to receive the respect they

deserve and to have the supports necessary for them to reach the

innate potential we know them to have. It & rsquo;s never been an easy

mission, and it doesn & rsquo;t often permit us the luxury of a pause

in the action to reflect on success.

I think last week & rsquo;s signing ceremony for Pennsylvania & rsquo;s

Act 62 of 2008 compels us to pause, ever so briefly, to consider the

statute and some of its history.

First, Act 62 is good, solid legislation that meets several critical

goals for our community. We can all agree with that conclusion and,

in many respects, it is the only conclusion that matters.

Second, people rarely accomplish important things without struggle,

and Act 62 is no exception. When we first announced introduction of

HB 1150 in our Capitol & rsquo;s rotunda 15 months ago, we understood

that its passage was never assured and that the path would be replete

with hurdles. It surely was. But we jumped the hurdles (and, when I

refer to & ldquo;we, & rdquo; I mean the broad coalition that included

Pennsylvania families and advocacy groups, Pennsylvania & rsquo;s

Public Welfare Secretary Estelle B. Richman, her staff, my staff, our

allies in the Pennsylvania General Assembly and national advocacy

groups like Autism Speaks).

Finally, and most painfully, & ldquo;we & rdquo; had some disagreements

in the final days of this battle. It would serve no purpose to

enumerate or detail those divergent positions here. However, while I

had hoped that Governor Rendell & rsquo;s signature on Act 62 would end

not only the legislative fight but also the internecine friction, that

seems not to be the case.

In recent days, I have seen what appears to be an escalating war of

words between and among members of Pennsylvania & rsquo;s advocacy

community and the staff and volunteers of Autism Speaks. Most

recently, Autism Speaks posted on its web site a revisionist account

of the history of Act 62 with a comparison of versions of the bill

that implicitly suggests that the amendments on which I insisted were

immaterial. The posting is offensive, and I could readily point to its

inaccuracies and misinterpretations. However, that is not the purpose

of this letter.

Bob, our collective mission is in no sense complete. We have many

more goals to meet, and our efforts will be far more effective if we

work together. Our time, resources and energy are not infinite. At

every step, we must ask if our efforts are helping children and

adults with autism, and we must reject every distraction to that

mission.

We must not waste time and energy on unproductive and wholly

retrospective debates. Therefore, with this letter, I am asking that

you instruct the staff of Autism Speaks to refrain from further

public discussion about the disagreements of the last several weeks

and to remove from the Autism Speaks web site the materials I

addressed above. And, by copy of this letter, I am asking that the

Pennsylvania autism community similarly refrain from additional

public recrimination. It is time for us again to direct all of our

passion, energy and love for persons with autism to our shared goals

for their well-being. To do otherwise would be to let them down.

Very truly yours,

Dennis M. O & rsquo;Brien The Speaker

cc: Pennsylvania Autism Community (via e-mail)

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July 12, 2008