ARC of Massachusetts celebrating 70 years of fighting for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities and autism
BOSTON - The ARC of Massachusetts was formed 70 years ago to fight for the rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and autism.
As Executive Director Leo Sarkissian put it, "No other organization in our Commonwealth has had a comparable, positive impact on those with IDD."
What was life like before the ARC? "It was a dark time" said Evelyne Milorin of Medford. "Having a child that no one understands, even myself…we never saw anything like that."
In fact, no one used the word "autism." "We didn't," Milorin said. "No one, even the doctor, they couldn't tell us what was wrong with him."
"The ARC was a life saver...for us, and for Reggie and for others," said her husband, Henry Milorin.
When their son, Reggie, was born in 1972, Evelyne and Henry Milorin felt very alone, especially when they were told their son would have to live in an institution. Henry Milorin could not envision that life for his son
"We said no, there was a panel of nine doctors. No, we're not going to accept it, we're going to try something else," said Henry Milorin. "You can change anything with love...love, we had that."
The Milorins forged on like so many others before them, encountering difficult days at school and facing obstacles they had never encountered before. It's so hard to believe now, but 70 years ago in Massachusetts, parents with a special needs child had no right to an education for them, and if their child ended up in a state facility, parents lost all decision-making power over their own child. A group of parents came together to form an association to say to the Commonwealth: these conditions are intolerable, and we're going to change that. Sarkissian remembers it was a bleak time.
"For families in the 50s, there was nowhere to turn," said Sarkissian. "Families began to come together in their homes, kitchens to try to figure something out and that's how the ARC got started."
By the early 1960s, WBZ's own TV cowboy Rex Trailer had taken up the cause, leading a "Wagon Train" of parents to the State House to raise awareness for the ARC. Sarkissian said it has taken decades of hard work to change the way citizens and legislators think and act to improve the lives of the disabled.
"We've gotten everything from not having services and people being forced to go to institutions to today, people appreciating that persons with disabilities can work, they have the right to the same kind of living options as others, they have a right to healthcare, you know, so it's night and day from the 1950s," said Sarkissian.
That change has been made real in the lives of people like the Milorins' son Reggie. The family connected with the ARC in 1990, and now Reggie at, 50 years old, has a full-time job and lives independently in his own apartment. What have they learned from the ARC?
"I became his voice," said Milorin. "Through ARC, what I learned about our legislators was how to educate them, it took 15 years for our senators to know about autism."
"I've learned through the ARC how to advocate, how to lobby, how to legislate," said Henry Milorin.
Sarkissian said he's excited about the future and the possibilities because of changes in technology, which will improve communication and which will no doubt transform the lives of people living with intellectual and developmental disabilities.