After seven years as New Jersey’s government advocate for individuals with developmental disabilities, Paul Aronsohn is still struck by the indifference.
Year after year, Aronsohn brings attention to heartbreaking stories of disabled individuals abused in group homes and neglected on buses; families desperate to keep their violent children with severe autism from hitting them and themselves; parents struggling to access services in a state that has plenty of them.
Stacie Sherman is an accomplished journalist with more than three decades of experience as a writer and editor in some of the country’s top newsroom. She is now an advocate for those with disabilities. Read more of her work here.
Despite countless recommendations to improve the system for disabled New Jerseyans, Aronsohn’s powers are limited and many of his proposals remain unaddressed. With a new governor taking office next year, Aronsohn will step down as New Jersey’s first Ombudsman for Individuals with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities and Their Families, requiring a replacement to be appointed.
“I’m emotionally spent,” Aronsohn, 59, said during a recent interview. “I need to move on.”
Aronsohn’s frustrations are evident in his mandated annual reports. In his latest and last report, he repeats calls for change he has made year after year. He urges government policymakers to spend more time with people with disabilities and their families, and to put those people in policy-making positions. He calls for universal autism screening of all New Jersey children; expanded support for police responding to mental health crises; and
a multi-agency approach to autism. He also urges the next administration to give the office more resources and authority.
“He is in an important position; it should have more power in decision-making,” said Patricia Miller, New Jersey chair of the National Council on Severe Autism.
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