The Arc of San Angelo Assists Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

The Arc has been in existence on a national level since 1950, according to Executive Director of the Arc of San Angelo Lettitia McPherson. The local chapter of the Arc has been active since 1966.

Nowadays, the organization has many programs available to assist those individuals with any developmental disabilities.

“We work at the legislative level to make changes in legislation that will benefit people with disabilities,” McPherson said. “Also, we operate here locally several programs, one of which is the Autism Alliance.”

For more about the Autism Alliance of the Concho Valley, consult San Angelo LIVE!’s story on the ThAUTful Theatre program.

Other programs under the umbrella of the Arc include the Guardianship Alliance and Access, Resources, and Connections. The former, according to McPherson, assists individuals without family and friends who are in desperate need for a guardian. The latter is where the program gets its name.

“[Access, Resources, and Connections] is a monthly education and training program for parents of children with disabilities,” McPherson said.

The program brings in experts to educate the community about topics such as development issues surrounding autism, strategies to help manage or avoid behaviors and much more. The meetings are held at the library on the last Tuesday of every month. In fact, the Arc’s last meeting occurred this previous Tuesday.

“Sometimes, the parent [of a child with autism] is faced with 15 different individuals who are going to be involved in each children’s life, [such as] the therapists, the special education teachers [and] the insurance,” McPherson said. “When they go to one of those parent’s meetings, they’re overwhelmed. So this kind of helps break it down into understandable terms of who does what and why.”

In addition to the Arc’s guardianship program, the organization offers a less restrictive alternative to guardianship. According to McPherson, a new law passed on September 1, 2015 that allows an individual to not have to go through the formality of having a court appointed guardian if he or she has the capacity to select someone to support him or her in decision making.

“We’re really focused on getting that information out to the professionals as well as individuals with disabilities; they don’t have to go [the guardianship] route if they have the capacity to understand choice making,” McPherson said.

According to McPherson, "There isn’t another entity that accepts guardianship for people without family and friends.” The only exception she cited is the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services, which provides guardians for elderly individuals in a state of neglect.

Another issue that McPherson wanted to call awareness to is that once children are out of school, adult services are available on a first come, first serve basis. She claimed there is an 8 to 10 year waiting list for resources for adults with disabilities. Therefore, she recommended for parents to try to get on the list when their child is 10 years old. Otherwise, “your child may be 30 years old before they get the services they need.”

For more about the Arc, take a look at San Angelo LIVE!’s previous interview with the program.