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Families and advocates urge keeping a separate Autism Spectrum Disorders council; opponents earlier sought repeal
Summary
House Bill 634 seeks to restore and revise the New Hampshire Council on Autism Spectrum Disorders after the House amended the bill to repeal the council; families, advocates and council leaders urged the Senate committee to preserve the council and its statutory role.
Representative D. Stringham introduced House Bill 634 to reinvigorate the New Hampshire Council on Autism Spectrum Disorders and described amendments made in the House that would instead repeal the council. He asked the committee to reinstate the original version that tightened the council’s purpose, allowed remote participation for people with disabilities, expanded membership and adjusted nomination procedures to address long-standing quorum and vacancy problems.
Multiple witnesses, including parents, nonprofit directors and the council’s interim chair, strongly opposed repealing the council. Amy Rayum, a board-certified behavior analyst and mother of an adult son with autism, described multi-decade increases in autism prevalence and told the committee the council gives families a single place to seek resources and referrals. Dr. Luis Esposito of Able New Hampshire said the council serves people who do not meet existing developmental-services eligibility and would be erased by the repeal. Isadora Rodriguez Legendre, executive director of the New Hampshire Council on Developmental Disabilities, said she holds a statutory seat on the autism council and opposed the amendment because the two councils serve different populations; she provided an example of an adult diagnosed late who received services only decades later.
Interim chair Marissa Berg said the restarted council has begun meeting monthly, attracted public attendance and is filling appointed slots slowly; she said roughly half of developmental-services applicants currently list autism as their primary condition, so an autism-specific council addresses needs not covered by the Developmental Services Quality Council. Witnesses asked the committee to restore the original House language that adds family members and allows remote participation to improve quorum and participation by people with disabilities.
Committee members asked about meeting attendance and quorum; witnesses said virtual participation and additional family seats would increase participation. No final committee vote was recorded; the committee closed the hearing and the sponsor offered to prepare an amendment to return to the original bill text.
