Recognizing Developmental Disability Awareness Month in the MOV

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (WTAP) - Thursday’s Wood County Commission meeting was the first of the month and to mark the start of March, two proclamations were read.

One of which was declaring March Developmental Disability Awareness Month.

Representatives from The Arc of the Mid-Ohio Valley were present to share their work with the commissioners.

Morgan Spicer, Special Projects Coordinator for The Arc, spoke about the podcast that he cohosts with Melissa Southall, Self-Advocate Coordinator for People First of West Virginia.

The podcast is called “Legislative Matters Now” and Spicer says they use it to discuss legislative advocacy issues as well as share stories of people using self-advocacy to better their lives.

“An example of one of those was (in) our pilot episode,” Spicer says. “We had one of our People First individuals from Charleston actually write a letter to President Trump about needing some accessibility for the apartment complex that she lives in. Yeah, and she had numerous responses.”

Among those responses was one from Senator Capito.

Spicer says the podcast airs on the fourth Wednesday of each month.

The proclamation, which was read aloud by Commissioner Couch, states that “People with developmental disabilities are family, friends, neighbors, customers, voters, and coworkers... While they may need additional support, they deserve to live, work, and worship just like everybody else.”

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