I am a mother of two high school students from Kirkland and founder of Washington Autism Alliance & Advocacy, our state’s leading autism outreach and advocacy organization.

As a mother and advocate I wanted to share something really special that happened in Olympia because of the leadership of State Sen. Andy Hill. Sen. Hill stepped up in a big way. He listened, he engaged and most importantly, he reached out and worked with our community to help resolve critical problems.

If you know Sen. Hill you know one thing – as the Senate’s chief budget writer – he’s a numbers guy. And so with that in mind, let’s look at some powerful numbers from this past session.

Four thousand is the number of families in Washington caring for a child with a disability who will now receive much-needed respite care thanks to passage of Senator Hill’s Vulnerable Individuals Priority Act (VIP Act).

One thousand is the number of adult individuals with disabilities who will now receive employment or employment services, again thanks to the VIP Act.

Thirty thousand is the number of paid autism screenings now provided for children 36 months of age or younger who are suspected of having autism. For the first time ever, the Health care authority will add reimbursement for timely access to a formal diagnostic evaluation and referral for evidence-based treatment.

Five-hundred thousand is the number of students our para-educators teach in schools across this state, over half of which are students with disabilities. Thanks to Senator Andy Hill and his Para-educator Development Bill, our state will develop a career path and better training for our dedicated para-educators.

As a state, we are first in the nation to develop a career path for para-educators.

Para-educators work on the front lines every day with many of our highest needs students. Yet until now, our state has provided little in the way of training and career development. With Sen. Hill’s para-educator bill, that will change and change for the better.

And so today I say “thank you” Senator Hill – thank you for your leadership, your hard work, and most of all – thank you for your compassion and understanding of the challenges our community faces.

Arzu Forough, Kirkland