Pac Rim 2009 Info
Noted Speakers: Polly Arango
Polly Arango | Fernando Cruz | Frank De Lima | Frank DeRuyter | Katharina Heyer | Cinda and Linea Johnson | David Johnson | Robert Mcruer | Leolinda Parlin | Tanya and Michelle Ponich | Joseph Ray | Suzanne Robinson | Loretta Ross | Dr. Neil Scott | Howard C. Shane | Charlotte Smith | Bethany Stevens | Damon Terzaghi | Amy Wilson
Monday May 4th, 2009: 9:00 AM -10:00 AM in Room 304A, on topic of Family Support
“How Can We Be Powerful Partners and Advocates?”
It’s not hard to think of ourselves as advocates for our sons and daughters with disabilities or special health care needs. We naturally speak on their behalf with their teachers and doctors, for example. But we sometimes forget that our experiences with our kids can lead to improvements in the services they and their friends deserve. It’s our family stories that can open the eyes of school officials, government policymakers, community leaders, and our friends and neighbors to our sons’ and daughters’ gifts and challenges.
Let’s listen to stories about how families from many different backgrounds have worked in partnership with one another and with professionals to change how services are delivered, laws written, and policies developed for children and youth with special health care needs. No matter who we are, we have powerful stories. Let’s look within those stories to find the common threads that link us as families, professionals, and advocates
Biography: Polly Arango
Polly Arango lives in Algodones, New Mexico.
In 1992, Polly co-founded Family Voices, the national grassroots network of families working to keep families at the center of children’s health care. She was the Family Voices Executive Director for eight years and now serves on its Board of Directors. She also co-founded PRO, the statewide parent organization and served on its board for many years. She serves on the executive committee of the Board of Directors of New Mexico Voices for Children, the state’s child advocacy organization. She was named by Governor Richardson to the state’s Medicaid Advisory Committee. She is a member of the state Supreme Court’s Court Improvement Project on foster care.
She is co-author of several books, including: Family/Professional Collaboration; and Partners at Work, as well as many articles on health care, New Mexico, foster children, and family. She is executive producer and writer of What Does Normal Mean?” a PBS documentary film about inclusion.
