Advocacy Mondays: 5 Questions Answered by Mary Beth Krohel
1. How did you find your path to parent-advocacy? My road to advocacy began at NEDA in 2004. I attended their conference in Atlanta to begin my education in the field to assist my daughter with her battle. At this conference, I was able to consult with many of the experts in the field including Dr. Walt Kaye and Craig Johnson. I tended to gravitate to the people who were not blaming parents and acknowledged the genetic component of this illness. I was very lucky to see this illness as a brain disorder from the onset. In addition, because of my professional background in the field of autism, I was able to see that the treatment of this illness by many was very similar to the early treatments in autism. Isn’t it strange how history keeps repeating itself and we cannot easily learn from previous mistakes? I felt that it was very important for parents like myself to be there to reflect and challenge th...