August 23, 2016 – Continuing the strong run of timely speakers, our program committee gave us a chance to hear from Julia Martinelli, the Executive Director of AccessAbility. Martinelli has been personally involved with the issues faced by South Carolinians with special needs for almost 30 years – ever since her son Richard at the age of two in 1989, just weeks after Hurricane Hugo was in an accident in which he suffered a brain injury leaving him severely disabled. AccessAbility has been in operation since 2001, but Martinelli began her service as executive director only recently. The mission of her agency is to provide advocacy, education and support to enhance access to South Carolinians with special needs in the five counties her agency serves. As she pointed out many of us at some point in our lives will be touched by disability either becoming disabled ourselves, caring for a parent who is disabled, or, like her, caring for a child who is disabled. Continue reading “Julia Martinelli: AccessAbility”
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