Ruth C. Sullivan
( 1924 - 2021 )

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Ruth Christ Sullivan (1924-2021) is recognized as a pioneer in the field of autism. She and her husband, William Sullivab, had seven children. In 1962, they realized their fifth child, Joseph, was not a normal little boy. In 1963, he was diagnosed with classical autism. At that point, Sullivan began to research, network and organize. In 1965, she co-founded the National Society for Autistic Children, now known as the Autism Society of America. In 1968, the family moved to Huntington, where she started an Information and Referral Service to answer the queries she was  receiving from around the world. In 1979, she founded the Autism Services Center (ASC), an agency in Huntington that grew to provide services to thousands of people with autism and developmental disabilities in West Virginia. In 1984, she successfully lobbied the West Virginia legislature for funding to start the West Virginia Autism Training Center at Marshall University. By the time she retired at age 83, she had received dozens of awards and had been invited to speak around the world.                                                                                                                

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