John Martin director of the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities, was the keynote speaker at the 27th annual elected officials breakfast hosted Thursday by the Logan County Board of DD. March is DD Awareness Month.
John Martin, director of the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities, speaks during Thursday’s 27th annual elected officials breakfast hosted Thursday by the Logan County Board of DD to kick off DD Awareness Month. (PHOTO | JAMIE ROSS)
Martin, who has been state director for 11 years, plans to retire at the end of the year. He highlighted some of the department’s accomplishments during his tenure. He said a decade ago, there was much mistrust and mismanagement between the different state branches of government that handled developmental disability matters. However, Martin said the field has now come together and is working closer than ever before. He believes employers and others in Ohio have come to recognize individuals with developmental disabilities as valued members of our communities and workforce. “In this upcoming budget, we moved everything related to DD under the Department of DD where we have a consistent philosophy with the goal of making services for individuals and families easier to navigate,” Martin said.
More than 3,000 individuals with development disabilities have been added to Ohio’s workforce in the past several years.
“Some of us, our skills and abilities come out easily with no problems. Then there’s others that take a lot of effort, support, even technology to develop,” Martin explained. “But when those skills come out the work is equal.
Read complete story in Friday’s Examiner.
CLICK HERE to subscribe today!
WEB EDITION STARTING AT $9.50 FOR 5 WEEKS!