Editor’s note: This column is an open letter to the field of candidates running for New Jersey governor in 2025.
Dear Candidates:
I am writing to all of you with one request: Please make people with disabilities and their families a priority in your campaign, and for the eventual winner, please bring that priority to your administration. There are an estimated one million New Jerseyans with disabilities — a full 11% of our population. That includes hundreds of thousands of children and adults with lifespan disabilities, such as autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, spina bifida and intellectual disabilities.
As you know, disabilities affect people across every community, every socio-economic group, every political party. Indeed, I would venture to guess that every New Jersey family includes someone — close relative or friend — who has at least one disability. And I would venture to guess that many of them have not been able to obtain the supports and services that they need and deserve.
Over the past 7 years, the Murphy Administration has tried to make the system of care for people with disabilities better, stronger, more accessible and more person-centered. New policies. New approaches. New financial commitments. New transparency measures. But there is more that needs to be done. Much more.
And this year’s election for governor provides an opportunity to move the ball forward — to build on that strong foundation and to take it all to the next level.
To that end, I could offer a long list of recommendations, systemic as well as policy-specific. In fact, in each of our office’s six publicly-available annual reports we have shared very specific observations and recommendations that go to the heart of the challenges faced by many individuals and families. But knowing that you have a lot of demands placed on you, I have just three basic, commonsense, impactful requests:
Words matter
Too often, candidates and elected officials fail to reference people with disabilities in their communications. They talk about their commitment to this group and to that group of people, but tend to leave people with disabilities out of the conversation and out of their speeches.
Trust me – we in the disability community notice this. We notice the omissions, and conversely, we notice those rare occasions when people with disabilities are referenced in a speech, press release or media event. Like everyone else, people with disabilities and their families want to feel seen, heard, and understood by their elected officials.
I therefore urge you to include references to “people with disabilities and their families” in your communications whenever appropriate and possible. This is a really easy, albeit really meaningful ask.
Staff matter
Too often, candidates and elected officials fail to ensure their staff include people with lived disability experience. They may take great care to ensure a diverse workplace – paying particular attention to gender, race and culture — but they often seem to leave people with disabilities and their family members out of the mix.This is a mistake and a missed opportunity.
Representing such a large percentage of our population, people with lived disability experience should be involved in practically every aspect of your campaign and every aspect of the next administration. Yes, it is important to have someone with lived experience leading your outreach to the disability community, but it is even more important to have them deeply involved in the development of your communications and the full range of policiesrequired to run our dynamic State. For everyone’s sake, their perspective should always have a seat at your decision-making table.
I therefore urge you to make sure that diversity in your workplaces includes people with lived disability experience — that your campaign and the next administration truly reflect and represent New Jersey’s rich diversity by appointing people with disabilities and their family members to top positions. In so doing, you will be honoring the clarion call of the disability community, “Nothing about us without us.”
Autism matters
No particular disability is more important than another, but here in New Jersey, there is no question we have an autism crisis that demands the attention of every candidate seeking office.
Globally, the autism rate is 1 in 100 individuals. Nationally, in the United States, the rate is 1 in 36. Here in New Jersey, the rate is 1 in 35 individuals — that includes 64,000 children and 156,000 adults, approximately2.4% of our population.
Moreover, about 28% of those New Jerseyans with autism — 18,000 children and 44,000 adults — are also estimated to have an intellectual disability, what is increasingly known as “profound autism.” This includes about 30,000 individuals, children as well as adults, with severe autism — a mix of intellectual disability and severe challenging behavior (aggression, property destruction, and self-injurious behavior). On average, that is approximately 53 New Jerseyans with severe autism per town/municipality.
Any way you look at it, we have a crisis on our hands — one made more serious by the lack of treatments andsupports for many of these individuals and their families, one that is taking an increasing toll on all involved interms of human and financial costs.
As candidates for governor, I therefore urge you to make autism a priority. Specifically, I urge you to understand it, talk about it, and connect with individuals and families who can educate you through their real life experiences. And for the eventual winner of the gubernatorial election, I urge you to use your administration to take a holistic approach to this crisis, by bringing together our State’s academic, advocacy, medical and family communities to determine the best way forward — providing hope, relief and support to thousands of New Jerseyans, while providing an example for the rest of the country to follow. Again, I recognize that there are a lot of competing demands for your time, attention, and energy. As candidates for New Jersey’s highest office, there is no shortage of important issues for you to prioritize. But I also know that among your priorities should be New Jerseyans with disabilities and their families. The reasons are compelling, and the people involved are certainly deserving.
Thank you.Paul Aronsohn, a former mayor of Ridgewood, is New Jersey’s Ombudsman for Individuals with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities and Their Families. He is also currently a Member of the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities.
