HEIDI MOREINHeidi Morein (née Levine) (b. Dec 25 1958) grew up in a world that hid its disabled children and made their parents ashamed. Her brother, born with Downs Syndrome and autism, required so much of her mother’s time that her father, an engineer with Philco-Ford, brought home reams of paper so she could draw, and taught her how to operate a wollensak reel-to-reel tape recorder so she could tell stories and record them. In this way she was something of a podcaster, artist and writer by the age of three. She made frequent trips with her mother to Arlen Spector’s office, where her mother pleaded for state and federal aid for disabled children. After her son Julian was born and diagnosed with autism (Asperger’s), Heidi began a journey to better understand autism, going to every seminar she could. After making something of a name for herself by running for local office and volunteering with several committees in Cheltenham township, in 2015 Heidi created a community arts program for special needs children with the help of her son, Julian, whose own maturity benefitted from mentoring younger children with autism.The program was featured on WHYY’s Newsworks. Not long after, Heidi began receiving Facebook requests for guidance, including from a father in Kurdistan seeking help for his son, and she has given him her help and support ever since. Realizing that she needed more professional expertise, Heidi went back to school in her fifties to Arcadia, to become a licensed ABA therapist. She is currently working on a curriculum to help families better understand the hidden world of autism struggles, so that they may be better equipped to advocate for and support their children. I have known Heidi Morein since I entered politics in 2005 and can speak with the utmost enthusiasm and admiration of her peerless dedication and perseverance in her crusade regarding service to the autism community. As a congressman, she became my foremost advisor regarding this special and vibrant community, from broadening awareness of how to best support it to achieving legislation where required. As a direct result of her thoughtful guidance and astute knowledge, our office originated and passed into law the first legislative increase in federal funding for autism in twelve years. Heidi cares deeply, and her passion to serve was always compelling in producing results that mattered to a community that is exceptional in offering our nation so much. Thank you, Heidi, for your service in helping it do so.children. by Joe Sestak I want to tell you something about Mrs. Heidi Morein .. by Asa Ghafoor
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