Maryland’s coordinator for autism strategy a beacon for representation
When Maryland publishes its plan for addressing the needs of autistic people next year, it will largely be due to the efforts of one of the community’s own.
Victoria Rodríguez-Roldán is an autistic, Latina trans woman with over a decade of combined experience in the government and nonprofit sectors, according to her biography, who has written for academic journals on the intersection of autistic and LGBTQ+ identities.
In August, Democratic Gov. Wes Moore appointed Rodríguez-Roldán as the state coordinator for autism strategy for the Maryland Department of Disabilities, which recommended Rodríguez-Roldán for the position after a national search.
“We were really impressed with her work in government and nonprofits and really advocating policy changes for many underserved communities,” Secretary Carol Beatty said, adding that one of Rodríguez-Roldán’s most important qualifications is her lived experience. “Our department feels very strongly in how important representation is to the disability community.”
Rodríguez-Roldán hopes her role, and what she represents in it, will help eliminate stigmas around developmental disabilities.
“That is my goal: that every autistic person in Maryland has access to live up to their fullest potential, whatever that potential is,” Rodríguez-Roldán said.
The coordinator role was established by legislation sponsored by Del. Michele Guyton, a Democrat representing Baltimore County who is a developmental psychologist, educational disabilities advocate and mother of a son with autism. In an email, Guyton said the legislation “was developed in close collaboration with self-advocates, caregivers of nonspeaking self-advocates, and leading advocacy groups representing the disabilities communities.”
“Maryland is woefully unprepared to address the housing, employment, health care and social/ emotional needs of this community as they and their caregivers age,” Guyton said. “Legislation is a proactive solution to those looming problems.”
Rodríguez-Roldán, 34, will work with the Advisory Stakeholder Group on Autism-Related Needs to develop a strategic plan for autism, which she said will act essentially as the state’s policy for addressing issues impacting the autistic community. The plan will focus on transportation, housing, safety, employment, health care, education and community integration, Rodríguez-Roldán said. ASGARN includes self-advocates like Rodríguez-Roldán as well as parents of autistic children and professionals.
Once the plan is published next summer, Rodríguez-Roldán is responsible for implementing it. She will also serve as a resource for state government employees, up to and including Moore, when it comes to autism-related issues.
“The first four months of Victoria’s tenure have been very productive,” Moore said in an emailed statement. “She has hit the ground running and has already hosted several meetings and town halls across the state to hear directly from members of the autism community from all parts of the state.”
Rodríguez-Roldán will incorporate every voice she hears from into a plan that will reflect the diversity of Maryland and the disability rights community, she said.
“One of my guiding stars in a way … [is] ensuring that the policies that we make with regards to autism, with regards to disability in general, don’t just access the privileged few that have the resources to fight for those resources and rights,” Rodríguez-Roldán said, “but instead also reach all those with disabilities [that] are less popular or more marginalized, all those who live at the intersections of disability and being a person of color or being LGBTQ or being in rural areas and so on.”
According to her LinkedIn, Rodríguez-Roldán previously chaired the board of directors for the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, a Washington, D.C., based organization run by autistic adults. Zoe Gross, the director of advocacy for the network, said when she saw Maryland was looking for a state coordinator for autism policy, she “was really hoping that it would go to an autistic person” because the conversation around autism has been long-dominated by family members of autistic people or non-autistic professionals working in the field of autism.
“There’s nothing wrong with hearing from those voices. But we really need autistic voices to be centric in this conversation because we have a perspective on autism that other people don’t have. We know it from the inside out,” Gross said. “This isn’t just something that we work on professionally. This is our lives.”
In his statement, Moore said that “the best solutions come from those closest to the challenges,” and that his administration is “committed to listening to the autism community in Maryland.”
Rodríguez-Roldán said she’s passionate about advocating for the autistic community — and that makes her new role more difficult, in some ways.
“I’d say the challenge is not getting carried away in the passion because it’s a subject I love and hold deeply in my heart,” Rodríguez-Roldán said. “I came from the nonprofit sector, where it’s almost traditional to burn yourself out, and I want to make sure we don’t do that. The community doesn’t deserve that.”
To avoid burnout, Rodríguez-Roldán leans on therapy and her hobby of choice, video games. Right now, she’s loving Starfield, Baldur’s Gate 3 and her comfort favorite, Fallout 4. profiles notable people in the Baltimore region who are having an impact in our diverse communities. If you’d like to suggest someone who should be profiled, please send their name and a short description of what they are doing to make a difference to: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Editor Kamau High at khigh@baltsun.com.