Group wants to help disabled get services
PENSACOLA (AP) — There are more than 18,000 people in Florida waiting to receive services from the state's Agency for Persons with Disabilities. This year, they found an advocate in Mike Coonan. "In January, I started Left Behind in Florida, a network of families with developmentally disabled children on the state's wait list," he said. "We want that list eliminated." When Coonan, 64, and his family moved to Pensacola from Michigan in 2004, they were surprised to learn the state had a list, and more surprised to find out it could be years before families might receive services. "We didn't know we'd be left to fend for ourselves," he said. Mike Coonan's son, Matt, 26, is on the list. He has epilepsy and autism but is high-functioning. He lives at home but works at a local supermarket with the help of a job coach and mentoring by his father and mother, Prudence Coonan.
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