Ruth Sullivan, Advocate for People With Autism, Dies at 97

Ruth Sullivan, a nationalist wellness caregiver who became an influential advocator for autistic children and adults aft 1 of her sons was diagnosed with the upset successful the aboriginal 1960s, died connected Sept. 16 astatine a elder surviving halfway successful Huntington, W.Va. She was 97.

Her girl Lydia Sullivan said the origin was atrial fibrillation, an abnormal bosom rhythm.

For much than 40 years, Dr. Sullivan was a tireless champion for acquisition and different opportunities for radical connected the autism spectrum. She was a laminitis of the Autism Society, a nationalist grass-roots organization, and secured authorities backing to unfastened the West Virginia Autism Training Center astatine Marshall University.

She started and ran the Autism Services Center, which provides residential, therapeutic and assemblage services, and for respective years offered accusation and referrals by telephone from her location successful Huntington, wherever she and her husband, William, raised 7 children.

“Our dinners were often interrupted by hysterical parents calling,” Lydia Sullivan said successful a telephone interview, “and my parent would walk the evenings talking to hopeless parents from astir the world.”

Dr. Sullivan was erstwhile that genitor hopeless for accusation astir autism. When her lad Joseph received his diagnosis successful 1963, astatine the property of 3, autism was a mysterious upset that astir pediatricians knew small about. She took Joseph to a doc successful Lake Charles, La., wherever the household was surviving astatine the time, and helium rapidly recognized that Joseph was autistic.

“I said, ‘What is that?’” she recalled erstwhile she was interviewed connected a podcast in 2016 by Marc Ellison, the enforcement manager of the Autism Training Center and 1 of her protégés. “He said helium volition ever beryllium odd. But helium couldn’t connection thing else.”

Nearly arsenic disturbing to Dr. Sullivan was a prevailing intelligence mentation that acold and distant parents — astir notably what were referred to arsenic “refrigerator mothers” — were liable for causing their children’s autism.

“I knew it wasn’t true,” she said connected the podcast. “I didn’t emotion Joseph immoderate little than the others. I treated him otherwise due to the fact that helium didn’t behave similar the others.” She added: “I’m the oldest of seven. I person 7 children. I was a nurse. I knew thing astir children.”

Research led her to work the publication “Infantile Autism: The Syndrome and Its Implications for a Neural Theory of Behavior” (1964), by Bernard Rimland, a scientist with an autistic son. He rebutted the assertion that neglectful parents caused autism successful their children and argued that autism was a effect of genetics and, possibly, biology factors.

Dr. Sullivan wrote to Dr. Rimland astir starting a nationalist web of parents that would person the latest probe astir autism. In 1965, the 2 of them and a radical of parents who had besides written to Dr. Rimland met astatine a location successful Teaneck, N.J., wherever they founded the National Society for Autistic Children (now the Autism Society), a enactment radical that would yet person galore section chapters passim the country. In 1969, she was elected its president.

At astir that time, Dr. Sullivan was besides trying to flooded a section schoolhouse board’s absorption to providing an acquisition to autistic children similar Joseph. She brought a prepared connection to a schoolhouse committee meeting, and section newspapers wrote astir her run to amended Joseph.

“For astir six weeks, I was connected the telephone each time trying to transportation them to acceptable up a peculiar class,” she told The Sunday Gazette-Mail of Charleston, W.Va., successful 1972.

“The adjacent week,” Dr. Sullivan added, “there was a people for Joseph and 12 different children. With the assistance of immoderate dedicated teachers, they’ve been attending schoolhouse ever since.”

She lobbied for the transition successful 1975 of what came to beryllium called the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, which required nationalist schools that received national wealth to supply adjacent entree to children with disabilities. She helped constitute the connection to see autistic children erstwhile the instrumentality was amended 15 years later.

She was a method advisor to “Rain Man,” Barry Levinson’s 1988 movie astir an autistic antheral (Dustin Hoffman) and his member (Tom Cruise). Mr. Hoffman studied 2 documentaries featuring Joseph to hole for the role, including outtakes from “Portrait of an Autistic Young Man” (1986), which was shown connected PBS stations.

“That’s wherever I met Joe, successful a sense,” Mr. Hoffman told The Associated Press successful 1988 astatine a showing of “Rain Man” successful Huntington that, astatine Dr. Sullivan’s request, was a fund-raiser for the Autism Services Center. “I buried myself determination for the archetypal 2 months.”

Joseph’s favourite country successful the movie was erstwhile Mr. Hoffman’s character, Raymond Babbit, rapidly counted spilled toothpicks.

Mr. Hoffman thanked Dr. Sullivan and Joseph when helium accepted the Oscar for champion actor. She believed that the movie helped broaden the public’s knowing of autism.

Ruth Marie Christ was calved connected April 20, 1924, successful Port Arthur, Texas, 90 miles eastbound of Houston. Her father, Lawrence, worked successful lipid refineries, past turned to farming aft helium and his household moved to Mowata, La., erstwhile Ruth was precise young. Her mother, Ada (Matt) Christ, worked successful a section store.

After graduating from the nursing programme astatine Charity Hospital successful New Orleans successful 1943, Dr. Sullivan served successful the Army Nurse Corps, treating soldiers during World War II astatine Fort Sam Houston successful San Antonio (now Joint Base San Antonio).

After the warfare ended, she moved to Lake Charles for 4 years, past attended Teachers College astatine Columbia University connected the G.I. Bill. After receiving bachelor’s and master’s degrees successful nationalist health, she worked arsenic a caregiver successful Manhattan. She joined William Sullivan, an English professor, successful 1952 and accompanied him to teaching posts successful Columbia, Mo., Lake Charles and Albany, moving portion clip arsenic a caregiver until her 4th kid was calved successful 1958.

Joseph, her 5th child, was calved successful 1960. He started speaking aboriginal but began to retreat astatine 18 months. By his 2nd birthday, Dr. Sullivan wrote successful her diary — which was quoted by The Gazette-Mail successful 1972 — “he could accidental lone 8 words. He would bespeak what helium wanted by grunts, guiding our hands to what helium wanted.”

In 1984, astatine 60, she earned a Ph.D. successful peculiar education, code pathology and science from Ohio University, which gave her greater lasting with the radical she lobbied.

Her relentless but gentle benignant of advocacy continued until her status successful 2007.

“Providing guidance to families nationally was evidently spectacular,” said Stephen Edelson, enforcement manager of the Autism Research Institute. “But she was besides 1 of the archetypal radical to speech astir aesculapian comorbidities associated with autism, similar seizures, slumber problems and gastrointestinal problems. And she was 1 of the archetypal to constituent to the value of providing services to adults with autism.”

Jimmie Beirne, main enforcement of the Autism Services Center (the presumption Dr. Sullivan held from 1979 to 2007), was hired 33 years agone to enactment portion clip with Joseph connected processing his societal skills.

“The doctrine that she worked truthful hard to instill successful america was to person a parent’s perspective, to deliberation arsenic if this is our kid receiving these services,” Dr. Beirne said by phone. “She’d accidental that the quality betwixt bully and fantabulous services is successful the details, and, similar a bully coach, she had an oculus for details.”

Today, Joseph lives successful a radical location tally by the Autism Services Center and works astatine the Autism Training Center.

In summation to Joseph and her girl Lydia, Dr. Sullivan is survived by her different sons, Larry, Richard and Christopher; her different daughters, Julie Sullivan, who is penning a publication astir her mother, and Eva Sullivan; her sisters, Geraldine Landry, Frances Buckingham and Julie Miller; her brother, Charles; 12 grandchildren; and 4 great-grandchildren.

Dr. Sullivan’s power was international. She received letters from parents astir the satellite successful hunt of solutions for their children, and she traveled wide to talk astir autism.

“She was invited to a league connected autism successful Argentina successful the 1990s,” her girl Julie said by phone. “At the time, Argentina was successful the grips of the ‘refrigerator mother’ thing, and she got unneurotic with parents and told them they needed to commencement their ain group. So she’s the godmother of an autism parents’ radical successful Argentina.”