We are here this afternoon to re-dedicate this school under its new name: the Brennan School. More importantly, we are here to re-dedicate ourselves to its purpose: to bring children with autism out of isolation and into the fullest and most fruitful possible engagement with the world around them. I want to quote the official mission statement of the statewide program directly: “The Delaware Autism Program strives to provide the best educational services in the nation for students with autism, and their families.” That’s a bold mission—to be the best in the nation—but I think it’s appropriate, and it certainly matches the lofty aspirations of this entire school district.

This school has a proud history. As part of the statewide Autism Program, it found a home in the Christina School District in 1978, and since that time it has grown and grown again. The original 12 classrooms in this building date from 1988. I was living on Malvern Road just a few hundred yards away and remember that construction. Now we have more than doubled the size of this facility, and its growth reflects our pride in its first 28 years, and our hopes for future decades. Our kids deserve a state of the art school, and they have it here—it’s not just the new construction, but the dedicated administrators, teachers, support staff and super-involved parents too.

The Brennan School, as we now call it, serves autistic kids from as soon as they are diagnosed to age 21. More than any other school, this school focuses on preparation for life. And more than half of its students graduate to paying jobs in the community. We don’t know much about autism yet—the neurological causes of its progression or abatement—but the staff here are true experts in countering its effects on personality and cognition.

Over 20 years ago I ran a physical education program in Providence, Rhode Island for a large sheltered workshop program that included adults with autism. A couple of my guys were obvious geniuses inside, but they were just lumped in with the severe and profoundly retarded adults and received almost no autism-specific services. When I see this school and its committed staff today, I realize how far we’ve come. Progress against autism is painfully slow, but there has been a lot of progress over the past twenty years. Obviously there is a lot more progress to be made. I believe research will eventually crack the code on this, and some day there will be no need for a school like this, but that day may be far off. In the meantime, we owe it to our kids to give them the best possible preparation for life so they can join and serve the community alongside us, and continue building it when we are gone. Thank you.