Marla Root has beered-shirts-with-marci-and-lorrin involved in the autism community as a consumer of services, an administrator for a larger service provider and advocate.  She is the 2010 advocate of the year recipient awarded by The Governor’s Council for People with Disabilities and was the Public Policy Chair for the Autism Society of Ohio for many years.

Marla enjoys listening to individuals and families and how they are impacted by autism. She is also the parent of Eli who is twenty years old and is greatly impacted by autism and intellectual disability. She gathers information from families and advocates to educate state agencies and legislators to help provide the necessary supports individuals and families need to live safe and meaningful lives. She has advocated for hundreds of individuals and families throughout the state and works to provide advocacy efforts to change and improve Ohio’s funding and service delivery systems to meet the needs of Ohio’s consumers.

Marla helped develop an adolescent educational program, a mental health community center serving autism, a residential treatment center and vocational services.  All services utilized the principles and procedures of Applied Behavior Analysis. Marla has a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Finance from Franklin University.