Profiles
Mary Slaughter
Mary Slaughter is a native of Omaha, Nebraska. She moved to Arizona in 1976 to help build community programs and move people with disabilities out of state-operated institutions. This was following the resolution of a lawsuit filed by The Arc of Arizona in the late 1970s. After working at the state level in the Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD), she wanted to be closer to families and children, so she moved on to direct DDD’s services for them in Maricopa County, helping to develop integrated preschools.
In this capacity, Mary was a founder of Raising Special Kids, Arizona’s Parent-to-Parent and Training and Information Center and was employed as its Executive Director from 1985 to 2000. Disability advocacy continues to be Mary’s passion. She cannot believe she has been able to get paid for something that is so much fun. Mary has also served on the boards of Arizona Center for Disability Law (ACDL), Ability360, and Diverse Ability Incorporated.
Mary was asked to join the Council in 2020 to represent Ann Mills, a woman who was institutionalized at the age of 13 in the state’s facility, “The Colony”, at Coolidge. As a representative for Ann, it is Mary’s obligation to advocate for improved services so that individuals with I/DD who are elders and seeing a decline in health can have options that will meet their unique needs.
Mary says, “We never think about ‛retirement’ for individuals with I/DD and we need to explore new possibilities.” One of the things that drew Mary to the Council was the way the Council could push innovative policies forward, giving people the ability to think outside the box and create better futures in Arizona.
Ann spent her formative years at Coolidge until moving to the Phoenix community in 1966. The day she moved out of Coolidge remains a day that she celebrates more than her birthday. Mary met Ann in 1986, when Mary was facilitating an adult support group for individuals with disabilities with The Arc of Arizona.
While living independently, Ann learned how to navigate her community and has been an active member of her church community; she has always been able to find and make friends. For nearly 40 years, Ann and Mary remained friends and as the years passed Ann asked Mary to help her by becoming her Power of Attorney. Mary has witnessed Ann’s needs increase as she aged and lost some abilities to navigate. This doesn’t necessarily require more “habilitation” but rather gradually needing more help with daily living.
At this stage in her life, Mary is still drawn to enjoying connection with kids and helping them emerge. She is currently engaged with her nine-year-old great-niece in writing a book and says it’s nice to have the time to really connect. When asked what has made her so successful in her career, Mary attributes it to being a curious person and wanting to appreciate the uniqueness of each individual’s growth. It’s probably why she enjoys working in this field so much.
