New Agents of Change Fellow, Teresa L. Champion
Originally Published in May 2022, ECNV Newsletter
We're excited to introduce new Agents of Change Fellow!
Teresa L. Champion is an attorney and member of the bar in both Kentucky and Washington State. She received her J.D. degree from the University of Louisville. For 10 years she was employed as the General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for an international aviation brokering corporation.
Teresa was one of the founders in 2009 of the nonprofit Virginia Autism Project (VAP) which along with Autism Speaks, led a multiyear, grassroots, statewide coalition of families to push for Autism Insurance Reform in Virginia. This effort culminated in the 2011 signing of a bill by the then Governor of Virginia, Robert McDonnell to mandate insurance coverage for the treatment of a diagnosis of autism up to 6 years of age. Later, the group worked to amend the law to mandate insurance coverage through age 10. Ultimately the autism community worked together to lift the age cap entirely out of the Virginia law in 2019 mandating insurance coverage for a diagnosis of autism for state-regulated plans.
In 2017, Teresa volunteered to work with a state-wide group to pass a bill signed by Governor Terry McAuliffe which established an advisory council for a chronic health condition called Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections (PANDAS) and the associated diagnosis of Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS). Teresa has been appointed to serve on this advisory council.
VAP spearheaded the Designated Support Person law for Virginia which allows a parent to stay with an adult child in the hospital and partnered with other groups on:
Revising Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) requirements under Medicaid for live-in attendants.
Pushing criminal justice reform for inclusion of ID/DD evidence in the guilt phase of the judicial process.
Funding for private special education day schools following JLARC’s report.
In 2022, amending the Virginia Code’s definition of Autism to align with the DSM.
In 2022, fighting against the recriminalization of student behavior in schools.
A long-time civic and community activist, Teresa has been involved in the disability community in Washington and Virginia since 1996 and has been appointed to serve on community-wide and statewide boards in both Washington and Virginia and today serves on the Board of VAP.