For U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Salem, there is a personal reason why he has championed two bipartisan bills to increase job training and health care opportunities for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Moulton is co-sponsoring legislation for those with disabilities in light of his late uncle, Andrew M. Meader, who lived much of his life in Longmeadow, to the south of Springfield, and who was born with Down syndrome on June 24, 1964.
Moulton’s grandparents already had six kids, including Moulton’s mother, Lynn, of Marblehead, when Meader was born, but they brought him home instead of having him institutionalized, which was the recommendation of doctors in those days, Moulton said.
“But my grandparents brought him home, introduced him to his six brothers and sisters, one of whom was my mom, and he became an integral part of our family,” said Moulton, who grew up in Marblehead.
While it was not always easy for his grandparents, Moulton said his uncle went on to live a productive life.
“Far from being a burden on our family’s lives, he brightened our lives every day,” Moulton said.
Moulton wound up talking about his uncle and one of the bills he is sponsoring, called the HEADs Up Act, at the start of his presidential bid during the Politics and Eggs Breakfast in Bedford, N.H., on April 24.
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