The mother of a 9-year-old autistic daughter, Susan Goldstein knows about the needs of children and families battling autism firsthand. She is currently fighting for legislation to be passed that will require insurance companies to cover the full cost of therapeutic treatment for children afflicted with autism, a cause which former Miami Dolphin Dan Marino and former Florida Panther Scott Mellanby have helped Goldstein champion.

Goldstein's efforts have helped to increase state and local funding for children with disabilities by more than $7 million annually. In addition, amongst many other accomplishments, she helped to organize a community partnership and state funding for the Therapeutic Intervention Program (TIP), which provides a large population of the most severely afflicted children with much-needed direct services not typically covered by insurance. The program is located at ARC Broward, Inc. In April, Goldstein was named "Child Advocate of the Year" by the Broward County Children's Consortium, comprised of all of the support organizations for children in Broward. She is the community affairs director for ARC Broward and resides in Lighthouse Point. For more information about TIP at ARC Broward, please call (954) 746-9400.

Susan Goldstein.

Susan is seen here with her husband Irv Goldstein, son Alex and daughter Stephanie.

Goldstein teamed up with former Dolphins great Dan Marino to discuss legislation with former Florida Governor Lawton Chiles.

Goldstein testifies before the Senate Committee.