Welcome to Why Not Me, embracing autism and mental health worldwide, hosted by Tony Maitour.

Broadcasting from the heart of Music City, USA, Nashville, Tennessee.

Join us as our guests share their raw, powerful stories.

Some will spark laughter, others will move you to tears.

These real-life journeys inspire, connect, and remind you that you're never alone. We're igniting a global movement to empower everyone to make a lasting difference

by fostering deep awareness, unwavering acceptance, and profound understanding of autism and mental health.

Tune in, be inspired, and join us in transforming the world one story at a time.

Hi, I'm Tony Mayator.

Welcome to Why Not Me, embracing autism and mental health worldwide.

This is our special event, crafting justice, empowering autism and

mental health through legislation. Joining us today is Senator Christine Cohen, who champions mental

health in Connecticut through bipartisan laws, expanding crisis surfaces and care access. Denise Paley

also joins us who collaborates with Senator Cohen to advocate for mental health

law reforms in Connecticut. They have a wealth of information to give us because of their passion

for what they do. Thanks for coming on. Well, good to see you again. Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for

doing this and raising awareness on all things mental health. I had a chance to

look through your podcasts and listen a bit. So thank you for what you're doing.

Oh, it's my pleasure. Thanks. My first question is, as a senator, what led you to get into

the journey of helping the mental health community? Yeah, well, I mean, this is something I've always

cared about, a great deal about. My mother is a psychiatric social worker. So I grew up talking

about mental health and knowing the importance of mental health care for folks, including

myself. I've had my own struggle with mental health in terms of panic disorder and depression.

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