Thirty-nine years ago, Katie Dolan had trouble finding a school that would accept her son. He required special care because of his autism, a mental disorder that makes it difficult to interact socially.

Dolan, frustrated that her son and others like him couldn't get the care they needed, became one of the founding members of the Northwest Center in 1965, joining forces with four groups of parents to advocate for children with disabilities to ensure their rights to an education. Today, the program also works with local businesses to provide job training to mentally disabled persons.

The Northwest Center celebrated its 40th anniversary last Friday at the site of one of their programs, the Northwest Center for Child Development on Queen Anne hill.

The Northwest Center has become the largest and most comprehensive service provider in Washington State for people with disabilities.

Its principal message is that everyone has the right to education, training and employment.

When Dolan first attended a meeting at the Northwest Center, she met other parents who were frustrated that schools would not admit their disabled children.

"We could not get any help for our son," said Dolan. "And we did not want to institutionalize him. I went there to talk to other parents about getting help and services for our families."

Together, the parents worked in a grassroots fashion, learning about resources to get funding and support for programs and services that could help their children.

When a teacher came to a Northwest Center meeting and demonstrated how a severely developmentally disabled boy could learn how to feed himself through behavior modification, the parents became even more determined to have their kids receive an education in regular schools.

Joe Davis, a well-known labor leader, taught the Northwest Center parents how to lobby. They used their newly acquired skills to send their message to state officials.

The Washington State Constitution mandates that there should be funding and education for all children. Based on that mandate, the Northwest Center began lobbying the Washington State Legislature.

In 1971, a new state act, PL 92142 Education For All, also known as the Individuals with Disability Education Act, was passed.

Dolan said the initiative required schools to address the needs of developmentally disabled students, rather than push them away.

There were 120 children enrolled at the Northwest Center at the time. They were then enrolled in the public schools.

The Northwest Center started the first ever, integrated Child Development Program with a mix of children with and without disabilities.

"It all started with our little organization in Interbay," said Dolan.

During the 40th Anniversary party, three parents, who are now graying seniors gathered to talk about their involvement in the early days of the Northwest Center.

"All of us are founding parents," said Bob McNary, who sat next to Mary Hiramatsu and Kay Hernden, a member of the Ballard High School Class of 1933.

"We came from all over the city and came together," said Hiramatsu.

"We have been supporting this for a long time," said Hernden.

The Northwest Center is always looking for new projects to work on, said Dolan. Medicard For All is their latest effort.

The idea is a hard plastic card with a bar code and magnetic strip explaining all the programs a developmentally disabled person is eligible for. It is designed to help bypass some of the paper work that needs to be filled out for things like vocational training, social security and other programs.

Children and adults who have permanent developmental disabilities often cannot write or talk and the Medicard is meant to help them access services with less red tape.

Medicard advocates said the card would save millions of dollars by eliminating paper work, bureaucracy, co-payments and other stumbling blocks.

"We're saying, no we demand, that people have a coded card," said Dolan. "We're getting calls from all over. It's an idea whose time has come and will sweep the country."

In 2004, the Northwest Center was recognized with the Governor's Award from the State of Washington as the "Large Non Profit Employer of the Year."

The Northwest Center serves over 500 children and adults, and they have over 30 community employers like Value Village and other companies in Seattle and King County who provide jobs to the center's clients.

Some Northwest Center clients even deliver the Ballard News-Tribune to homes and businesses.

On Friday, Sept. 23, the Northwest Center's 6th Annual Golden Hearts Awards Luncheon is from 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Qwest Field and Event Center.

Their sponsors include: Value Village; Starbucks; Weyerhaeuser Recycling; American Fast Freight; Fox Sports Northwest; KPS Health Plans; Mercer Health and Benefits; Polar Graphics, USA; Preston Gates and Ellis and others.

The main Northwest Center office is now located at 7272 W. Marginal Way South. They are accepting donations of clothing, accessories, shoes, blankets, linens and handbags at the location.

For more information about Medicard, visit www.medicardforall.com.