Birt-Kansas City Star

[Guest guest]

Obituaries Birt ELIZABETH ANN BIRT "Liz" Birt, 49, of Wilmette, IL, formerly of Kansas City, MO, died unexpectedlyin an automobileaccident on December 28, 2005, in Aspen, CO. A funeralmass will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday,

January5, 2006 at St. 's Catholic Church, 6415 Holmes St. Burial will follow at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, 7601 Blue Ridge Blvd. Friends may visit Wednesday, January 4 from 6:30-8 p.m. at D.W. Newcomer's Stine & McClure Chapel, 3235 Gillham Plaza, preceded by a rosary from 6-6:30 p.m. A memorial fund has been established to honor Liz's memory and leadership in the fight for children suffering with autism: the Birt Memorial Fund for Truth and Love, at the Thoughtful House Center for Children, 3001 Bee Caves Road, Austin, TX 78746.Liz was born August 10, 1956, in Kansas City, MO, the daughter of G. "Gib" and Giovanna M. "Jane" Birt. She was educated at The Loretto Academy and Southwest High School, and earned her BA in business from the University of Tulsa, a J.D. and LL.M. from the De School of Law. She was staff counsel for Rush-St. Luke's Hospital in

Chicago, an associatewith the law firm of Ross & Hardies, and most recently a sole practitioner in Chicago, specializing in tax, corporate and non-profit law.Liz was a philanthropist and advocate for children with autism and related disorders.Her son was diagnosedwith autism in 1996. At the time, little attention was paid to these childrenby the medical community, and there was little awareness about this disorder, now recognized as a national epidemic. Liz devoted herself to finding the cause and cure for autism, a passionthat became her life's work. This personal journey to understand her son's condition led to her national leadershipin the burgeoning movement among parents of autistic children for a better understanding and treatment of this disease. Liz founded Medical Interventionsfor Autism, which funded researchgrants that led to early breakthroughsin treating some of

the more severe symptoms associated with autism. In addition, Liz was a founding director of Coalition for SafeMinds, a leading national think tank and researchsponsor devoted to understandingthe cause and finding a cure for autism. She was also a founding directorof the National Autism Association,sponsor of a recent conference that brought together scientists, clinicians,and parents in an effort to find answers that would help the children. Liz was also a founding director of A-CHAMP, a grassroots political action committee formed to educate and advocatefor more money and services for children with autism and against efforts by the pharmaceutical industry to evade liability for injuries caused by vaccines. Liz served as staff counsel for a subcommitteeof the Committee on GovernmentReform, chaired by Rep. Dan Burton (R-IL) and was one of the principalauthors of the Committee's 2000

report Mercury in Medicine. That report summarized the science relating to the toxic effects of mercury, especially when used as a preservative in vaccines,to the developing brain and immunesystem, and exposed conflicts of interest and regulatory inaction and negligence on the part of the nation's agencies and institutions responsible for protecting children. She testified on several occasions before the Congress and state legislators about the dangers of mercury in vaccines about her own search for answers as to how governmentcould have allowed, even mandated,injections of such a toxic substanceinto children, and a workable treatment for her son.Liz's loss will be deeply felt by the autism community. A blog (www.nationalautismassociation.org) has been filling with pages of tributes to Liz and stories from parents recounting her tireless helpfulness to so many in anguish over a new

diagnosis, or in search of treatments that would really work, or doctors that could provide help.The memorial fund established at Thoughtful House has two objectives. First, it will support research into the causes of and treatment for autism and related disorders. Liz had been convincedfrom the beginning of her own investigations that science would eventually reveal the truth as to what caused her son's autism and treatments that would help the hundreds of thousandsof other children, many of whom are locked in a sort of cognitive and communicative prison, as well as sufferingfrom a range of gastrointestinal and metabolic symptoms. The fund will also help families in need pay for desperatelyneeded clinical care.Liz is survived by her three children, , , and ; her father, G. Birt; her two brothers, E. Birt and G. Birt; her aunts, Bartocci and

Barbara Birt; her uncle, Carlo Bartocci; her cousins, Cristina Bartocci, Margherita Timelin, Jeanne Snowden, and Jaci Birt; her nieces, Betsey Birt, Meredith Birt, and a Birt; and her nephew, Tim Birt. (Arr; D.W. Newcomer'sStine & McClure Chapel, 816-931-7777).Published in the Kansas City Star on 1/1/2006. Guest Book • Flowers http://tinyurl.com/btky6

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