ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Jeffrey Arnone is 38 years old. He paints. He laughs. He sings. And for nearly four decades, his family has fought to make sure the world doesn’t forget he’s in it.
Jeffrey has nonverbal autism. His mother, Rosemary Arnone, has spent her career as a special education professional — but she says nothing prepared her for the moment the diagnosis became personal.
“I was really in denial. I was like, ‘no, don’t say the word autism. He doesn’t have that because he was very affectionate.’ He was very animated when he was a baby,” she said…