A Tucson, Ariz., attorney who devotes his time to community service has received the Muscular Dystrophy Association's 1995 National Personal Achievement Award. The award recognizes the accomplishments and community service of people with disabilities caused by any of the 40 neuromuscular diseases in MDA's program.

William W. Altaffer, 37, was selected for the honor because of his achievements as an attorney, an advocate for people with disabilities and a dedicated volunteer for causes related to peace and justice.

In receiving the award during the national broadcast of the MDA Labor Day Telethon, Altaffer said people with disabilities "want to be known for what we can do."

Altaffer serves pro bono as a court-appointed arbitrator in civil actions in the Superior Court for Pima County. As an associate with the law firm of Strickland & Altaffer, he was associate general counsel to three Indian nations. In that capacity, his duties included interpreting tribal constitutions, litigating construction contract claims, drafting conservation ordinances, and coordinating federal, state and tribal efforts to address environmental problems on the reservations.

Now devoted full-time to community organizations, Altaffer explains that all of his activities are related in purpose.

"People with disabilities are very dependent on the wealth, peace and increased civil rights which come with a civilization based on justice and the rule of law," he said.

SPREADING THE WORD

He is a member of the steering committee of MDA's National Task Force on Public Awareness and has served for three years as chairperson of the Southern Arizona MDA Task Force.

Altaffer, whose spinal muscular atrophy was diagnosed at age 14, has also appeared in public service advertisements for MDA, given media interviews about the Association's activities and addressed MDA staff development workshops.

Among his other community activities, Altaffer is vice chairperson of the World Peace Through Law Section of the Arizona State Bar, a member of the Tucson Commission on Disability Issues and a longtime volunteer for the Arizona Program of the American Friends Service Committee. As a committee chairperson of the latter group, he coordinated the Sonoran People's Summit on Environment and Development in a Desert Bioregion in 1992.

He also helped start a neighborhood association and served on the advisory committee for the Arizona Council for Economic Conversion.

Altaffer holds a bachelor's degree in history and political studies from Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif., and earned his law degree at the University of Arizona. Special areas of study were people with disabilities as a distinct political interest group and guardianship law for the elderly.

ACHIEVEMENT RECOGNIZED

"I'm lucky to have the support of my wife and family and friends and MDA," Altaffer told the Telethon audience. He and his wife, Colette, have been married for seven years.

Each of MDA's 150-plus chapters selected an achievement award recipient from local nominees this year. Altaffer was selected for the national honor from among 50 state winners.

As national honoree, Altaffer will serve as an MDA spokesperson, appearing at fund-raisers, sponsor meetings and other events.

He succeeds 1994 award recipient Ron Brown of Sacramento, Calif., an investigator for the Sacramento Human Rights/Fair Housing Commission and community leader in services for people with disabilities. Brown also owns and operates two businesses.