Combating Autism Bill Endangered

A bill to support new funding for autism research and screening may not make it through Congress. According to Combat Autism, a coalition of several national autism organizations, "House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (TX) will not consider the Senate-passed Combating Autism Act in the House this session."

The bill includes funding to support a massive increase in autism-related government activities. If passed, the bill would:

• Double NIH spending on autism research.
• Empower the Director of the NIH to act as an "autism czar" - developing an annual research budget on autism, based on the best science, and requiring that budget be reported to Congress.
• Create a screening program in all 50 states for the early identification of children with autism - short of a cure, early identification leading to early intervention with behavioral services provides the best available outcomes for autistic kids.
• Fund the efforts of the Autism Treatment Network to identify the best medical practices in the treatment of autistic kids.
• Continue funding of the epidemiological and public education programs on autism at the CDC.
• Authorize, overall, nearly 1 billion of federal spending on autism over the next 5 years - a multi-front war on autism from public awareness and early diagnosis to basic biomedical research.

If you're interested in supporting the bill, take a look at the Combat Autism website, or call your local representatives.