Legislation and Regulations
- There has been an increased focus on autism through the appropriations process to the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as at NIH. This was triggered by the Children's Health Act of 2000 (passed on 10/17/2002, Public Law No. 106-310) that also reinforced ASHA's EHDI provision. The autism provisions are under Title I and the EHDI provisions are under Title VII.
- On Dec. 8, 2003, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Omnibus appropriations bill-one piece of legislation containing the seven federal fiscal year 2004 spending bills that remain outstanding. Included within this legislation is a funding increase of $3 million above the President's budget for autism surveillance activities at CDC in fiscal year 2004. Also included in the bill is $2,244,000 in funding to establish a "national awareness and education program that will widely disseminate information regarding autism identification and diagnosis to both families and health care providers."
For further information, contact Jim Potter at jpotter@asha.org.
Research Initiatives
Proposed 10-year autism research matrix and roadmap by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Education.
For further information, contact the SLP practices unit-Diane Paul at dpaul@asha.org, Susan Karr at skarr@asha.org, or Jeri Berman at jberman@asha.org; or the Government Relations and Social Policy unit--Jim Potter at jpotter@asha.org.
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