A new federal law signed Monday by President Joe Biden expands funding for research and other federal support for autism over the next five years.
Called the Autism CARES Act of 2024, the legislation continues efforts begun when the first CARES Act was passed in 2006 to help improve ways to diagnose and treat autism, which affects about one in every 36 people.
U.S. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Ben Ray Lujan, D-New Mexico, introduced the $2 billion bill, which increases funding by about $200 million over the next five years.
Cathy Dionne, executive director of the Autism Society of Maine, said the funding will provide crucial stability for ongoing scientific research while also expanding efforts to understand autism.
“We still don’t know what causes autism,” Dionne said in a phone interview Monday. “But we know so much more than we used to, and how important an early diagnosis is. If we can recognize when people have autism, we can determine how to intervene and get people the specialized programs that they need.”
Dionne said she’s pleased the law includes funding for communication devices — such as computer tablets — that are designed to help nonverbal people with autism communicate with others. She said that will enable some to join the workforce, for instance, if they can communicate better with their co-workers.
Collins, in a written statement, said the law will help “understand the causes and the symptoms of the Autism Spectrum Disorder and improve the lives of families affected by it.”
The law also improves training for families, friends and professionals to help them understand and communicate with people with autism. It requires the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study and recommend ways to increase the number of developmental behavioral pediatricians who can diagnose and help people with autism.
The law will also study how aging affects people with autism.
Keith Wargo, president and CEO of Autism Speaks, a national advocacy group, said in a written statement that “families have benefited from the tremendous impact of this law over the past two decades. This next iteration expands efforts to address gaps in autism health care and services and represents a forward-looking approach to driving progress in research, supports and services for autistic individuals.”
“Hope is on the horizon, and we are grateful,” said Judith Ursitti, co-founder and president of the Profound Autism Alliance advocacy group.
About one in 36 children have been diagnosed with autism, according to the U.S. CDC. That represents a 300% increase since 2006.
Scientists have concluded that doctors and families are getting better at recognizing when children are showing signs of autism — such as difficulties communicating and disrupted social development — and are therefore better at diagnosing autism compared to decades ago. Whether there’s been a true increase in the prevalence of autism is still being researched.
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