Americans for Autism Advocacy Statement on World Autism Awareness Month

In the 2024 edition of World Autism Awareness Month, Americans for Autism Advocacy believes legislative advocacy will help further advances on Autism in the United States.

Americans for Autism Advocacy celebrates and recognizes World Autism Awareness Month.  Every April the World is given an opportunity to understand and develop greater awareness and acceptance of individuals with Autism.

Legislative advocacy is the next and best opportunity for Americans diagnosed with Autism to gain greater acceptance in our nation. No Autism case is alike from one another and the legislative solutions must be multifaceted in order to improve the lives of neurodiverse Americans.  This is because Autism diagnosis has increased 178% since the year 2000.

The United States is facing enormous challenges affecting the neurodiversity community such as:

• Professional licensing delays and backlogs at the state level that prevent neurodiverse individuals from getting the mental health care they need.

• More than half of the state education departments are failing to meet federal standards on special education.

• Prescription drug shortages for medications used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).  

• Applied behavioral analysis facing reimbursement cuts for accepting patients on Medicaid and TriCare.

• Workplace discrimination because of the vague definition of “intellectual disability” in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

The United States can be the beacon of the World for neurodiverse individuals.  It will take legislative solutions to ensure America does not fall behind its counterparts overseas on Autism acceptance. Americans for Autism Advocacy is committed to ensuring lawmakers at both the federal and state levels understand that neurodiversity acceptance is not just good policy, but it helps all Americans.