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September 2011
Combating Autism Reauthorization Act Passes Senate
The Autism Society is pleased to report that the Combating Autism Reauthorization Act (CARA) passed in the Senate last night. The bill now goes to the President, who has already indicated he would sign it into law.
CARA is very important legislation as it helps many living with autism by funding research, training and education. But it does not accomplish everything that needs to be done to help all those living with autism. We must do more.
As we celebrate today, we must address a critical concern with the bill. The re-authorization continues the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC), a federal advisory committee that serves as a key coordinating body for delivery of services and addressing autism research efforts. The Autism Society does not currently have a seat at this table. With government funding reduced, the need for the Autism Society, the largest grassroots organization helping families today, has never been as critical. The Autism Society continues to work with lawmakers and the President’s staff to secure our seat at this table, as well as representation for our partner autism organizations.
With CARA passed, the Autism Society is setting its sights on reforming Medicaid. We need to ensure that valued Medicaid service funding provided to so many through state waivers is properly addressed in the current deficit reduction committee deliberations. Already, lobbyists are lining up to advocate for continued funding of various Medicaid efforts, which have been found not to be nearly as effective as the important in-home and community services provided by states through the Medicaid waiver. Without the Autism Society’s involvement in this discussion, we fear the voices of those needing Medicaid services will not be heard.
Our collective work on the Combating Autism Reauthorization Act shows the success we can have when grassroots autism advocates and groups such as the Autism Society, Autism Speaks, the ARC of the United States and the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) work together to help all those living with autism.
National Museum of Dentistry Launches Oral Health Resource for Parents of Children with Autism
The National Museum of Dentistry has created a new resource to help parents of children with autism spectrum disorders succeed in teaching good oral healthcare. Healthy Smiles for Autism is a guide that helps parents teach children with autism spectrum disorder how to brush and floss with the help of step-by-step instruction, social stories and visual sequencing cards that can be used wherever brushing happens. This guide is free and downloadable at www.healthysmilesforautism.org.
The Healthy Smiles for Autism guide was created to empower parents of children with autism spectrum disorder with usable tools to help effectively teach their children an oral health routine. The guide also provides information to help parents prepare their children for a first dental visit.
“We want to be able to give parents readily usable tools to help their children to develop a good oral hygiene regimen,” said National Museum of Dentistry Executive Director Jonathan Landers. “We’ve combined best practices for autism education, such as visual sequencing cards and rewards systems, with proven personal oral hygiene techniques to help make the process a little bit easier.” More>>
May 2011
