Federal advocacy

Autism Speaks stands alongside the autism community in working to pursue policy solutions that benefit autistic people and their families across the country. We have a proud history of working closely across political parties with members of Congress and their staff as well as Executive Branch officials to advance life-enhancing research, critical services, and care for autistic people and their families.

Thanks to federal advocacy efforts started by Autism Speaks and its predecessor organizations, over $5.2 billion in federal funding has gone toward programs focused on autism research, data, training of medical professionals, and development of evidence-based services and family resources since 2006. Every year, our federal policy requests evolve to address important issues for the autism community—from transition age and adult services to health equity, supports for those with severe and challenging behaviors and more.

Over $5.2 billion in autism research and training programs have been funded since 2007.

• In 2024, $306 million was devoted to over 700 autism research projects funded by the National Institutes of Health.
• There is a $100 million Autism Centers of Excellence program, accelerating research on important areas of need, including early identification, aging, psychiatric conditions related to autism, underserved populations and health inequities, female diagnoses, and mental health in autistic adults.
• 60 LEND program sites across the country are training future health professionals how to provide better health care services to autistic individuals.
• 13 sites across the country have received funding to train future developmental behavioral pediatricians, helping address the national shortage of DBPs who specialize in care for autistic children.
• The ADDM network continues to monitor autism prevalence and other important information about the characteristics and demographics of autistic children. With the support of our advocacy, it also saw its first expansion in over a decade. 
• The Autism Intervention Research Network for Physical Health (AIR-P) and Autism Intervention Research Network on Behavioral Health (AIR-B) focus on key research areas and translate research into clinical best practices and resources for families.

Since 2007, the Department of Defense has allocated almost $150 million for innovative autism research projects through the Autism Research Program.

Since 2019, 77 law enforcement agencies and other local community organizations have received a total of $10 million through Kevin and Avonte’s Law to support programs to help prevent deaths and injuries associated with autistic individuals wandering from safety.

ABLE Accounts were created in 2014 as a new type of savings tool for people with disabilities, allowing them to save without jeopardizing federal benefits. Since then, access and invest opportunities in the accounts have been expanded.