State advocacy

For decades, Autism Speaks has been a leader in advocating for state policy change that expands access to services and supports for people with autism and their families. We work with state legislators, agencies, regulators, coalition organizations and local advocates to pursue meaningful change.  

In the early 2000s, we began by launching a nationwide campaign to begin autism insurance reform in every state. This work involved thousands of partnerships as we ran statewide campaigns and activated advocates in-person and online to increase access and affordability of autism care. After achieving that goal, our focus shifted to address the remaining gaps in coverage of autism care and improve access to quality lifespan services – from IEP transition planning to home and community-based services (HCBS). 

With time, our advocacy efforts have evolved and diversified, now spanning the fields of healthcare, employment, education, financial planning, safety and law enforcement interactions, caregiver supports and more. The focus of our work at any one time depends on organizational capacity and resources as well as the political landscape in a given state. We take a targeted approach in pursuing policies that address the most critical needs of autistic individuals and consider the greatest state-specific needs throughout the country.