ASO Legislative Alert - Early Screening Legislation Update

[Guest guest]

Dear Friend of ASO:

If you have already contacted your State Senators about this important piece of legislation - Thank you! If not please do so ASAP! Eight senators have currently signed on - but we would like more. We are especially targeting the members of the Senate Finance Committee - Senators Amstutz, Austria, Carey, Cates, Clancy, R. , Niehaus, , and Stivers, so if one of these members is your Senator, contact them today. The current co-sponsors are Senators Boccieri, Kearney, D. , Coughlin, Gardner, Goodman, Padgett, and Schaffer. If one of these is your senator - please email them to thank them for signing on.

The original Early Screening Legislative alert follows:

The Autism Society of Ohio has been hard a work with a dedicated committee to create an early screening initiative for autism and other developmental disabilities in Ohio. We are pleased to share that legislation for just such an initiative is about to be introduced in the Ohio Senate (and hopefully shortly there after in the Ohio House) - and we need your help!

The legislation, which has not yet been assigned a number, will provide an appropriation to the Department of Health to conduct a pilot program for early screening for autism and other developmental disabilities. For additional information on what this legislation includes, please read the write up following my signature.

Senator J. Kirk Schuring, representing the 29th Ohio Senate district (Akron/Canton area, covering most of Stark County) and a strong supporter of children's issues, is the sponsor of this legislation. He has sent out a request to the other Ohio Senators looking for co-sponsors for this important legislation. THIS IS WHERE WE NEED YOUR HELP! Please contact your State Senators and encourage them to contact Sen. Schuring's office and become a co-sponsor of this important legislation!

Not sure how to do this? To find your Ohio Senator and contact information, visit www.senate.state.oh.us, click on “Your Senators†and enter your zipcode+4 or your Senator's name. Not sure what your zip+4 is? Go to www.usps.com and click on “Find a Zipcodeâ€. All the contact information for your senator will be displayed.

How to contact your Senator? You can always email - but many Senators are bombarded with email - so be sure to put "PLEASE CO-SPONSOR EARLY SCREENING INITIATIVE" in the subject line. A letter sent via "snail" mail or fax is a very effective to communicate with legislators. You can call their office as well.

What should you say? Please share with your Senator the following information:

"Autism is the fastest growing developmental disability, and its ramifications to children and their families are great. The latest information from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that as many as 1 in 150 children born may be diagnosed with autism.

Many physicians are unfamiliar with how to screen for autism or the screening tools recommended. Furthermore, many professionals are not sufficiently aware of the developmental warning signs and the range of symptoms that may indicate autism. As a result, the diagnosis of autism is often delayed. If earlier identification can be achieved, we can improve early intervention efforts, which ultimately will lead to more favorable outcomes for these children.

This was also one of the recommendations of the legislatively created 2004 Ohio Autism Task Force - to “develop, implement, and maintain the First Signs or equivalent public awareness and training model to screen children for autism.

This legislation is supported by the Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatricians, The Autism Society of Ohio and many other disability groups.

I hope you will contact Sen. Schuring's office at 614-466-0626 or dmonder@... by Thursday, March 1, 2007 to support this important legislation!"

You can also include a personal story of how legislation like this would have helped you and your family.

We at ASO will keep you posted as to the progress of this legislation - and any companion legislation that would be introduced in the Ohio House of Representative.

Please feel free to share this email with anyone you think would help us in our efforts! MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD AND HELP US IN THIS IMPORTANT ENDEAVOR!

Have you purchased your Ohio Autism Awareness License Plate yet? To purchase yours, visit www.oplates.com and click on "Specialty Plates" or visit our website at www.autismohio.org for more information.Sincerely,Barbara C. YavorcikPresidentAutism Society of Ohio701 S. Main St.Akron, OH 44311(330) 376-0211fax: (330) 376-1226email: askASO@...home: byavorcik@...web: www.autismohio.org -------------------------------

The Pilot Program created under this bill will strive to:

Promote appropriate standards for the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders in children, including screening tools and treatment planning for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders; Encourage physicians and other health care professionals with expertise in screening, diagnosing, and treating autism spectrum disorders to share that information with other health care professionals in this state; Encourage the regional coordination of services to facilitate the effective, timely treatment of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders; Educate health care professionals, teachers and other educational personnel, child care providers, parents, early intervention and developmental disabilities providers, and other community-based services providers in this state regarding the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders, including the range of symptoms that may indicate autism spectrum disorders and screening tools.

The bill will also provide funding for the Pilot Program as well as direct the Ohio Department of Health to report to the Governor and the General Assembly on the progress of the Program.

It is important to note that this legislation does not mandate that physicians utilize a specific test or screening tool. AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at AOL.com.