Autism research call to acton

[Guest guest]

For more information on the information below, go to www.naar.org.

Ask Your Members of Congress to Support Dept. of Defense Autism

Research Appropriation Request Support NAAR's Legislative Request for

$10 million in DOD Medical Research Program Funding for Autism

20 April 2004

With the number of Americans diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders

growing at a rapid rate, Congress must redouble its commitment to

increasing and enhancing the federal government's contribution to

autism research.

That's why we are asking you to call your Members of Congress and

request their support for a request to invest $10 million in

Department of Defense (DoD) Peer-Reviewed Medical Research dollars

toward initiatives focusing on autism spectrum disorders.

Each year, DoD invests tens of millions of dollars into various

medical research programs. In recent years, the Department has

supported research into several forms of cancer including breast,

prostate, and ovarian; Parkinson's disease; diabetes; childhood

asthma; Muscular Dystrophy; and epilepsy. Many Military families are

touched just like civilian families by this disorder. Based on the

most recent prevalence estimates, at least 4,600 children and minor

dependents of Active Duty families have autism, and the cost of their

treatment exceeds $200 million per year.

While we have made significant progress in recent years increasing

autism research dollars at the National Institutes of Health (NIH),

as well as surveillance and public health funding at the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), we feel strongly that more must

be done. With NIH funding remaining relatively flat, we must seek

alternative sources of revenue. With an estimated 1.5 million

Americans living with autism spectrum disorders, we feel strongly

that this epidemic warrants an additional investment via the DoD

Medical Research Program.

Simply put, our government cannot afford to not make this additional

commitment to autism research. An estimated 1 of every 250 Americans

is living with an autism spectrum disorder. Nearly 120,000 students

with autism are enrolled in our nation's schools, up from only 20,000

less than 10 years ago.

Go to: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ to locate your Congressman or

Congresswoman in the U.S. House of Representatives, send an e-mail

and urge him or her to support this request for research.

When you contact your Representative, ask him or her to please

contact Caroline De with Rep. McCarthy at 5-5516 or Nick Manetto

with Rep. at 5-3765 to sign the letter of support.

If you have any questions about this request, or about NAAR's

government relations program, please contact me at (888) 777-NAAR, or

via e-mail at gtringali@....

NAAR wishes to thank Representative Carolyn McCarthy (NY) and

Representative (NJ) for their leadership in

supporting this important initiative. In addition, we are proud to be

partnering with the Dan Marino Foundation, the Autism Coalition for

Research & Education, the Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation for Autism,

Cure Autism Now, Unlocking Autism, the Organization for Autism

Research, Autism Society of America, First Signs and the NJ Center

for Outreach and Services for the Autism Community in support of this

campaign.

Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Glenn R. Tringali

Chief Executive Officer, NAAR

Established in 1994, the National Alliance for Autism Research

(NAAR) is the first non-profit organization in the country dedicated

to funding and accelerating biomedical research for autism spectrum

disorders. The organization was established by parents of children

with autism concerned about the limited amount of funding for autism

research. To date, NAAR has committed $14.9 million in grants for

biomedical research projects worldwide that seek to find the causes,

prevention, effective treatments and, ultimately, cure for autism

spectrum disorders. Walk F.A.R. for NAAR is the organization's

signature fundraising and autism awareness event, which is held

annually in numerous communities across the United States.

Additionally, NAAR was instrumental in establishing the Autism Tissue

Program, a parent-led brain tissue donation program for autism

research.