Autism is the nation’s fastest growing developmental disability. Just ten years ago, the U.S. autism rate was thought to be 1 in every 500 children. Today, 1 out of every 166 children born in the United States is affected by the disability.

    Over 1.5 million individuals currently suffer from autism spectrum disorders, which are complex developmental disabilities that affect the normal functioning of the brain and result in developmental problems that hold back an afflicted individual’s ability to interact socially and limit the individual’s communication skills. It is said that 66 children across the nation are diagnosed with autism each day. These are numbers of epidemic proportions. 

    Decades of under-funding for autism research and inattention to the disability by lawmakers in Washington led me to join forces with my colleague Mike Doyle (D-PA) to launch the Coalition for Autism Research and Education (C.A.R.E.) in 2001. Since the formation of C.A.R.E., the organization’s membership has grown considerably and our efforts have led to a funding increase for autism research and awareness programs that is close to 10 times that of their mid-1990’s funding levels.

    Today, Congress understands that we cannot sit idle and allow another generation to be silenced by autism.  As the 109th Congress came to a close, we acted to further expand autism research, treatment and education programs by passing the "Combating Austim Act of 2005" into law.  This comprehensive new law will make a significant difference in the lives of autistic children and their familes.

    The “Combating Autism Act of 2005” reauthorizes major components of Title I of the “Children’s Health Act of 2000” (P.L. 106-310) and also adds significant new provisions to broaden and strengthen activities related to autism. One of the programs reauthorized in this new law, the regional centers of excellence in autism and pervasive developmental disabilities epidemiology under the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), was created by language I had authored and included in the original law. These centers of excellence collect and analyze information on the rates of occurrence of new cases, prevalence and causes of autism and other developmental disabilities. 

    The idea to create the regional centers for excellence in autism grew out of concerns from constituents in Brick, NJ that there were an inordinate number of children afflicted with autism in the Township. As a result of their concerns, I asked the CDC and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ASTDR) to investigate the possibility of an “autism cluster” in Brick Township. The investigation, one of the first federal investigations into autism, found that the prevalence of autism in Brick was much higher than what was believed to be the norm.

    The investigation also showed that more effort needed to be put forth by the federal government to document the cases of autism in communities around the country as there was little information to compare with the Brick results. The centers for excellence in autism epidemiology allow us to study environmental, familial and other factors associated the occurrences of autism in populations, much like we saw in Brick, and to try to identify the causes of the disability. Our understanding of autism has increased greatly since the Brick investigation in 1998. The passage of the “Combating Autism Act of 2005” shows that there truly is an increased commitment from lawmakers to understand autism and help affected families, but the work to find the causes–including significant study into possible environmental triggers –and more effective treatments for autism must go on. As co-chairman of C.A.R.E., I am committed to keeping this issue on the forefront as the new Congress convenes and hope we can continue to build on these efforts to combat autism.