Jackson Free Press

Sept. 15, 2011

At least 8,139 children in Mississippi have autism, according to a July 1 report from the Mississippi Autism Advisory Committee. The Legislature established the committee earlier this year to suggest strategies to combat a rise in autism rates.

"But the true number of Mississippians with autism remains unknown," the report states. "That's because only one state agency--the Mississippi Department of Education--tracks this population."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that one in 110 children in the United States have autism, up from the previous estimate of one in 500 a decade ago. National organizations are calling for federal funding to study and treat the condition.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., will add his name as a co-sponsor of the Combating Autism Reauthorization Act of 2011, his office told the Jackson Free Press this morning.

Thompson, who is a member of the Congressional Autism Caucus and supported a bill in 2006 that funded autism research, was not a co-sponsor of the bill until his office learned about a push from a national advocacy group.

Autism Votes, based in Washington, D.C., sent a mass email Sept. 12 urging supporters to ask their representatives why they were not co-sponsoring the act. "Your member of Congress sits on the Congressional Autism Coalition," the email said. "However, they have not signed on to cosponsor the Combating Autism Reauthorizaton Act (CARA) yet. We MUST ensure passage of CARA (HR 2005) where $693 million of dedicated autism research funding and critical funding for our Autism Treatment Network hangs in the balance."

The organization sent emails to some JFP readers, urging them to contact Thompson by phone and by email.

The Combating Autism Reauthorization Act (CARA) of 2011 would reauthorize the landmark Combating Autism Act of 2006, a bill that Thompson supported. Autism Votes claims on its website that renewing the act is crucial to "securing the federal response to the national and public-health emergency posed by autism spectrum disorders."

Cory Horton, a legislative assistant in Thompson's D.C. office, told the JFP that now the congressman knows about the concern on this particular legislation, he will sign on as a co-sponsor.

None of the other representatives from Mississippi have signed on as co-sponsors.

Previous Comments

ID

164983

Comment

@Eric Hogan~ Great comment! I never thought about autism that way. Thanks for bringing such a different perspective to the issue. I was listening to a radio show yesterday about dyslexia. The guests that had overcome the challenges of dyslexia said much the same thing about how there were positive gifts which came along with the so called "dis-ability". I didn't realize that there were people with Autism who felt the same way.

Author

WMartin

Date

2011-09-18T01:00:14-06:00