By Jonathan Slack, Market Research & Development Specialist
There are more than 3.5 million individuals on the autism spectrum in America, with the prevalence rate rapidly increasing over the years from 1 in 150 in 2000 to 1 in 68 individuals in 2010. In spite of the rapid rise in autism diagnoses, autism funding has barely been increasing over the years.
In fact:
- The National Institute of Health, an agency in the department of Health and Human Services department, has a $30.68 billion research budget. BUT…
- Despite the fact that autism is the fastest growing developmental disorder in the U.S, autism research receives less than 1% of the NIH’s research budget.
What can you do to increase autism funding? Call your Congressmen and Senator and tell them to increase the funding autism research receives. Researchers still have a lot to learn about autism and every additional study helps further our knowledge and awareness.
