The Autism Society Event and Education Recordings Archive

This session will provide strategies to become an effective political advocate for families affected by Autism. It will include step-by-step instructions on contacting legislators, corresponding with staff members, setting appointments, meeting preparation, making your meetings as productive as possible and how best to follow up on requests made to your legislators. It will also include information on pending legislation needing the support of our community and ways attendees can participate in guiding the direction of federally funded research. In this presentation, I plan to stress to attendees the importance of individual participation in the political process to advance and direct federal autism research funding and secure support for affected families. 

Establishing contact with legislators can seem intimidating at first glance for some.  I will begin my presentation by providing an Advocacy 101 lesson, outlining the best methods of contact and most effective ways to establish and develop productive relationships with lawmakers and their staff members. 

I will provide instruction on initiating contact, scheduling appointments, preparing for meetings, making your meeting as productive as possible and effectively following up on your requests.

I will discuss currently pending legislation that needs our support and recent events involving our federal government and health agencies that directly affect our community.  This discussion will include the Institute of Medicine Workshop on Autism and the Environment, the Centers for Disease Control, the IACC Autism Research Matrix, the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program through the Department of Defense and what the passage of the Combating Autism Act means to our community.

Learning Objectives: