Our Mission
The Autism Legislation Project strives to better the lives of
individuals with autism and their families through research and education.
Creation of the Autism Legislation Project
The Autism Legislation project was created
in June of 2004 by attorney David M. Sternfield. As a father of a child
with autism, David and his family experience first hand the challenge of
adapting to the world of autism. Many difficult questions come to the
surface as this experience plays out:
- What therapies should a child with
autism receive?
- Who pays for these therapies?
- What school should this child attend?
- Who will take care of this child when
her family is unavailable?
- Will a child with autism qualify for
health insurance?
- What opportunities will the child have
as an adult for employment and independent living?
When trying to answer these questions,
David quickly became frustrated with the lack of state and federal
legislation enacted to assist individuals with autism and their families.
This inspired David to create the ALP, a not-for-profit organization that
strives to create a legislative resource on the subject of autism to be
used by local, state, and federal governments for the purpose of enacting
autism legislation.
Building on what he felt was an untapped
labor force, David enlisted law school students from around the country to
embark on the first step to provide relief for this community through
legislation: research. Over the past four years, David, along with the
Board of Directors and team leaders, oversaw the completion of accurate
and thorough research on autism legislation in each of the fifty United
States. This research is currently in the process of being analyzed and
prepared for publication.
As Director of the ALP, David has created
an extensive network of relationships with political leaders in a number
of state governments. In addition, he has begun working with members of
the United States Congress on the issue of autism.
Now nearing the beginning of its fourth
year, the ALP hopes to broaden its accomplishments to include the creation
and implementation of education initiatives. For example, the ALP plans to
develop a training program for public servants (police officers,
firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and emergency room personnel)
on how to recognize the characteristics of autism and how to interact with
autism to better serve their communities.
Goals of the Autism Legislation Project
- To maintain, update, and publish the
legal research pertaining to autism legislation
- To facilitate the relationship between
the states and the federal government on the issue of autism
legislation
- To establish education initiatives that
will enable the public to better understand autism and autism
legislation
