The Clinton and Obama campaigns both weighed in on World Autism Awareness Day yesterday, pledging support for individuals with autism and their families. Both called for heightened funding for research, care, education, awareness and early identification of children with autism spectrum disorders. A search of John McCain’s campaign website didn’t turn up anything specific on autism.

Excerpts from their statements:

• Barack Obama: “Today’s celebration of World Autism Awareness Day is a call to action, and the United States must once and for all act quickly and effectively. As president, I will work closely with the families affected by autism spectrum disorders (ASD) to ensure our government lives up to its responsibility to individuals with ASD. Together, we can ensure that everyone with ASD has a meaningful opportunity to get the education and resources they need to live independently as full citizens in their communities.”
• Hillary Clinton: “I hope that today’s commemoration will once again allow us to highlight the needs of children, adults, and families impacted by autism, and I look forward to working to continue to raise awareness about autism spectrum disorders.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 3rd, 2008 at 8:40 am and is filed under autism, education, families, intellectual/developmental disabilities, politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post