“I am well acquainted with the issues faced by families of children with this disorder,” said Langevin, a member of the Congressional Coalition for Autism Research & Education, and the uncle of a boy with autism. “We must commit ourselves to providing parents, pediatricians, early childhood educators and all those who have contact with very young children the resources and training to identify children who need help early enough to begin effective interventions."

This legislation contains the following mandates:

“The rapid increase in the number of children diagnosed with autism in the last decade, both nationally and in Rhode Island, is striking,” continued Langevin. “The Combating Autism Act is a tremendous step toward an effective national policy of autism research, screening, intervention and education.”