Autism Speaks and the National Black Church Initiative Join Forces for Black Communities

Due late diagnosis, more and more African-American children are not getting the care that they need to help them and their families cope with autism.

To turn this trend around, Autism Speaks and the National Black Church Initiative (NBCI) will announce the start of their collaboration to lower the age of autism diagnosis in the African American community. 

The announcement will take place on Friday, June 21, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. at the Wheat Street Baptist Church, 359 Auburn Avenue NE, Atlanta GA.

Autism Speaks representatives will be joined by Reverend Anthony Evans, executive director of NBCI; CDC Behavioral Scientist Catherine Rice, Ph.D., CDC's National Center of Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (confirmation pending); and African American families with children diagnosed with autism.

According to an Autism Speaks press release, "the Journal Pediatrics published research this week that there is significant racial inequity in children with autism accessing specialist doctors and services."  The Autism Speaks organization is focusing on 150 churches in greater Atlanta, GA region to increase awareness of the signs of autism, increase access to screening and lower the age of diagnosis.

Austism Speaks says, that "research has demonstrated we can reliably diagnose autism by age 2, however, according to the CDC the average age of diagnosis in the US is 4-5 years old, and even older in ethnic minority communities. Early diagnosis and early intervention are critical to best outcomes for children with autism. This effort is a pilot for a national collaboration."

For more information about the Early Access to Care Initiative, please visit: http://www.autismspeaks.org/early-access-care