Georgia Advocacy
Autism Speaks advocates to protect the rights, services and supports of people with autism. We work with partners on the federal and state government levels, collaborating with advocates, other organizations and policy leaders to redefine possible for people with autism.
Because of our collective advocacy, we have helped secure federal funding for programs in Georgia and advanced policy that improves autism insurance coverage, autism research, lifespan services for people with autism and more.
Because of state advocacy, Georgia...
- Enacted Ava’s Law, which requires health plan coverage of relevant services, including applied behavior analysis (ABA) for those with autism in state-regulated private insurance plans. Ongoing advocacy strives to remove age limits and yearly dollar cap for ABA services in state-regulated plans.
- Georgia budgeted an additional $5 million for Medicaid ABA service rates in Fiscal Year 2025.
- Invested in Workplace Inclusion Now (WIN) employment training for Georgia state agencies and businesses striving to become more inclusive employers was secured through advocacy activation.
- Continued advocacy aims to increase access to home and community-based services (HCBS), in partnership with other disability groups.
- In 2024, we increased wages for direct service professionals and secured the largest addition of HCBS waiver slots in over a decade for FY23 and FY24.
- In 2025, the state added 150 waiver slots for HCBS.
- Is working to improve employment opportunities for autistic workers. Legislators and state agency personnel are being educated and activated to help build capacity through our Workforce Inclusion Now program.
Because of federal advocacy, Georgia...
- Research institutions have been awarded over $47.5 million in autism research funding since FY15, including over $6.7 million in FY24 (most recent year available).
- Received funding to train future health professionals at Georgia State University through the LEND program to provide better health care services for autistic Georgians.
- Tracks autism prevalence and other important data about the characteristics and demographics of autistic children in Georgia through MADDSP.
- Law enforcement agencies and other organizations have received two grants (totaling nearly $220,000) because of Kevin and Avonte’s Law to help prevent deaths and injuries associated with autistic individuals wandering from safety.