Ileana Ros-Lehtinen: “autism strikes one out of every 500 children. In Florida, 50 percent of all children and adults afflicted with autism…”

“autism strikes one out of every 500 children. In Florida, 50 percent of all children and adults afflicted with autism reside within my congressional district. I have become very familiar with this disorder because my close friend, Patience Flick, has two children, Bonnie and Willis, with autism. On November 4, we will be participating in Walk FAR, Friends and Relatives, sponsored by the National Alliance for Autism Research. This first walk of its kind is being organized by the cochairs, Michelle Cruz and Marie Eileen Whitehurst, two south Florida mothers whose children have autism. South Florida will come together that Saturday to raise research funds for the National Alliance for Autism Research, which in only 4 years has committed $3 million for 50 specific projects and fellowships around the world to combat this devastating disorder. Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Michelle and Marie Eileen, as well as Karen London, founder of the National Alliance for Autism Research, Dr. Michael Alessandri, director of the University of Miami Center for Autism and Related Disorders, and the hundreds of south Florida families who will join forces to begin the eradication of autism.”