Permission to feel hopeful

Dear -,

For most of their life, Cate didn't have the words for what made them different – only the constant, exhausting sense that they were.

Then came an autism diagnosis in adulthood, and with it, an answer that finally made sense of everything. But what changed things for Cate wasn't only the diagnosis. It was finally being understood.

This should be the norm, not the exception. It can be. Most therapists get almost no training on working with autistic people today, but that's a gap with a fix, and we're funding the solution. Your gift is TRIPLED right now, which means 3X the support behind that work. -, will you give today?

The good news? Someone is already working on it.

Elizabeth Kilgallon is our newest Predoctoral Fellowship for Autistic Scientists recipient. As a clinical psychology doctoral student – and a long-term therapy client – she's spent years noticing what helped, what hurt, and what was absent entirely. Now she's building it: real training for therapists, designed alongside autistic adults who've sat in that same chair.

Her fellowship exists because donors funded it. And that's never mattered more than it does right now.

Research funding is being cut across the board, and autism research is not exempt. That's why we stay committed. If we stop now, the families and adults waiting on answers just keep waiting.

None of this happens without supporters like you. The 3X match runs through September 30, up to $15,000. That’s 3X the research, 3X the reach, 3X the chance that the next person looking for help actually finds it.

Cate runs an Instagram advocacy account now – showing what autistic life really looks like, the joyful days and the hard ones both. They say it better than we can:

"I want people to see happiness because the world needs more joy. Different is good."

Let's build a world that believes it. Please give today, while every dollar counts three times.

With gratitude,

Autism Speaks

Autism Speaks, 50 F Street, Suite 360, Washington, DC 20001

Mailing address, P.O. Box 37148, Boone, IA 50037

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