Class Notes

USC Alumnus Wins National Award for Autism Advocacy

Mother Who Initiated “Ryan’s Law” Autism Insurance Coverage for South Carolina Children Recognized by Town & Country Magazine

Lexington, SC -- A University of South Carolina graduate was honored in New York recently for her advocacy work on behalf of individuals with autism. Lorri Shealy Unumb won the “Women Who Make a Difference” Award, sponsored by Longines and Town & Country magazine.

Unumb was selected for her work on autism insurance reform. She initiated legislation in South Carolina in 2005 that resulted in not only health insurance coverage for children with autism but also a Medicaid program that pays for behavior therapy. The groundbreaking insurance legislation, which passed in 2007 and became effective in 2008, is known as “Ryan’s Law” after Unumb’s 8-year-old son. Following its passage, Unumb went to work for the New York-based non-profit Autism Speaks and has helped replicate “Ryan’s Law” in 13 states around the country.

Town & Country honored Unumb and two other recipients at an awards banquet at Hearst Towers in New York in September. The banquet was hosted by Longines ambassador, tennis legend, and philanthropist Stefanie Graf and by Town & Country editor-in-chief Pamela Fiori. Unumb also took part in a photo shoot with Graf and the two other awardees for a feature that will appear in Town & Country’s February 2010 issue.

The winners were selected based on their impact on children’s lives, community involvement, and commitment to philanthropy. The other awardees are Leila de Bruyne, founder of Flying Kites, a Newport, Rhode Island-based non-profit organization that seeks to raise the standards of care available to the world’s poorest children by providing them with the tools they need to succeed in a complex world; and Deloris Jordan, mother of Michael Jordan and founder of the James R. Jordan Foundation, an organization dedicated to creating better networks for families and communities in distress.

To learn more about Unumb’s work with Autism Speaks, please visit the website Autism Votes (www.autismvotes.org), an initiative of Autism Speaks focused on federal and state legislative advocacy.

About Autism

Autism is a complex brain disorder that inhibits a person's ability to communicate and develop social relationships, and is often accompanied by behavioral challenges. Autism spectrum disorders are diagnosed in one in 150 children in the United States, affecting four times as many boys as girls. The prevalence of autism has increased tenfold in the last decade. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have called autism a national public health crisis whose cause and cure remain unknown.

About Autism Speaks

Autism Speaks is the nation’s largest autism science and advocacy organization, dedicated to funding research into the causes, prevention treatments and a cure for autism; increasing awareness of autism spectrum disorders; and advocating for the needs of individuals with autism and their families. Autism Speaks funds more than $30 million each year in new autism research, in addition to supporting the Autism Treatment Network, Autism Genetic Resource Exchange, Autism Clinical Trials Network, Autism Tissue Program and a range of other scientific and medical programs. Notable awareness initiatives include the establishment of the annual United Nations-sanctioned World Autism Awareness Day on April 2 and an award-winning, multi-year national public service advertising campaign with the Ad Council. Autism Speaks’ family services efforts include the Autism Video Glossary, a 100 Day Kit for newly-diagnosed families, a School Community Tool Kit and the distribution of community grants to local service providers. Its government relations department, through its Autism Votes initiative, has played a critical role in securing federal legislation to advance the federal government’s response to autism and has successfully advocated for insurance reform to require insurers to cover medically-necessary autism therapies. Each year, Autism Speaks Walk Now for Autism fundraising events are held in more than 70 cities across the country, as well as Canada and the United Kingdom.

Autism Speaks was founded in February 2005 by Suzanne and Bob Wright, the grandparents of a child with autism, and provides a voice to hundreds of thousands of families. To learn more about Autism Speaks, please visit www.autismspeaks.org.