Autism Society of America facts for kids

The Autism Society of America (ASA) was founded in 1965 by Bernard Rimland together with Ruth C. Sullivan and a small group of other parents of children with autism. Its original name was the National Society for Autistic Children; the name was changed to emphasize that autistic children grow up. The ASA's stated goal is to increase public awareness about autism and the day-to-day issues faced by autistic people as well as their families and the professionals with whom they interact. Although the group has promoted the pseudoscientific belief that vaccines cause autism in the past, it now affirms that there is no link between vaccination and autism. In 2021, the ASA launched a new brand including a logo consisting of multicolor lines forming a fabric with a new slogan, "The Connection Is You".

Founders

Bernard Rimland

Bernard Rimland (November 15, 1928 – November 21, 2006) was an American research psychologist, writer, lecturer, and influential person in the field of developmental disorders who is known for promoting autism-related pseudoscience. In 1964, Dr. Bernard Rimland wrote a book, Infantile Autism, that convinced others working in the field that autism is a physiological disorder, not a mental or emotional problem. Rimland was a founder of the Autism Society of America in 1965, but left to create the Autism Research Institute in 1967. He later promoted several theories, which have since been disproven, about the causes and treatment of autism, including vaccine denial, facilitated communication, chelation therapy, and false claims of a link between secretin and autism.

Ruth C. Sullivan

Ruth C. Sullivan was the first elected president of the Autism Society of America. She is also on the permanent honorary board of the society. Ruth Sullivan was founder and former executive director of the Autism Services Center, a nonprofit licensed behavioral health care agency that she founded in Huntington, West Virginia in 1979. It now provides services in four counties to families who have a family member with developmental disabilities. She retired from the Autism Services Center on November 1, 2007, at the age of 83. Sullivan assisted in the production of the 1988 movie Rain Man by serving as a consultant on autistic behavior, and Dustin Hoffman worked with Sullivan and her son Joseph, who is autistic, when practicing for his role.