Sheffield, Mass. – November 15 – This week President Bush vetoed H.R. 3043, the Fiscal 2008 Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations bill which would fund increases of more than $165 million for research and treatment of autism and related disorders.

Raun K. Kaufman, CEO of the Autism Treatment Center of America™ and himself fully cured from autism, issued the following statement:

“There is an autism epidemic in the U.S., with one out of every 150 children being diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. This isn’t a time for politics. It is a time for action. If we can spend hundreds of billions on war, certainly we can afford less than one tenth of one percent of that for research and education designed to save an entire generation of American children. I urge people to contact their local and national elected officials to vote to override the veto and give children with autism and their families hope for a bright future.”

As a child, Mr. Kaufman was diagnosed with severe autism and recommended for lifelong institutionalization. Instead, his parents developed The Son-Rise Program, which enabled their son’s complete cure from autism. Now an international speaker and Ivy League graduate, Mr. Kaufman bears no traces of his former condition.

The Autism Treatment Center of America www.autismtreatment.org is home of The Son-Rise Program for autism treatment and education. The Son-Rise Program is the only program that:

• Was created by parents for parents
• Helps parents cure their children in some cases and bring about significant improvement in almost all cases
• Has worked for 25,000 families from 75 countries with a radical departure from traditional behavior modification for autism
• Takes a situation that can be divisive and uses it to unite families

About The Autism Treatment Center of America
The Autism Treatment Center of America is the worldwide teaching center for The Son-Rise Program, a powerful, effective and totally unique treatment for children and adults challenged by autism, autism spectrum disorders, Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD), Asperger's Syndrome, and other developmental difficulties. For more information, visit www.autismtreatment.org.

The Son-Rise Program is a registered trademark of The Autism Treatment Center of America. The Autism Treatment Center of America is a trademark of The Option Institute.

Contact: Brenda Nashawaty, 617-688-3253, Brenda@option.org