Alison Singer

Alison Singer is Co-Founder and President of the Autism Science Foundation which supports autism research by providing funding and other assistance to scientists and organizations conducting, facilitating, publicizing and disseminating autism research. Founded by parents of children with autism, ASF also provides information about autism to the general public and serves to increase awareness of autism spectrum disorders and the needs of individuals and families affected by autism. The organization adheres to rigorous scientific standards and values.

As the mother of a child with autism and legal guardian of her adult brother with autism, she is a natural advocate. From 2005-2009 she served as Executive Vice President and a member of the Board of Directors at Autism Speaks. In 2007, Singer was appointed by Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt to serve as one of six public members of the Federal Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) which is charged with writing a strategic plan to guide federal spending for autism research. Within the IACC, she serves on the services subcommittee and on the subcommittee for strategic plan review.

Singer also currently serves on the Executive Board of the Yale Child Study Center Associates Committee, on the external advisory board of the Autism Baby Siblings Research Consortium, on the external advisory board of the CDC’s Center for Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, on the board of directors of Mental Health News, as a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ New York State Immunization Coalition, and as a member of the program committee for the International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR). Singer also played a critical role in the passage of the Combating Autism Act of 2006, which authorized the doubling of current federal funding for autism research.