The proposal aims to establish the Texas Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (TX-ADDM) Network to conduct public health surveillance of autism and developmental disabilities. Texas’ diverse population and geography would contribute significantly to the surveillance, especially in addressing health disparities among children and youth with autism and their families. The proposal includes engaging with education and health sites to capture cases of autism and developmental disabilities, working with community organizations, and increasing the adoption of valid and reliable screening tools to identify children in early childhood and enroll them in early intervention services, which is expected to alleviate health disparities in autism and developmental disabilities in a minority-majority county and state.
