AACTION IS NECESSARY

AACTION is a 501(c)3 humanitarian organization dedicated to developing worldwide awareness, support and acceptance of autism through education and training.

Our dedicated volunteer team of autism professionals provide free medical, educational, and diagnostic training to parents, professionals, and educators seeking information across the globe. All of our work is done on a volunteer basis. Our training teams take vacation time from their jobs to travel and conduct trainings which allows over 90% of donations to go directly towards our mission.

Our organization was founded in response to a global autism crisis. Misunderstanding and misinformation continue to have dramatic consequences for the children with autism. In many cases, children with autism go undiagnosed and fail to receive appropriate medical and educational treatments. In places around the globe children with autism are punished for actions over which they have no control. Parents are stigmatized by the disability of their child and hide their children from the public. AACTION’s training and education will lead to better understanding and help people with autism realize their full hope for the future.

AACTION Advisory Board

Dr. Gary B. Mesibov is a Professor Emeritus of Psychology in the Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he served on the faculty for 35 years. He was the Director of Division TEACCH at the University of North Carolina from 1992 until 2010. Dr. Mesibov has received degrees from Stanford University (A.B.), The University of Michigan (M.A.), Brandeis University (Ph.D.), and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Postdoctoral Fellowship).
Dr. Mesibov's editorial appointments include: Editor of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders for 10 years and membership on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Clinical Child Psychology and the Journal of Pediatric Psychology. He has written numerous books, journal articles, book reviews, editorials, chapters and research papers dealing with all aspects of autism and developmental disabilities and has been recognized with numerous local, national and international awards for his work.

Bennett Leventhal, M.D. was born in Chicago, received his medical degree from Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans, then completed his child and adolescent psychiatry training at Duke University. Dr. Leventhal is a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in both General Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He is also highly regarded more broadly in the field of medicine as a member of the National Board of Medical Examiners and the Illinois State Medical Board. Dr. Leventhal is the recipient of numerous awards, including the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 50th Anniversary Distinguished Service Medal and the Edithe J. Levitt Award for Distinguished Service from the National Board of Medical Examiners.

Young Shin Kim, M.D. is a psychiatrist and an epidemiologist, focusing on the research of the distribution and etiology of the childhood onset developmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and disruptive behavioral disorders, including exploration of the prevalence, incidence and genetic and gene-environmental interactions of those conditions. She received her M.D., at Yonsei University, in 1988, her M.P.H. at Yale School of Public Health in 1998, and her Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley in 2005. Dr. Kim is currently an Assistant Professor in the Child Study Center at Yale University. Currently ongoing research includes prevalence study of ASD in Korean school-aged children, prospective examination of 6-year cumulative incidence of ASD in Korean children, genetic epidemiology of ASD in Korean children, and genetics and GE interactions of social reciprocity in Korean epidemiological sample.

John D. Heinsen is owner and executive producer of Bunnygraph Enetertainment, Inc. At Bunnygraph, a digital content and consultancy company, Mr. Heinsen works with writers and talent to create serialized multi-platform “transmedia” formats for television, interactive/web and mobile platforms. His 18 year career includes experience as Manager of Primetime Programming at the FOX Broadcasting Company. He has also worked in the Branded Entertainment division of International Creative Management (ICM) and has produced for Castle Rock Entertainment. Mr. Heinsen serves as Co-Chair of Mobile for the Producers Guild of America (PGA) and was recently elected to the Board of Delegates of its New Media Council. A well regarded authority on the subject of digital entertainment and technology; he is a regular panelist and moderator most recently for The Circle Conference in Abu Dhabi, UAE in October 2010. Additionally, Mr. Heinsen is the Founder and Executive Producer of the Altadena Comedy Festival.
Originally from Chicago, Mr. Heinsen received his MFA while a Producing Fellow at the American Film Institute (AFI) and is a graduate of the University of Arizona. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and three children whom he considers his greatest productions.

Nate Kontny founded and leads application development at Inkling (http://inklingmarkets.com) and Cityposh (https://cityposh.com). Inkling was recently listed on the Ruby on Rails site as one of the "most prolific", a spot shared with Twitter and Hulu. Nate believes people often over engineer their ideas, making them much bigger than they should start out to be. Nate is an active blogger, actor, and amateur bartender. Nate holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana.

AACTION IN INDIA

For the past two years AACTION has been working with a team of Indian autism professionals to develop a plan for training and education.
An AACTION team visited India and spoke to over 500 autism professionals and parents of children with autism, positively impacting thousands of children.

• AACTION trained over 150 teachers and parents in two intensive, interactive workshops.
• AACTION brought six Indian autism professionals to the United States for two weeks of training. We are developing Indian trainers that can provide information and training to their communities.
• AACTION will be returning to India to provide further training While AACTION is extremely proud of our work in India, it is just the first step of a long journey, in just one country with many more in need. Our passion, along with the generosity of our supporters, will ensure a better future for individuals with autism.