Dear supporters,

Today, I’m proud to share that we have achieved a meaningful victory together.

Thanks to the power of over 50,000 voices standing up for the autism community, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has walked back plans for a national autism registry.

Instead of creating a centralized database of autistic individuals, they’ve clarified they are building a broader research platform — and the concept of a registry is off the table for now.

This is no small thing. Without our collective action, these plans might have moved forward quietly and without challenge. Together, we made sure the privacy, dignity, and rights of autistic people were not treated as an afterthought.

I’m incredibly proud of what we accomplished — but I also know this is not the end.

Sensitive data collection is still happening, and there’s more work ahead to ensure transparency, ethical research practices, and ironclad protections for all individuals and families affected by autism.

Your voice matters. You proved it. And I hope you’ll continue standing alongside me as we keep fighting for respect, consent, and real safeguards.

From the bottom of my heart — thank you.

You made this victory possible.

Stay strong, stay loud, and stay hopeful,

Ryan Smith

Petition Starter

P.S. We changed the story once. We can do it again whenever we need to.