We are writing as Connecticut residents, family members, and self-advocates to request that the Department of Social Services amend a specific eligibility rule in the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Waiver Program: the requirement that an applicant's functional impairments be diagnosed before age 22 (Conn. Gen. Stat. §17a-215c; DSS ASD Waiver eligibility criteria, portal.ct.gov).
This standard made sense when it was written, but it has not kept pace with how autism is actually diagnosed today. A growing body of clinical evidence shows that many autistic adults — particularly women, people of color, and individuals who developed compensatory "masking" strategies — are not identified until well into adulthood, often after years of misdiagnosis with anxiety, depression, or personality disorders. Their functional limitations in self-care, communication, learning, mobility, self-direction, or independent living began in childhood, exactly as the program intends to address. The only thing disqualifying them is the date on a piece of paper, not the date their disability began.
We are asking DSS to change what the eligibility rule measures. Specifically:
1. Replace the age-of-diagnosis standard with an age-of-onset standard — eligibility should turn on when an applicant's substantial functional limitations began (i.e., before adulthood), not on when a clinician happened to formalize that diagnosis.
2. Pursue the necessary amendment to the federally approved 1915(c) waiver through CMS, since this criterion is written into the waiver's approved documentation standard, not solely into state statute.
3. Report back to the Human Services Committee on the projected cost and caseload impact of this change, so the legislature can address any funding adjustment needed alongside it.
We want to be direct about what we are not asking for. We are not asking DSS to remove the underlying requirement that a disability be developmental in origin, and we are not asking to lift the program's $50,000 annual per-participant cap or waiting-list structure. This request is narrow: stop excluding people who meet every substantive criterion of the program solely because of when they received a diagnosis they could not have received any earlier through no fault of their own.
We respectfully request a written response describing whether DSS will pursue this change, and if so, on what timeline. We also ask Senator Moore and Representative Abercrombie to consider raising a bill directing DSS to seek this waiver amendment if the Department does not act on its own initiative this session.
Thank you for your attention to this request. The undersigned Connecticut residents join in asking for this change.
