Jessica Rieper on Blogger: Autism

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Autism CARES Act of 2019 Reauthorized

Man and boy
Photo by Nathan Anderson on Unsplash

Outside of her work at CO-OP Financial Services, Jessica Rieper is a high-profile advocate for autism awareness. Jessica Rieper manages the autism-focused nonprofit Isaac’s World, inspired by her son. As part of her work, she shares important legal decisions that impact families with a child who has autism.

In September 2019, the Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education and Support (CARES) Act was reauthorized, extending the 2014 version. The Act was introduced with strong bipartisan support in 2006 and subsequently reauthorized three times.

When the oldest version of the act was written, autism and the long-term needs of people with autism and their families were poorly understood. Later versions addressed autism as a lifelong condition that requires social and practical support alongside medical treatment.

The Autism CARES Act of 2019 allocates nearly two billion dollars to research, support services, and early intervention programs. Further, the act will fund programs for adults living with autism, who now face service gaps after aging out of traditional services.

About Jessica Rieper

Ms. Rieper is a self-proclaimed “foodie” writing about her experiences in her foodie blog Central Iowa Foodie. She also writes about her autistic son in a Facebook blog titled Isaac's World. She helps other single mom’s struggle through divorces with a women’s help group on Facebook Divorced Iowa Mom’s and is very active with her family members, all in the food and beverage industry. She occasionally writes in her Single Iowa Mom blog but mostly sticks to her Facebook blogs to help encourage others around her.

When Rieper is not working, caring for her son, helping mom’s in distress and/or blogging, she is often times traveling and trying out new cuisines. There are very few foods off-limits to Rieper, and she’s willing to try most anything and everything. She enjoys oodles of coffee with heavy cream, long walks, her eclectic Sunday church group, sitting in the sunshine, gardening, long bike rides on the beautiful Iowa trails, reading literature (especially around mental health awareness), time with her family and close friends, loves history, and is passionate about helping others. She can often times be found anywhere between lounging poolside to a hole-in-the-wall restaurant an hour from her home, incognito, tasting a local dive bar’s specialty.