Connecting Families – Basics of the Autism Insurance and Behavioral Health Resource Center
Presenter Bios
Amy Weinstock
Amy Weinstock is the Director of the Insurance Resource Center for Autism and Behavioral Health at the UMass Chan Medical School’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center, and an instructor in the medical school’s Department of Psychiatry. She has an extensive background on insurance issues related to autism and has played a key role in passing several significant pieces of autism insurance legislation in Massachusetts, including the groundbreaking 2010 law requiring health insurance to cover medically necessary treatment for autism. Amy also serves as a trustee of the Riverview School, Living Independently Forever (LIFE), and as a Commissioner on the State’s Autism Commission.
Following a successful career in real estate and banking, Amy, the parent of a child on the autism spectrum, decided to merge her personal passions and professional experience. She completed a Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND fellowship at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center in 2005. Following this, she served as President of the outreach organization of the Lurie Center for Autism at Massachusetts General Hospital for two years prior to her appointment as Chair of the Insurance Committee for Advocates for Autism of Massachusetts (AFAM)
Amy’s work has been recognized through numerous awards including the Federation for Children with Special Needs Martha H. Ziegler Founders Award, the Margaret L. Bauman Award for Excellence, the Massachusetts ARC’s Distinguished Citizens Award, the Autism Speaks Advocacy Award, the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation’s Shining Star and Essential piece awards, and the Northeast ARC’s Edward C. O’Keefe Memorial Award. She is a graduate of Wellesley College and received a Master of Architecture from Harvard University.
