Prince George’s County launches Early Connections autism awareness campaign

Prince George’s County has launched Early Connections, a new autism awareness and care campaign led by County Executive Aisha Braveboy and County Council Chair Krystal Oriadha. County materials say the effort is meant to reduce autism stigma, streamline diagnosis and improve access to resources for families.

The county introduced the campaign during Autism Awareness Month, with a Prince George’s County Government video posted April 2 describing the initiative as a way to address late diagnoses of developmental delays in young children and strengthen early intervention services. A Council Connection bulletin from the Prince George’s County Legislative Branch, dated April 6, formally announced the new campaign.

The launch is tied to more than messaging. Prince George’s County also promoted an Autism Provider Advisory Forum as part of the joint effort, signaling that county leaders want input from the people who diagnose, treat and refer children with autism-related needs. That matters in a county where parents often have to move between pediatric offices, specialists, school supports and county programs to get help started.

Two county web pages now sit under the Early Connections banner: an autism resources page through the Legislative Branch and a county government page titled Early Connections: Early Intervention for ASD Support. Those pages are the clearest sign yet of how the county wants families to find help, through official channels rather than informal searching or word of mouth.

County behavioral-health materials also frame the initiative as part of a broader push for early intervention and upstream support. That language suggests the administration is treating autism access as a systems issue, not just a public-awareness campaign. In practice, the question for Prince George’s families is whether Early Connections makes it easier to identify concerns sooner, reach the right provider faster and move from suspicion to action without losing time in the process.

For now, county leaders are putting their names on the effort. Braveboy and Oriadha have made Early Connections a joint public priority, and the Legislative Branch has joined in by advertising the resources and advisory forum behind it. The county is betting that earlier connections, not later explanations, will do more for children and parents across Prince George’s.