Feda Almaliti
Feda Almaliti (née Salah) (September 21, 1977 – September 26, 2020) was an American autism advocate, podcaster, and the co-founder of the National Council on Severe Autism. Biography Almaliti was born in Chicago, Illinois. Almaliti's public autism advocacy began when she challenged her insurer, Kaiser, which had refused to pay for treatments for her son's autism. Almaliti won the suit, and then worked to change California law to require health insurance to cover autism treatments. Almaliti was a member of a group of parents who worked on California SB946, which significantly expanded autism health insurance coverage in California. Almaliti then became Insurance Chair of the Bay Area Autism Regional Taskforce. She was also Director of Outreach for the Mental Health & Autism Insurance Project. Almaliti co-founded the National Council on Severe Autism along with Jill Escher, and served as vice president. The organization focused on the challenges specific to people with severe autism and their families and caretakers. It worked to educate the public and policy makers, promote research, and promote acceptance and awareness of autistic people. Almaliti was the co-host of The Scoop, a podcast for parents of children with autism. The podcast was created to help other parents