Prior to his book signing in Ames Tuesday, Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., sat down with about a dozen advocates and parents of autistic children to help explain the status of research funding being explored in Congress to fight the growing development disorder.

Dodd put his status as presidential candidate aside during the 30-minute meeting and focused solely on the health issues that have helped earn him the nickname "children's senator."

"The main reason that we are interested in what he has to say tonight is because he is Mr. Child Healthcare," said Kris Moorman, an Ames activist who organized the meeting. "The Combating Autism Act, while shared with Sen. (Rick) Santorum from Pennsylvania, stretches to a very great extent and it's been in existence because of Sen. Dodd."

The act was presented in spring 2005, passed by Congress in August 2006 and later signed into law by President Bush. It authorizes the expansion of activities related to autism research, prevention and treatment through the 2011 fiscal year.

"Because autism is so incredibly confounded - what causes it, how to treat it, how to provide support for families, residential care - it is from beginning to end a big question mark," Dodd said.

The funding for the act is part of a larger health and education spending bill recently vetoed by President Bush for the 2008 fiscal year. The veto was then sustained by members of the U.S. House of Representatives, winning by a mere two votes.

Dodd expressed confidence that the near $1 billion autism piece of the bill would receive full funding, saying the real debate over the spending bill focused on the State Children's Health Insurance Program and its initial proposed increase to $60 billion over the next five years.

"Despite what I might want and you might want, I think there is a place for that to be resolved," he said. "I am fairly optimistic we are going to get there."