Jill Escher
{{short description|American attorney}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{notability|Bio|date=February 2020}}
{{COI|date=March 2020}}
}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jill Escher
| image =
| alt =
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| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1965}}
| birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| alma_mater = Stanford University (BA)
University of California, Berkeley (JD)
| other_names =
| occupation = Lawyer
Investor
Philanthropist
| years_active =
| known_for = The Escher Fund for Autism
| notable_works =
| website = {{url|https://www.jillescher.com/}}
}}
Jill Escher (born 1965) is a former attorney and real estate developer. She is the head of the Escher Fund for Autism, the immediate past president of the Autism Society of America San Francisco Bay Area chapter, and the president of the National Council on Severe Autism.{{cite news |last1=Saffron |first1=Jesse |title=Toxicants can affect sperm and eggs, pose risks for offspring (Environmental Factor, November 2019) |url=https://factor.niehs.nih.gov/2019/11/science-highlights/germline-exposure/index.htm |access-date=9 February 2020 |work=National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences |language=en}}
Research
Escher hypothesizes that the increasing prevalence and strong heritability of autism can in part be explained by non-genetic, environmentally informed events. The changes can manifest as changes in chromatin, epigenome, or de novo mutations.{{cite news |last1=Zeliadt |first1=Nicholette |title='Science junkie' bets big on autism's environmental origins |url=https://www.spectrumnews.org/news/science-junkie-bets-big-on-autisms-environmental-origins/ |access-date=9 February 2020 |work=Spectrum |date=18 July 2016}} She is known for collaborating with scientific experts{{who|date=March 2024}} and for speaking at scientific conferences.{{which|date=March 2024}} Escher has also petitioned the FDA to withdraw approval for two drugs until they can be tested for impacts on developing fetal germ cells.{{cite news |last1=Kay |first1=Jane |title=Mother's quest could help solve autism mystery |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/health/article/Mother-s-quest-could-help-solve-autism-mystery-4682498.php |access-date=9 February 2020 |work=San Francisco Chronicle |date=23 July 2013}}{{cite news |last1=Roth |first1=Mark |title=Mysteries of the Mind: Can autism be triggered in future generations? |url=https://www.post-gazette.com/news/health/2013/10/08/Mysteries-of-the-Mind-Can-autism-be-triggered-in-future-generations/stories/201310080082 |access-date=9 February 2020 |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |language=en}}
Advocacy
{{Autism rights movement |expanded=criticism}}
Before becoming a research advocate, Escher earned her J.D. degree and Master's in City and Regional Planning at UC Berkeley. In 1996, Jill Escher published her master's thesis, A Nightmare on Elm Street?: Government Liability for Innovative Street Design.{{cite thesis |last=Escher |first=Jill |date=1996 |title=A Nightmare on Elm Street?: Government Liability for Innovative Street Design |type=Master's |publisher=University of California, Berkeley |oclc=233613538 }}
In 2002, Escher appealed to the Blue Cross Blue Shield Federal Employee Program to provide reimbursement for speech–language services for all autistic individuals, claiming that speech therapy provides benefits to autistic individuals that are equivalent to medicine. Escher won her appeal and also asked the OPM for a written decision indicating that BCBS was in error.{{cite journal |last1=McCarthy |first1=Janet |title=Advocacy Brings Success in Reimbursement Appeals |journal=The ASHA Leader |date=April 2002 |volume=7 |issue=6 |pages=1–20 |doi=10.1044/leader.GR.07062002.1}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book |title=Farewell, Club Perma-Chub: a sugar addict's guide to easy weight loss |date=2011 |publisher=Claradon Press |isbn=978-1-4662-7389-4 |oclc=781503008 |language=en}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|https://www.jillescher.com/}}
- [http://www.germlineexposures.org/ Germline Exposures]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Escher, Jill}}
Category:21st-century American writers
Category:American women lawyers
Category:Stanford University alumni