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.
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. She is known for collaborating with scientific experts and for speaking at scientific conferences. Escher has also petitioned the FDA to withdraw approval for two drugs until they can be tested for impacts on developing fetal germ cells.
Advocacy
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.
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 but also asked the OPM for a written decision indicating that BCBS was an error.