PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- US senator Bob Casey (D-Pa.) stopped by the “Please Touch” Museum today for a roundtable discussion with families touched by autism.

Sen. Casey says the point of the roundtable was to learn about autism so he can help when it comes to authoring legislation to help those families.

“The biggest challenge I think a lot of families face is having basic services available, and franky to have more public officials to understand what they’re up against,” Casey told KYW Newsradio today.

Amy Kelly, who has a nine-year-old autistic daughter, says her concerns will be magnified when her daughter turns 21, “and her services are ending when she’s no longer eligible for Department of Education funding.”

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(Amy Kelly, with her daughter Annie, who has autism. Credit: Hadas Kuznits)

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Kelly says it’s important for legislators to learn about the needs of families like hers, and to speak with others in her situation.

“It never gets old for me to realize that I’m not alone,” Kelly says.  “This is a very isolating diagnosis, so to hear other parents talk about their feelings and what they live with, it’s quite moving.”

Reported by Hadas Kuznits, KYW Newsradio 1060