Jennifer Strobel is the executive director of FEAT, Families for Effective Autism Treatment, a nonprofit serving the autistic community and their families in Southern Nevada.

After her daughter was diagnosed at 4 with autism, Strobel started out with FEAT by attending their monthly support groups. Now serving as executive director, Strobel has held her role for 17 years. In this time, Strobel has seen FEAT grow from these initial support groups, to provide community outreach, parent training, events for children, teens and parents, training for healthcare providers, and more. 

With autism prevalence on the rise, Strobel has seen firsthand the growing need our community has for autism resources. Public awareness of autism has increased in recent years and their hotlines are “ringing off the hook,” with parents looking for guidance and support.

In September 2025, the current U.S. administration released an op-ed regarding what they referred to as “the autism epidemic,” which can call to mind a drastic and unprecedented increase in diagnoses, rather than a trending increase in prevalence over the past few years. Alongside increased public attention, autism misconceptions continue to circulate.

“Probably one of the biggest misconceptions is they think they’re all savants,” Strobel said, referencing the 1988 film Rain Man as a driver of public assumptions about autism.

One of the ways FEAT educates the community is through parent trainings, including a current training on what topics parents might find difficult to discuss with their teens: safe sex and consent. In addition, they train on IEPs, Individual Education Plans that the Clark County School District uses to provide equitable education to students with disabilities and special needs, which many parents can find challenging or confusing to navigate.

In addition to topics such as education and sexual safety, autistic people can face more challenges when receiving medical care in general, including sensory overwhelm, communication barriers between patient and providers, and avoidance of medical care due to stressors. This creates an important need for Autism training for health care providers, and organizations like FEAT step in to provide training for providers at the local, state, and federal levels. 

Beyond training, FEAT also creates space for creativity and connection.

Their annual Art 4 Autism typically receives over 100 art pieces. The art is collected and displayed for a month, with the majority of the proceeds going to the artist, remaining proceeds going to FEAT programming. At the closing reception, buyers can actually meet the artists, creating special moments for the participants. 

Families for Effective Autism Treatment (FEAT) hosts the Art 4 Autism Reception at the Las Vegas Design Center, 495 S. Grand Central Pkwy., Las Vegas, Nev., Sept. 12, 2026, 3-6 p.m. (Courtesy/FEAT)

Their iPad for You Scholarship Program for limited language or non-speaking individuals has provided over 300 iPads to the community.

FEAT counts on a large network of volunteers to drive their events and to sustain their variety of community resources, with their Parents’ Day Out event, for example, requiring around 70 volunteers.

“It’s personal to me,” Strobel said. “It’s personal to my coworker, to make sure we’re doing this right and supporting Southern Nevada and these families. We know how it feels when you get that diagnosis, and we know the beauty and the struggles.”

Families seeking support can reach FEAT directly:

FEAT Parent Hotlines 

702-368-3328 English Line

702-403-6263 Spanish Line 

More information about FEAT, including their resource directory, can be found at their website: featsonv.org.