Here’s an interesting program that I’ve been asked to post about for Autism Awareness Month:

“Ask.com is now featuring a new homepage theme every week in April for Autism Awareness Month, designed to educate consumers about autism, a complex neurobiological disorder affecting one in 150 people in the U.S. Ask.com donates $.50 to Autism Speaks for every new consumer who selects the Autism Speaks Skins as the design for their personalized Ask.com homepage. The Skins display a series of questions that challenge consumers’ understanding of autism; for each correctly answered question, Ask will donate another $.01 to Autism Speaks.

“Consumers don’t have to spend a dime to support this important cause. Simply choose one of the Ask.com skins designed especially for this initiative, and we’ll make a donation – it’s that easy,” said Jim Safka, Chief Executive Officer of Ask.com.

The Autism Speaks Skins feature photos of children with autism as well as original art by Andrew Bianchi, a 10 year-old boy with autism from New York. Every new homepage skin generates four questions and several answer options. Consumers can use Ask.com at any time to find the answer to a question; simply answering a question correctly is counted towards the total donation amount. Ask.com is promoting this special program directly on the Ask.com homepage several days throughout the month of April, as well as in the Ask.com Skins Gallery at www.ask.com/skins.

“True to their reputation for innovation, Ask.com has created a unique program where everyone wins: we gain awareness and support for our cause, consumers gain knowledge about autism through an engaging and thoughtful user experience, and Ask.com has an opportunity to connect in a meaningful way with consumers who also care about this cause,” said Scott Leibowitz, national director of corporate relation for Autism Speaks.