Please enjoy OARC’s quarterly newsletter, which includes information on recent events, news, publications, and community participation opportunities.

Samantha Crane discusses her background, the mission of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, and how the IACC can help the autism community.

This month's meeting will include a Housing Policy Update from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the TRICARE Autism Care Demonstration, and a panel presentation on wandering and criminal justice issues for people with disabilities.

The October meeting included presentations on Unintentional Injury in Autistic Individuals and Financial Planning/ABLE Accounts for People with Disabilities, as well as an update of the IACC Strategic Plan.

A new organization, the National Council on Severe Autism (NCSA), launched in January 2019 to address many of the challenges in services, housing, and policy faced by families, caregivers, and individuals with severe forms of autism and related disorders. IACC member Ms. Alison Singer is a member of the Board of Directors.

The American Association of Suicidology (AAS) announced the release of a resource to support autistic individuals during a crisis, specifically when interacting with crisis intervention services.

The CDC launched a new phase of funding for the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network. Over the next four years, CDC will invest more than $16 million to enhance tracking at nine sites previously included in the ADDM Network, and to launch one new site. One network site will also conduct a follow-up of 16-year-olds who were included in the ADDM Network in the years 2010 and 2012, when they were 8 years old.

The 2016 IACC ASD Research Portfolio Analysis Report is the first analysis of the 2016-2017 IACC Strategic Plan’s 23 new objectives. Data includes information on trends in ASD research funding based on federal agencies and private organizations in the United States. The Autism Research Database has been updated with the 2016 data.

A new HRSA-led study using national survey data estimates that 1.5 million U.S. children, or 1 in 40, have autism. This estimate is based on data collected from more than 50,000 children in the HRSA National Survey of Children's Health. The full report is published in Pediatrics.

The NIH All of Us Research Program is now open for enrollment. The program seeks to gather data from one million or more people to accelerate research and improve health. Individuals with disabilities are welcome to participate.

There are multiple opportunities available to participate in studies at NIMH, including studies related to autism and other disabilities.