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

President Donald Trump signed the Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education, and Support (CARES) Act of 2019 into law on September 30, 2019. This legislation reauthorizes funding for autism research, services, training, monitoring, and other federal activities through 2024. The act also reauthorizes the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is seeking nominations of individuals to serve as non-federal public members on the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC). Nominations will be accepted between Tuesday, November 19, 2019 and Friday, January 24, 2020.

The Housing Working Group convened a workshop to discuss the housing needs of people on the autism spectrum. The workshop included presentations on housing issues and various disability housing initiatives from across the country.

The final meeting of the most recent iteration of the IACC included a presentation from a community partnership in Baton Rouge, LA that coordinates services for people on the autism spectrum, and discussions on racial and ethnic disparities in autism.

The National Institutes of Health have awarded more than $4 million dollars to support seven research projects aimed at developing and validating screening tools to detect signs of autism spectrum disorder in the first year of life.

The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded $4 million dollars to the Council of State Governments to develop and manage a policy development center focused on youth with disabilities. The center will conduct research, engage workforce systems, identify ways to support youth with disabilities, and provide resources to support the transition to employment.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to purchase or consume Miracle Mineral Solution, which has been touted as a cure for autism, cancer, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, flu, and other conditions. The solution develops into a dangerous bleach which can cause serious and potentially life-threatening side effects.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy awarded $2 million to Cornell University to operate a technical assistance center. The center will provide employers with guidance, tools, and resources to recruit, hire, retain, and advance people with disabilities.

For the first time, four countries have collaborated to analyze international ASD research funding trends. The U.S. National Institutes of Health, the British charity Autistica, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and researchers from Macquarie University in Australia collected and analyzed ASD research projects funded in 2016 in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia. The report describes autism funding priorities in each country and the distribution of funding among seven research topics. Project data used to develop this report are available in the Autism Research Database.

The Autism Science Foundation is looking for unaffected sisters of individuals with autism to participate in this initiative. The study, which ends December 31, 2019, aims to understand the "female protective effect."

The NIDILRR-funded Collaborative on Health Reform and Independent Living (CHRIL) is looking for adults with disabilities to complete an online survey about health insurance and health care services.