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

The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee is seeking nominations for individuals to serve as non-federal public members. Eligibility criteria can be found in the open Call for Nominations. The deadline is Friday, February 21, 2020.

During Autism Science Foundation's 2019 Day of Learning - San Francisco, former IACC Chair Dr. Tom Insel discussed how technology can be harnessed to improve health for people on the autism spectrum.

The National Autism Coordinator and the Office of Autism Research Coordination (OARC) within the National Institute of Mental Health are co-sponsoring a webinar series on issues related to transition-aged youth and young adults. The next webinar will be held on February 11, 2020 and will discuss transportation and mobility options.

Dr. Francis Collins, the Director of the National Institutes of Health, blogs about a landmark study that analyzed the DNA of more than 35,000 people and identified variants in 102 genes associated with increased risk of developing ASD.

NIH-funded researchers found that identical twins on the autism spectrum often have large differences in symptom severity despite sharing the same DNA.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that $112 million is available to expand permanent affordable housing for very low-income persons with disabilities. Additionally, $37 million in rental assistance will be available to housing agencies that are working with state health and human services or Medicaid programs.

A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that low-income students and students of color face significant barriers to accessing their rights under Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

The National Council on Disability released a five-part series on bioethics that explores how people with disabilities are impacted by biases and assumptions in healthcare.

This National Council on Disability report assesses how federal agencies implement and enforce the Americans with Disabilities Act and other disability laws and programs. This is a follow-up to the 2018 progress report.

The Administration for Community Living is holding a competition for businesses looking to include people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Businesses will have the opportunity to win up to $100,000.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) is soliciting proposals for innovative ideas on how to improve employment outcomes for young adults ages 14 to 24 who apply for or receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI). News release.