Please enjoy OARC’s quarterly newsletter, which includes an update on the IACC call for nominations, coronavirus resources, recent events, news, and publications.

The selection process for the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) nominees is ongoing. The new IACC membership and future meeting dates will be publicly announced once the new members have been appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Dr. Francis Collins and National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Director Dr. Joshua Gordon held an important conversation on how to manage your health during the COVID-19 pandemic that may be of interest to the autism community.

The latest installment of the Autism Research journal includes a compilation of commentaries that share worldwide perspectives on the impact of COVID-19 on autism research.

The Simons Foundation’s SPARK for Autism conducted two surveys, one on children and families and one on adults, to learn about the impacts of COVID-19 on the autism community. These surveys and their accompanying reports documented some of the mental and physical health challenges, and disruptions in services faced by families and individuals. They also revealed some of the strategies being used in the community to cope with these challenges and changes.

The ASF has developed a COVID-19 Resources Portal to provide practical information on COVID-19 and autism for families, researchers, and services providers. Additionally, they have an ongoing webinar series on topics related to the pandemic.

The U.S. Department of Education released new guidance on how to resolve special education disputes during the COVID-19 pandemic. One document outlines considerations for those aged 3 to 21 and the other is for younger children.

For more coronavirus and autism news, including the new NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for COVID-19 Research, see the IACC's Coronavirus Resources page.

Earlier this year, multiple institutes and centers at the NIH awarded more than four million dollars to support seven research projects aimed at developing and validating screening tools to detect signs of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) before the age of 12 months.

The CDC released the first estimated prevalence of autism in adults in the United States. They estimated that 2.21 percent of adults are on the autism spectrum. They also found that the prevalence was higher among men than women, which is consistent with estimates of school-aged children.

A small study funded by the NIH suggests that sleep problems among children who have an older sibling with ASD may further raise the likelihood of an ASD diagnosis, compared to at-risk children who do not have difficulty sleeping. Previous research has shown that young children who have a sibling with ASD are at a higher risk for also being diagnosed with the condition.

The U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance awarded a grant to the International Association of Chiefs of Police to develop a training program to help law enforcement officers respond safely and effectively to situations involving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities or dementia who have wandered or are missing. The newly launched webpage details program goals and resources.

This publication provides plain language summaries of 20 studies selected by members of the IACC as the top advances in research on ASD in 2019.

The RAISE Family Caregiving Advisory Council released their first progress report on activities of this federal advisory committee on caregiving, which details their accomplishments so far and next steps.