The agenda for the upcoming meeting includes presentations on wandering by the National Autism Association and the Interactive Autism Network, an update from Madison House Autism Foundation on their new initiative, Autism After 21 (check out #Imagine21 on social media!), a discussion of the 2016-2017 IACC Strategic Plan, and more.

IMFAR, the annual conference of the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR), took place this year in San Francisco, CA in May. Exciting science advances were shared, and several IACC members and the OARC team participated. Over the summer, INSAR is hosting a free webinar series to share autism science updates from top researchers.

Check out the recent IACC Meeting presentation (minute mark 12:50) by Member of Parliament from Canada, Mike Lake, a father of a young adult son on the autism spectrum and dedicated advocate for people with disabilities.

In April NIMH and OARC hosted a screening of the documentary As One: The Autism Project for Autism Awareness Month. The film shows the struggles and triumphs of ten children with autism and their families who are living in the United Arab Emirates. The film is freely available for viewing via the IACC website until August 22, 2017.

A recent NIH-funded study shows that brain scans may predict which high-risk, six-month-old infants will develop autism by the time they turn two years old. Read NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins’ blog on this exciting research.

Dr. David Meyers, Chief Medical Officer of AHRQ, writes about two new reports from AHRQ reviewing the evidence to support the effectiveness of sensory-focused and dietary interventions for ASD.

The 2016 IACC Summary of Advances in ASD Research includes lay-friendly summaries of the top 20 autism research findings and breakthroughs selected by the IACC for the 2016 calendar year.

The 2013 IACC Autism Spectrum Disorder Research Portfolio Analysis Report includes information on trends in ASD research funding based on the autism research portfolios of federal agencies and private organizations in the United States. To access the data directly, check out OARC’s newly redesigned Autism Research Database.