How much is the U.S. Federal government’s obligation towards funding special education?

4 Jan

When the U.S. federal government passed The Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975, the law that has since become the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), they made a commitment to assist states in funding this mandate. In fact, the bill was originally introduced as “A bill to provide financial assistance to the States for improved educational services for handicapped children.”

Funding was obviously key to this bill.

I’ve often heard (and believed and written occasionally myself) that the government’s commitment is to fund 40% of special education costs. Here is a statement on Senator Dodd’s website as an example:

Currently, the federal government does not meet the goal it set in 1975 to fund 40 percent of states’ special education costs. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided a one-time investment, which increased federal funding to 34 percent. However, federal funding has otherwise never exceeded 18 percent.

On researching a recent post, I found this to be not precisely true. The federal government isn’t required to pay 40% of special education costs. Instead, they are “required” to pay states an amount equal to 40% of the average cost per student for each special ed student.

If you feel like you have to read that again to understand what I wrote, I understand. It took me a while to work this out myself. And you can see that I didn’t find a brief way to write it, either.

Under “Grants to States” section of the law, one can read:

(a) Purpose of grants. The Secretary makes grants to States, outlying areas, and freely associated States (as defined in Sec. 300.717), and provides funds to the Secretary of the Interior, to assist them to provide special education and related services to children with disabilities in accordance with Part B of the Act.

(b) Maximum amount. The maximum amount of the grant a State may receive under section 611 of the Act is–

(1) For fiscal years 2005 and 2006–

(i) The number of children with disabilities in the State who are receiving special education and related services–

(A) Aged three through five, if the State is eligible for a grant under section 619 of the Act; and

(B) Aged 6 through 21; multiplied by–

(ii) Forty (40) percent of the average per-pupil expenditure in public elementary schools and secondary schools in the United States (as defined in Sec. 300.717); and

(2) For fiscal year 2007 and subsequent fiscal years–

(i) The number of children with disabilities in the 2004-2005 school year in the State who received special education and related services–

(A) Aged three through five if the State is eligible for a grant under section 619 of the Act; and

(B) Aged 6 through 21; multiplied by

(ii) Forty (40) percent of the average per-pupil expenditure in public elementary schools and secondary schools in the United States (as defined in Sec. 300.717);

(iii) Adjusted by the rate of annual change in the sum of–

(A) Eighty-five (85) percent of the State’s population of children aged 3 through 21 who are of the same age as children with disabilities for whom the State ensures the availability of FAPE under Part B of the Act; and

(B) Fifteen (15) percent of the State’s population of children described in paragraph (b)(2)(iii)(A) of this section who are living in poverty.

Emphasis added.

40% is accurate, but not 40% of special education costs. Instead “Forty (40) percent of the average per-pupil expenditure”. Average per-pupil expenditure is the average cost for all students, not just those in special education.

In the U.S., we spend about $10,000 per student, on average. So, the federal government is supposed to pay about $4,000 per special education student as their commitment. But they haven’t fulfilled their commitment. Rather than $4,000, they pay about $1,700.

$1,700. That’s how much the federal government pays each state per special ed student student. And–and–the state doesn’t pass all of that along to school districts.

If special education costs go up faster than regular education costs, the amount the Federal government is supposed to pay doesn’t go up.

This isn’t news. It’s been happening for about 35 years now. Long enough for states and school districts to factor this into their budgets. But, explains part of why districts may feel a bit of a pinch when it comes to special education costs. Special education is essentially an unfunded mandate. At a very real level it doesn’t matter that it is unfunded. Special education is the right and appropriate thing to do. However, it would sure help out a lot if the federal government would help out financially.

Autism and the Affluent

4 Jan

Autism and the Affluent is a piece in today’s Newsweek by Seth Mnookin, author of the upcoming book, The Panic Virus. It lays out how he got started on the book. Here is the first paragraph:

My wife and I first noticed our friends’ preoccupation with autism and vaccines in late 2007, right around the time former TV star and Playboy Playmate Jenny McCarthy published the first of several bestsellers in which she claimed that the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine had probably given her son autism. As we soon discovered, McCarthy’s intuition-based approach to medicine (she referred to it as “mommy instinct”) had a number of adherents among our friends.

The rest can be found on the NewsWeek website.

Festivus isn’t over…

3 Jan

…until someone pins me.

Yes, in my listing of seasonal Holidays I neglected Festivus. (Festivus is a holiday invented by the family of one of the writers of the show Seinfeld and made known through that show). Festivus doesn’t end until the someone pins the host in the “feats of strength”. For the moment I’ll abscond with Kev’s rightful position as host of LeftBrainRightBrain and claim that since I have not been pinned, Festivus is still ongoing, I will use this opportunity to express another Festivus tradition: the airing of grievances.

The U.S. federal government was a major disappointment last year. There are many reasons, but today I will focus on the failure (once again) to fulfill their commitment to the Individuals with Disability Education Act (IDEA).

Barack Obama set out this promise during his campaign:

Fully Funding the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act: Barack Obama has been a strong and consistent advocate for fully funding the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Congress promised to shoulder 40 percent of each state’s “excess cost” of educating children with disabilities, but it has never lived up to this obligation. Currently, the federal government provides less than half of the promised funding (17 percent). Children are being shortchanged, and their parents are forced to fight with cash-strapped school districts to get the free and appropriate education the IDEA promises their children. Fully funding IDEA will provide students with disabilities the public education they have a right to, and school districts will be able to provide services without cutting into their general education budgets. In addition to fully funding IDEA Barack Obama and Joe Biden will ensure effective implementation and enforcement of the Act.

Mr. Obama provided a big boost to IDEA funding, for one year. This was in the form of funding from the economic stimulus plan. Unfortunately, since this was a one-time-only boost, schools were unable to hire additional people or otherwise spend the money in ways that would require long-term investment.

In 35 years, the Federal government has never lived up to their promised contribution to IDEA. Fully funding the federal government’s commitment to special education is long overdue. Yes, it is focused on school age children and doesn’t apply to autistic adults. But, it would make a big difference especially in these tough economic times when districts are faced with big budget problems.

2011 – The Last Year For ARI’s DAN! Doctors

2 Jan

As late as just a few months ago, The Autism Research Institute (ARI), promoted their upcoming Fall 2010 Defeat Autism Now! conference in a monthly newsletter. Note the name of the conference:

“Fall 2010 ARI/Defeat Autism Now! Conference”
http://www.ariconference.com/enews/enewsletter_201010.html

Now look at ARI’s promotion of their Spring 2011 conference.

“Spring 2011 ARI Conference
(formerly known as Defeat Autism Now!)”
http://www.ariconference.com/enews/enewsletter_201011.html

Do you see the difference? It’s pretty hard to miss. What about all those practitioners (physicians, nurses, chiropractors, nutritionists, naturopaths, and homeopaths, etc.) who want to participate in the “DAN! Physician Training”, you know, become “DAN! Practitioners”? How does one become a DAN! doctor, if Defeat Autism Now! is a former identity?

A quick look at the ARI Conference website answers that right away.

The Autism Research Institute Conference Formerly known as Defeat Autism Now!

The practitioner seminars are still part of the conference. But there’s something potentially newsworthy here too.

As of 12/31/11, ARI will no longer be maintaining a clinician registry (a.k.a “the DAN list”). No new names will be added to the registry in 2011.

Source

You read that correctly – no new names in 2011, and at the end of this year, it’s over. No more list of DAN! Doctors.

According to ARI’s website, one is best served in finding a “talented clinician” by way a support group – local, or you know, out there on the interwebs.

As recently as 10 years ago it was nearly impossible for parents to find clinicians who approached treating patients with autism from a medical point of view, so ARI started keeping a clinician registry (the “DAN list”). We tried a number of measures to ensure that every clinician on our list provided high-quality care, but we are a small non-profit with limited resources. We have determined that those seeking a talented clinician are best served by connecting with support groups—either locally or online—instead of choosing from a list that cannot be vetted.

Source

I’m not sure what they mean by having tried “a number of measures to ensure that every clinician on our list provided high-quality care”. I understand that there were special “clinician training” sessions at DAN! conferences in the past, but as far as I understood it in the past, becoming a listed DAN! practitioner might have required little more than attend a conference, sign a statement pledging to “conduct their practice in accordance with DAN! philosophy”, and ask to be listed. Although I could be wrong, I find it incredibly difficult to believe that there were in fact any significant measures taken by ARI to ensure the provision of high quality care by clinicians on its list. I seem to recall that Roy Kerry was added to ARI’s list of DAN! practitioners in 2006 after the death of Tariq Nadma in 2005.

ARI’s notes and disclaimers for the remaining year of life for the list of DAN! doctors seem pretty careful:

If someone claims to be “DAN-certified,” they’re overstating; neither ARI nor Defeat Autism Now! has ever had a certification program.

The following are practitioners who have asked to be listed as providing Defeat Autism Now!®- based interventions for patients with autism. Most are physicians, others are licensed health-care professionals in related fields.

ARI has no means of certifying the competence nor quality of practice of any practitioner. The lists are provided as a community service. The Autism Research Institute disclaims and does not endorse or support any individual or entity listed; makes no representations, warranties, guarantees or promises on behalf of or for those listed, and assumes no liability nor responsibility for any service or product provided. ARI does not ‘certify’ practitioners or guarantee competence, skill, knowledge, or experience.

Source

So is that it? Is this really the end of DAN! doctors in less than a year? Isn’t there a D-List celebrity with apparent anti-vaccine leanings , who can save (or may have already saved) the day for all the poor physicians, nurses, chiropractors, nutritionists, naturopaths, and homeopaths who need be available to all those parents who are desperate to recover an “epidemic” of kids from autism, mercury poisoning, or “vaccine-induced” whatever?

Aha! Jenny McCarthy’s Generation Rescue! Where, from the home page, a parent can click on “Find A Doctor” and learn about the NGMD’s.

JMGR

What’s an NGMD according to Jenny McCarthy’s Generation Rescue?

Answer: According to Jenny McCarthy’s Generation Rescue website, an NGMD is a “New Generation Medical Doctor”, and “These clinicians share Generation Rescue’s ideologies, practices, and philosophies of treating the underlying medical issues of individuals with autism.”

Source

I think this is potentially an interesting development, because in the past, a parent brand-new to an autism diagnosis might have assumed scientific credibility from a movement’s (Defeat Autism Now!) list of practitioners associated with a name like “Autism Research Institute”. If nothing, ARI is a scientific sounding name. I don’t think that’s as likely to be the case for the “NGMD’s”, who could be seen by many as simply associated with a fringe anti-vaccine group promoted by Jenny McCarthy.

What do you think?

Risperidone-Induced Weight Gain in Referred Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

30 Dec

Risperidone, also known as Risperdal, is the one drug FDA approved for treatment of irritability and behavior issues some autistics have. According to Vincent Iannelli, M.D., at about.com, these include:

* aggression
* deliberate self-injury
* temper tantrums
* quickly changing moods

Risperidone is serious medicine, and as such has side effects that can occur. Again, according to Dr. Iannelli:

The most common side effects of taking Risperdal include drowsiness, constipation, fatigue and weight gain. The drowsiness is sometimes a ‘good’ side effect, as many kids who take Risperdal do not sleep well, which adds to their behavior problems during the day.

as well as

Ask your doctor about other less common, although more serious side effects, including neuroleptic malignant syndrome, tardive dyskinesia, and hyperglycemia and diabetes.

There are also questions as to whether Risperidone loses effectiveness with long term usage.

One of the most commonly discussed side effects is weight gain. A recent study gives preliminary findings indicating that this weight gain may be associated with the genetic makeup of the person taking the drug.

Here’s the abstract:

Risperidone-Induced Weight Gain in Referred Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders Is Associated with a Common Polymorphism in the 5-Hydroxytryptamine 2C Receptor Gene.

Hoekstra PJ, Troost PW, Lahuis BE, Mulder H, Mulder EJ, Franke B, Buitelaar JK, Anderson GM, Scahill L, Minderaa RB.

1 Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen , Groningen, The Netherlands .
Abstract

Abstract Weight gain is an important adverse effect of risperidone, but predictors of significant weight gain have yet to be identified in pediatric patients. Here, we investigated differences between age- and gender-normed body mass index-standardized z scores at baseline and after 8 weeks of open-label, flexible-dose risperidone treatment (mean dose: 1.70?mg/day) in 32 youths with pervasive developmental disorder (mean age?=?8.74, range?=?5-16 years) in relation to -759C/T 5-hydroxytryptamine 2C receptor (HTR2C) promoter and rs1414334 HTR2C intragenic C/G alleles, along with gender, age, and risperidone dose, using repeated measures analyses of variance. Carriers of the HTR2C promoter T allele gained an average of 0.043?±?0.017 body mass index-standardized z scores (1.84?±?1.51?kg) versus 0.64?±?0.35 z (3.23?±?1.47?kg) for non-T-allele carriers (p?<?0.001). Presence of the rs1414334 C allele played no significant role. Further, weight gain appeared to be associated with younger age and higher doses of risperidone. The current preliminary findings suggest that the variant T allele of the -759C/T HTR2C promoter polymorphism is protective against risperidone-induced weight gain. Younger children and those treated with higher doses of risperidone may be at higher risk for weight gain.

Neurodiversity.com compiled a list of articles on Risperdone.

More information on the clinical trials of risperidone can be found in this article
Risperidone in the treatment of behavioral disorders associated with autism in children and adolescents.

Risperidone in the treatment of behavioral disorders associated with autism in children and adolescents.

Canitano R, Scandurra V.

Division of Child Neuropsychiatry, University Hospital of Siena Siena, Italy.
Abstract

This is a review of the clinical trials investigating the efficacy and safety of risperidone in the treatment of children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD). The main clinical characteristics are impairment in social skills, communication difficulties, repetitive movements and behaviors, including stereotypies. Pharmacotherapy is mainly directed at the so-called target symptoms, ie, behavioral disorders and the various kinds of repetitions associated with ASD. According to the available data, risperidone seems to be moderately efficacious and safe for treating behavioral disorders. 4 double blind controlled trial. 3 reanalysis studies, and 12 open studies have documented the role of risperidone in children with ASD. Controlled studies have been thoroughly considered in this review.

The paper is free online, and includes discussion of effectiveness and adverse reactions to the drug as well as a commentary on the unknown effect of long-term use on the developing brain.

Deadly Choices: The myth of the mild disease

29 Dec

I’ve started reading Deadly Choices and goodness me its a breath of fresh air in terms of factual analysis and also writing skill. The last autism book I read was Age of Autism so you’ll appreciate how great the difference is.

I’ll be blogging about Deadly Choices a fair bit I guess and I guess Sullivan will too (after all he is Bonnie Offit) and in this first blog post I want to discuss why the idea that certain illnesses are perceived (and indeed promoted) by the anti-vaccine lobby as mild and therefore of no risk – just another excuse to stick us all with another needle containing who knows what!!

The book Deadly Choices, makes this point crystal clear in the Introduction. Regarding a Hib outbreak in Minnesota:

[parents]…were afraid that vaccines contained dangerous additives, or that children received too many vaccines too soon; or that vaccines caused autism

…

…one mother reconsidered her decision: ” the doctor looked at me and said, ‘Your son is going to die, he doesn’t have much time.’ Honestly, I never really understood how severe the risk [was] that we put our son at.”

Deadly choices indeed.

And what about mumps? In 2009, an outbreak caused by an unvaccinated traveller coming back from England caused a chain reaction that infected over 1500 people in 8 months. The end result?

When it was over, mumps was found to have caused pancreatitis, meningitis, deafness, facial paralysis or inflammation of the ovaries in sixty-five people, nineteen were hospitalised.

Hib and mumps are just two of the diseases previously easily controlled by vaccines that are now becoming rampant again due to poor vaccination rates and the fact that such deadly and crippling diseases are now just a plane ride away.

NIMH’s Top 10 Research Events and Advances of 2010

29 Dec

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in the U.S. has a blog post up discussing NIMH’s Top 10 Research Events and Advances of 2010.

7) The autistic brain. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been recognized as a disorder of brain development, but there have been few clues to what is different in the brain of someone with ASD. Several papers this year described differences in structure of brain regions; patterns and strength of connections between brain regions; and function of brain circuits.10-13 One intriguing brain imaging study looked at brain activity in response to social information in children with ASD, their unaffected siblings, and controls. Compared to controls, both children with ASD and their unaffected siblings showed different brain activity patterns in some regions. Remarkably, the brains of unaffected siblings appeared to compensate for the difference with additional brain activity in other regions.14

The references are:

10. Stevenson JL, Kellett KA. Can magnetic resonance imaging aid diagnosis of the autism spectrum? J Neurosci. 2010 Dec 15;30(50):16763-5. PMID: 21159947

11. Zikopoulos B, Barbas H. Changes in prefrontal axons may disrupt the network in autism.
J Neurosci. 2010 Nov 3;30(44):14595-609.PMID: 21048117

12. Schumann CM, Bloss CS, Barnes CC, Wideman GM, Carper RA, Akshoomoff N, Pierce K, Hagler D, Schork N, Lord C, Courchesne E. Longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging study of cortical development through early childhood in autism. J Neurosci. 2010 Mar 24;30(12):4419-27.PMID: 20335478

13. Ecker C, Marquand A, Mourão-Miranda J, Johnston P, Daly EM, Brammer MJ, Maltezos S, Murphy CM, Robertson D, Williams SC, Murphy DG. Describing the brain in autism in five dimensions – magnetic resonance imaging-assisted diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder using a multiparameter classification approach. J Neurosci. 2010 Aug 11;30(32):10612-23.PMID: 20702694

14. Kaiser MD, Hudac CM, Shultz S, Lee SM, Cheung C, Berken AM, Deen B, Pitskel NB, Sugrue DR, Voos AC, Saulnier CA, Ventola P, Wolf JM, Klin A, Vander Wyk BC, Pelphrey KA. Neural signatures of autism. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 Dec 7;107(49):21223-8. Epub 2010 Nov 15.PMID: 21078973

Autism is mentioned two more times (emphasis added)

3) DNA sequencing. The cost of DNA sequencing has dropped by a factor of 10 every year for the past few years. This new capacity to sequence rapidly and inexpensively the full genome (or candidate gene regions) is transforming psychiatric genetics. In previous years, costs have constrained full genome sequencing efforts, and investigators have compensated by using strategies to search for hints of variation in certain regions of the genome. This year, however, whole genome sequencing in multiple individuals finally became a reality. The result was the discovery of enormous genomic variation across healthy subjects, with hundreds of thousands of rare gene variants identified and, on average, each child showing 50 – 100 new mutations not present in his or her parents.3 We have also learned that autism, schizophrenia, and other neurodevelopmental disorders are associated with rare “structural” variations in the genome, sometimes involving millions of bases of DNA.4 Only through full genome sequencing efforts will we be able to understand the scope of these rare variations and their contribution to the causes of mental disorders.

4. 1000 Genomes Project Consortium, Durbin RM, Abecasis GR, Altshuler DL, Auton A, Brooks LD, Durbin RM, Gibbs RA, Hurles ME, McVean GA. A map of human genome variation from population-scale sequencing. Nature. 2010 Oct 28;467(7319):1061-73.PMID: 20981092

8) Disease-in-a-dish. History may judge one of the most important discoveries in the past decade to be the creation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs): cells taken from adults, de-differentiated into a pluripotent state (in which they have the potential of becoming any cell type), and then differentiated into a mature cell type. For example, a skin cell taken from an adult can be made pluripotent and then differentiated into a neuron. This year, we saw this revolutionary technology begin to shed light on Rett Syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes autism. Marchetto et al. (Cell, Nov, 2010) derived iPSCs from patients with Rett Syndrome and then differentiated them into neurons in vitro (e.g. “in-a-dish”), with a range of abnormalities corresponding to observed neuronal abnormalities seen in Rett Syndrome patients.15 These cells were useful not only for identifying the process of developing Rett pathology but also allowed testing of potential treatments.

15. Marchetto MC, Carromeu C, Acab A, Yu D, Yeo GW, Mu Y, Chen G, Gage FH, Muotri AR. A model for neural development and treatment of Rett syndrome using human induced pluripotent stem cells. Cell. 2010 Nov 12;143(4):527-39.PMID: 21074045

Christmas break reading list

29 Dec

Mine is too big (pages and content, not number of books), and a good chunk of Christmas break has already past. That said, I set a goal for myself to read more books. And to read better books. Reading “The Age of Autism” and “Callous Disregard” had some small value. It is good to challenge one’s ideas. But these books are just poorly done and poorly written. I figured it’s time to devote some time to something that could be a bit of a benefit in education, entertainment or both.

The two main books on my shelf right now are
“The Developing Human. Clinically Oriented Embryology“.

and

Send in the Idiots

The first was suggested to me when I expressed an interest in learning more about human development, especially very early development and the brain. I got a copy very cheap, somewhat used. As long as I was perusing used books, I picked up a copy of “Send in the Idiots” as well. That one is new, with the exception of the tag put on it by the used bookstore. Send in the Idiots has been in the back of my mind since I heard the author interviewed on the NPR program “Fresh Air”.

Another book on my shelf, which will come as no surprise, is “Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All”. This is Paul Offit’s new book. I’ve read that already and will be discussing it here on LeftBrainRightBrain soon.

While I feel like I should be virtuous and read “The Developing Human”, I started on “Send in the Idiots” first. I don’t know if I will finish anything before I head back to work, but if I finish that I will write about it here.

Upcoming IACC Full Committee Meeting – Tuesday, January 18, 2011 – Rockville, MD

29 Dec

The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) creates the “Strategic Plan” which serves as the main roadmap for autism research funding in the United States.

The IACC is going to have a full committee meeting on January 18 to update the Strategic Plan.

Or, to put it simply, this is where the rubber meets the road for the IACC. If you want to have an impact–and, yes, public input does have an impact–now is your chance to submit public comments. One place to send comments is the address given in the announcemt below: IACCpublicinquiries@mail.nih.gov.

Here is a pie chart of the funding breakdown according to the categories that the IACC Strategic Plan uses.

(click to enlarge).

Figure that research takes 5-10 years to bear fruit, in general. When I take a look at that pie chart and think about what segments have the possibility of really impacting my child’s life in the relatively near future, I would like to see more money spent in areas involving older children, adolescents and adults.

Here is the IACC announcement.

Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) Full Committee Meeting

Please join us for an IACC Full Committee meeting that will take place on Tuesday, January 18, 2011 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET in Rockville, MD. Onsite registration will begin at 9:00a.m.

Agenda: The IACC will review and approve the final 2011 update of the IACC Strategic Plan for Autism Spectrum Disorder Research.

Meeting location:
The Neuroscience Center – Map and Directions This link exits the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee Web site and enters a non-government Web site.
6001 Executive Boulevard
Conference Rooms C and D
Rockville, MD 20852

The meeting will be open to the public and pre-registration is recommended. Seating will be limited to the room capacity and seats will be on a first come, first served basis, with expedited check-in for those who are pre-registered.

The meeting will be remotely accessible by videocast (http://videocast.nih.gov/) and conference call. Members of the public who participate using the conference call phone number will be able to listen to the meeting, but will not be heard.

Conference Call Access
USA/Canada Phone Number: 888-577-8995
Access code: 1991506

Individuals who participate using this service and who need special assistance, such as captioning of the conference call or other reasonable accommodations, should submit a request to the contact person listed above at least seven days prior to the meeting. If you experience any technical problems with the webcast or conference call, please e-mail IACCTechSupport@acclaroresearch.com or call the IACC Technical Support Help Line at 443-680-0098.

Please visit the IACC Events page for the latest information about the meeting, including registration, remote access information, the agenda, materials and information about other upcoming IACC events.

Contact Person for this meeting is:

Ms. Lina Perez
Office of Autism Research Coordination
National Institute of Mental Health, NIH
6001 Executive Boulevard, NSC
Room 8185a
Rockville, MD 20852
Phone: 301-443-6040
E-mail: IACCpublicinquiries@mail.nih.gov

Upcoming IACC Subcommittee on Safety Conference Call – Wednesday, January 12, 2011

28 Dec

The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) has recently added emphasis to safety concerns. The Safety subcommittee will meet on January 12.

The IACC has 4 committees:

* Full Committee
* Subcommittee for Planning the Annual Strategic Plan Updating Process
* Services Subcommittee
* Subcommittee on Safety

At present, much of the focus and the budget recommended by the IACC goes towards causation (with the majority of that of that going towards environment and gene-environment causation) and early childhood therapies. Areas like safety and services, while they have their own subcommittees, get far less budget.

One way to make that change is to show an interest. Send a public comment. Share your concerns or expertise.

Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) Subcommittee on Safety Conference Call

Please join us for a conference call of the IACC Subcommittee on Safety that will take place on Wednesday, January 12, 2011 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. ET.

Agenda: The purpose of the call is to discuss a draft letter to the Secretary of Health and Human Services on issues related to autism and safety, as well as plans for future activities.

Conference Call Access
USA/Canada Phone Number: 888-456-0356
Access code: 1427016

This conference call will be open to the public. No registration is required. Members of the public who participate using the conference call phone number will be able to listen to the discussion but will not be heard.

If you experience any technical problems with the conference call, please e-mail IACCTechSupport@acclaroresearch.com or call the IACC Technical Support Help Line at 443-680-0098.

Please visit the IACC Events page for the latest information about the meeting, including registration, remote access information, the agenda and information about other upcoming IACC events.

Contact Person for this meeting is:

Ms. Lina Perez
Office of Autism Research Coordination
National Institute of Mental Health, NIH
6001 Executive Boulevard, NSC
Room 8185a
Rockville, MD 20852
Phone: 301-443-6040
IACCpublicinquiries@mail.nih.gov

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