Every Member’s Term Expired a Year Ago
The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, also known as IACC, has long been tasked with organizing the federal government’s response to the autism crisis. The committee, made up of federal officials and members of the autism community, is now under scrutiny for failing to assemble since July 2019. Additionally, IACC has no future meeting date on the horizon. The delay appears to be due to the expiration of every member’s term last fall. Nominations for new IACC members were to be accepted between November 19, 2019, and February 21, 2020. It is speculated that COVID may have delayed the nomination process. New members are typically installed before April, Autism Awareness Month. According to the National Institute of Mental Health’s Office of Autism Research Coordination, the entity that manages IACC, plans are underway to seat a new committee in the fall of 2020. Once a new committee is assembled, meetings and other activities can be resumed. In the meantime, many in the autism community have felt slighted by IACC for their sluggish response to the autism crisis even before the pandemic started. Now, these same people feel especially let down by IACC during COVID when those with autism need more help and are suffering more than other communities.
