The 2021 Autism CARES Meeting will be held Wednesday, July 21st from 2 PM - 5 PM ET via Zoom. This virtual event is an opportunity for HRSA-funded CARES grantees (representing research, training, and state systems) to share information about activities within their respective networks, discuss emerging trends, and facilitate meaningful collaboration. The meeting includes both panels and roundtable discussions.

Dr. Jennifer Ames from the AIR-P Gender, Sexuality, and Reproductive Health Research Node, will describe ongoing research examining reproductive health and obstetrics/gynecology health care gaps for autistic people, inclusive of female, transgender, and gender-diverse identities. The presentation will focus on topics such OB/GYN clinic visits, cervical cancer screenings, and use of hormonal contraception, with particular attention to differences across sociodemographic characteristics. Future work investigating obstetric care quality and pregnancy experiences will also be discussed.

This is an information session for the Autism Intervention Network on Physical Health (AIR-P) application for the AIR-P Scholars & Pilot and Feasibility funding program.The goal of the program is to launch the next generation of researchers seeking to promote the health and well-being of autistic individuals across the lifespan.The session will include an overview of the applications requirements along with time for Q&A.

Current advances in our knowledge of the genetic contributions to physical health and its integration into medical care have generated both opportunities for advancing healthcare and critical gaps in knowledge on its impact. We will introduce the landscape of genetic advances for individuals with neurodevelopmental differences, from diagnostics to ancestry and predictive risk. We will also explore the current state of genetics within healthcare, the role of early diagnosis on outcomes, opportunities for implementation of individualized interventions, and discuss future directions for this advancing field.

This presentation will provide an overview of the incidence and pathophysiology of epilepsy in patients with autism spectrum disorders, as well as special considerations in treatment.

This virtual event is an opportunity to highlight innovative life course intervention research  supported by the Autism Intervention Research Network on Physical Health (AIR-P). 

Please join the AUCD autism SIG meeting on November 9. This session will focus on mental health issues in autism, including assessment of psychiatric comorbidities, access to quality mental health care, suicidality, and more. The session will include brief talks and time for networking and resource sharing. Participants will help to guide development of our SIG's April Autism Acceptance Webinar Series which will focus on mental health in Autism.

Research demonstrates that autistic individuals interact with the criminal justice system at high rates. These interactions consequently are risk factors to physical, behavioral, and mental health, as well as the overall wellbeing of autistic individuals. The Global Autism and Criminal Justice Consortium was developed to address this issue and respond to calls from the autism community to prioritize criminal justice concerns.

Join us for updates on how the latest national research indicates autistic individuals are gaining, maintaining, and using Medicaid that point toward areas for policy and program change. Experiences from Pennsylvania, a state with two of the first and only Medicaid programs to serve autistic adults, will describe how practice is unfolding on the ground and where research is needed to improve health outcomes.

Drawing on findings from his dissertation research, Nachman discusses how autistic college students make sense of and reconcile challenges related to their mental health and wellness. He describes the influence of an autism-specific college support program in enabling students to think through emergent issues and determine solutions that support their well-being. Nachman will relay study insights and practical recommendations for colleges to implement.

The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) will be holding a virtual full committee meeting on Wednesday, January 19, 2022 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET. The virtual meeting is free and will be accessible to the public via NIH Videocast. The Committee welcomes public comments, which are due by Friday, January 7, 2022 at 5:00 p.m. ET.

After introducing common aims and controversies surrounding the neurodiversity movement, this presentation will empirically examine how support for the neurodiversity movement intersects with perspectives about socially valid "intervention" goal among autistic and non-autistic stakeholders.

Dr. Rujuta B. Wilson provided education on sleep difficulties in autism in this webinar. The following areas were addressed: (1) prevalence and diagnosis of sleep difficulties in autism, (2) the current knowledge in the field of why sleep difficulties occur in autism, and (3) behavioral and pharmacologic treatment for sleep difficulties.

This presentation will discuss clinical and research approaches for developmentally anchored social skills supports across the lifespan. The growing literature on social skills suggests promising clinical and socio-cultural approaches with the potential to improve relationships and reduce the impact of accumulated social disability and isolation across development. We will briefly review the literature and present clinical applications that integrate recent discoveries on social cognitive, pragmatic language, and implementation sciences.

This presentation blends first-person experiences with practical techniques to help identify and problem-solve for addressing sensory needs in a variety of contexts. Discuss how to develop low-tech, low-cost pre-emptive strategies and contingency plans for sensory needs!