The Autism Intervention Research Network on Physical Health (AIR-P) will be hosting its 7th semi-annual Research Day on July 22, 2024, in conjunction with the 2024 Autism CARES Meeting. This virtual event is an opportunity to highlight research related to the physical health and overall well-being of autistic individuals. The 2024 theme is "Translating Research to Community Impact" and will feature poster presentations from across the nation. This virtual event is open to all.

We are excited to invite you to the LEND Lived Experience Summit! The summit will be held via Zoom on Monday and Tuesday, March 4-5, 2024, from 3:00 PM-6:00 PM Eastern Time. The LEND Self-Advocate Discipline Network and LEND Family Discipline Network voted to join forces for future summits to showcase the work and best practices in both LEND disciplines.

ITAC's new LEND and Learn Monthly TA Series is an opportunity for LEND leadership and faculty to gather once a month to discuss priority TA topics and to learn from each other! A different LEND program will lead each session, including a 15-minute presentation and a 45-minute discussion. Please note that this is not a webinar series. Instead, it is designed to be an informal opportunity for LENDs to connect on topics identified as top TA needs. DBP programs are welcome to participate.

Join Autism Special Interest Group co-chairs, Brian Be and Dr. Laura Carpenter for this opportunity to learn more about the SIG's activities, network with other members, and share ideas.

This webinar will introduce participants to the work of the Autism Friendly Initiative, and to strategies of care optimization that are tailorable to any kind of healthcare practice. At the end of this webinar, participants will understand more about the specific challenges that face patients with ASD when seeking healthcare and will feel more prepared in determining how to address those challenges at their respective practices.

In this panel discussion, providers from Vanderbilt Kennedy Center's Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders (VKC/TRIAD) will review recent work using tele-mediatied assessment, service, and capacity building paradigms for early detection and intervention.

Behavioral interventions have been critical for improving the lives of individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Notable achievements include the improved numbers of children with optimal outcomes, and the larger number of children accessing the regular curriculum. Despite these gains, standard behavioral methods have had the least success in social communication outcomes. We continue to find nearly half of all children entering school without fluent, socially related communication skills. This talk will focus on the core social communication impairment in children with ASD, evaluations of this core domain and recently developed, effective interventions.

This bi-annual meeting was an opportunity for MCHB-funded Autism CARES legislation grant recipients representing research, training, and state systems change stakeholders to share information about activities within their respective networks, discuss emerging trends, and facilitate meaningful collaboration.

One of the most difficult times for youth and young adults with ASD is the transition from school to adulthood. In fact, young adults with ASD typically experience low rates of employment, independent living, and connection to community. This session will review the research regarding employment outcomes for youth with ASD as well as review 3 important pathways to employment. These pathways are internships, supported employment and customized employment. Additionally, the presenters will provide specific examples regarding the supports youth and adults with ASD used to acquire and maintain employment in community-based integrated environments.

The AUCD 2016 Conference, "Navigating Change: Building our Future Together," highlights both the change that comes at the end of a Presidential term as well as our need to work together to create a future in which children and adults with disabilities are able to participate fully in all aspects of life as valued members of their communities. Join us to engage in powerful, important, and inspiring personal and professional discourse on December 4-7 in Washington, DC.

An expanding body of research into suicidality and autism documents that individuals with ASD are at a significantly increased risk of suicide. Furthermore, traditional screening tools and mental health interventions have limited use in working with individuals with ASD. This webinar began with an understanding of the issue from the perspective of the autistic self-advocacy community, exploring the challenges to screening and prevention within the mental health service system as it is today. We also reviewed the epidemiological background of suicide as a national and international public health crisis and what we know about how it impacts the ASD/ID population. We heard about a NIMH study underway aimed at developing a suicide risk screening tool for youth and adults with ASD/ID/DD. Finally, we reviewed specific interventions to address suicidality in autistic children and adults followed by strategies for promoting positive mental health for individuals with ASD who are at risk.

The 2016 Autism CARES Virtual Meeting was held virtually (i.e. through an online portal) on Thursday, July 21 as a half-day event exploring the topic of transition. During the meeting, MCHB-funded CARES legislation grantees (representing research, training, and state implementation stakeholders) shared information about activities within their respective networks, discussed emerging trends, and engaged in meaningful collaboration around transition research, policy and services.

Latinos represent the fastest growing population in the US, and Latino children are one of the fastest growing ASD populations. Despite this growth, they are one of the most underserved groups with respect to diagnostic services, health care, and specialty autism services. Dr. Sandy Magana will discuss the development of a culturally-based approach to addressing informational needs of Latino parents, which is essential in order to better support their children with ASD. She will present preliminary findings of a randomized controlled trial that is underway to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed model.

The Autism SIG will host a webinar which focuses on autism and co-morbid mental health conditions in children. We will focus on the challenges families face in accessing comprehensive services, as well as community and school based interventions.

During the last week of July 2012, 18 leaders from several MCHB funded training programs (including LENDs, LEAHs, PPCs, Nutrition and the Pipeline programs) engaged in the first stage of a learning collaborative to build interprofessional leadership skills for MCH trainees in their programs. The purpose of the MCHB-AUCD Interprofessional Leadership Learning Collaborative is to engage MCHB-funded leadership training programs and their partners in an experiential, skill-based "community of practice" related to the UNC MCH Leadership Consortium training model. This evidence-based model includes both a local community of interprofessional leadership practice as well as a carefully crafted curriculum based on the MCH Leadership competencies. The overall goal of this learning collaborative is for participants to incorporate and evaluate this intentional type of leadership training as a component of their MCHB-funded leadership training programs.