Who speaks for autism?
RFK Jr has overhauled the federal autism panel. Its job is to look at science and make recommendations for the treatment and prevention of autism. Kennedy Jr. fired all of the members of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC)and appointed his own Committee. Of the twenty-one members of the Committee, none has ever served before. The new committee is made up of folks who have linked autism to vaccines or have advocated for treatments that lack evidence. None of the members has any prominence within the scientific community. They will be making recommendations for all of us.
The Autism Science Foundation and the Coalition of Autism Scientists, groups making up more than 300 researchers in the field are behind an effort to establish an Independent Autism Coordinating Committee (I-ACC). The I-ACC will be modeled after the federal IACC, bringing together scientific experts and stakeholders in the community to create a strategic plan for autism research to guide non-governmental research funders. Meetings will be held on the same schedule as the IACC so that the new group can responds quickly to any recommendations that are not backed by science. The new 12-member group includes former directors of the National Institute of Mental Health and past chairs of the federal IACC. All respected scientists, respected by their peers.
The first meeting of the newly formed group will be on March 19, the same day as the federal IACC. Looks like the public is in for dueling notions on the causes and prevention of autism.
One thing we can be fairly sure of is that none of it has anything to do with Tylenol.
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