When is the next IACC meeting?

The next IACC meeting is July 31st, 2026. 

You can livestream the next IACC meeting here: https://iacc.hhs.gov/meetings/iacc-meetings/2026/full-committee-meeting/july/

What is the next IACC meeting about?

ASAN does not know the topic of the next IACC meeting yet. The IACC might not tell the public about the topic until very close to the meeting date. This does not give people enough time to write good comments.

What did the IACC do the last time they met?

The last time they met, the IACC talked about a lot. The IACC met at the end of April. They made some plans for the IACC. They also asked the government to make changes to policies about autistic people. 

The IACC did not tell people what they would be asking the government to do before the meeting.  Nobody got a chance to say in their comments if these changes were good or bad before the IACC asked for them.

Here are the main autism policy changes the IACC talked about: 

Rules around diagnostic overshadowing

The IACC asked to make changes to rules states have to follow about children’s health care. They also asked HRSA to make changes about what training doctors get. HRSA is a federal agency that helps people who have a hard time getting good health care 

The IACC asked to change these rules to try and stop diagnostic overshadowing. Diagnostic overshadowing is when a doctor says all of someone’s health problems are because of one disability. This happens even when someone has more than one disability. For example: a doctor tells an autistic person with stomach problems that their problems are because of autism.

The IACC made a list of disabilities and medical conditions that usually face diagnostic overshadowing. We think this list should be made by doctors and autistic people working together. We do not think the IACC’s list should be the final list the government uses.

“Profound autism”

The IACC also asked about making a new category of autistic people called “profound autism”.

This is not a useful category. It is important that we do research on autistic people who need a lot of support. But, trying to group them all together is a problem.

Labels like “profound autism”  lead non-autistic people to make bad guesses about what people who need more support can do. The “profound autism” label has the same problems as other kinds of functioning labels.

People might assume that “profoundly autistic” people cannot make their own choices. We do not think that the IACC should suggest making this new category. 

Wandering, elopement, and safety supports

The IACC also talked about wandering and elopement. These are words that non-disabled people use to talk about when disabled people run away. 

Wandering and elopement always happen for a reason. Sometimes the reasons make lots of sense. For example, someone might “elope” to get away from a parent hitting them. Sometimes people who elope do it because they enjoy running or want to see something interesting.

Sometimes people who elope do not understand when there is danger. For example, they might run into the street. ASAN shares the IACC’s worries about the safety of autistic people who might wander or elope. We do not agree with all of the things the IACC wants the government to do about wandering or elopement. 

The IACC wants the government to use money that is normally used for community living to pay for safety supports. The IACC says safety supports can mean locks, door alarms, fences, and other safety systems. The IACC thinks using money this way can help stop wandering and elopement.

ASAN thinks that any safety supports need to respect autistic people’s rights to freedom and privacy. These are things that should be talked about when planning autistic people’s supports and services. ASAN worries that the IACC does not talk about what autistic people want enough. We worry that using community living money for safety supports could take away freedom and privacy for autistic people. 

ASAN thinks the best way to protect people with disabilities is to have local governments do more to keep all people safe. This can mean local governments changing laws, putting up fences in public places, or changing how streets are made. This would make all people more safe without taking away rights of people with disabilities.

When should I submit my comments?

You can submit your comments now. Comments for the next meeting need to be submitted by Friday, July 17th, 2026. ASAN will update this page once the IACC says when they will stop taking comments. Instructions for sending your comments are here: “How can I submit my public comment to the IACC?”.

What should I write about in my public comment for the next  IACC meeting?

There are three topics we want people to write comments about.

• Comments about what autistic people need most from the IACC. These are important because the IACC has not said what the topic of the meeting is. You can find a list of comments that will always be good to send in the dropdown below called “Comments for All Meetings“.
• Comments that the IACC does not tell the public about the meeting and the topics soon enough.
• Comments about what the IACC did in the last meeting. What the IACC talked about last meeting is important. They also talked about it without giving people the time to comment. That is bad.

The sections below can give you some ideas for things to write in your public comment. You do not have to write about everything in every section. You can pick the topics that are the most important to you. Remember to follow the instructions here when you write your comment: “How can I write a public comment?”.

Remember, you do not have to write about who you are: “I want to send a public comment to the IACC, but I am worried about privacy. What should I do?”. But if you want, you can share information about yourself.

Comments about the IACC not giving people enough time to comment:

“It is not okay that the IACC is giving people less than a month to write public comments. This matters to me because…”

“The IACC used to give people at least a full month to write comments before they met. Giving us less than that is not okay because…”

“The IACC did not tell people about what the last IACC meeting was going to be about. People did not get a chance to submit comments about elopement, diagnostic overshadowing, and making new categories of autism. The IACC needs to make sure to share the topics of their meetings as early as they can.”

“This is the second time the IACC gave people less than two weeks to write comments the IACC would read. The IACC did not tell people what the meeting would be about until after comments were due. This is not okay because…”

Comments about the last IACC meeting:

General

“Most of what the IACC talked about last meeting was about children. I think the IACC should think more about autistic people of all ages.”

“I think that IACC needs to listen to autistic people about all of the subjects you talked about last meeting. Autistic people have important thoughts about elopement, diagnostic overshadowing, and making new categories of autism. ”

“The presentations used in the last IACC meeting did not get shared with the public until a few days before the meeting. The public only got to know this information after comments were due. I could not share my thoughts with the IACC.”

Diagnostic overshadowing

“I want to get good health care as a disabled person. I think talking about diagnostic overshadowing is good. I think you should also talk about how diagnostic overshadowing affects adults.”

“There are a lot of disabilities and health conditions that many autistic people have. I want more research about these disabilities and health conditions. I think doctors and autistic people should make the list of disabilities and health conditions together.”

Profound autism

“Last IACC meeting, I saw that you talked about making a new category of autism. I do not think that this would be helpful because…” 

“Making a “profound autism” label would not help autistic people who need more support. Here are some things that would help (people like me, my friends, my community members) who need more support…”

Wandering, elopement, and safety supports

 “At the last IACC meeting, I noticed you talked about elopement. I think that any research done on this should start by asking people who elope what would be helpful to them. Here’s why that matters to me…”

“I want autistic people to be safe. I don’t want autistic people to lose rights or freedom. I think autistic people need to be a part of conversations about safety supports.”

“I think it’s good to train autistic people and caregivers about water safety. I think autistic people and caregivers should also get training about traffic safety.”

Where can I learn more about what I should comment about?

Here are links about some of the topics we want to ask the IACC about. You can read these to learn more about each topic:

Good information about autism: https://autisticadvocacy.org/debunking-autism-misinformation/ 

The new IACC members and their bad opinions about autism: https://autisticadvocacy.org/2026/02/asan-alarmed-by-new-anti-vaccine-iacc-roster/#asan-alarmed-by-new-anti-vaccine-iacc-roster 

The government hiding information about how fake cures hurt and kill autistic people: https://www.propublica.org/article/rfk-jr-fda-removes-autism-treatments-warning
(This article is not in Plain Language)

Fake autism treatments: https://autisticadvocacy.org/2025/11/kennedys-lies-endanger-public-health-and-the-disabled-community/ 

Medical problems autistic people get: https://autisticadvocacy.org/2024/02/asans-response-to-the-iacc-rfi-on-co-occurring-conditions/ 

Research that hurts autistic people: https://autisticadvocacy.org/2025/03/asan-appalled-by-hiring-of-quack-david-geier-for-hhs-study/ 

Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR): https://autisticadvocacy.org/about-asan/operational-policy-on-research-inquiries/