What are your priorities for autism supports and services?
by Beth
You might remember a post Patricia Wright wrote last December about Dr. Stephen Shore’s appointment to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee.
That committee has been hard at work since December. I just gotword that they are asking members of the autism community — that’s you! — to comment on their draft Strategic Plan and its priorities. You’ll find more details on how to make your opinions known to that committee at the bottom of this post. Before we get to that, though, I want to quote from Patricia’s blog so we can feel good all over again about Stephen Shore being on that committee.
I was absolutely delighted to hear that Dr. Stephen Shore, a person with autism, has been tapped for membership. Shore is executive director of Autism Spectrum Disorder Consulting and serves on the board of the Autism Society of America (ASA). His books about autism are available at the Easter Seals and Autism bookstore, and you can read a review of his book, Beyond the Wall, on our blog.
I had the pleasure of meeting Shore at our 2007 Easter Seals Training Conference in April. Shore is a well-known public speaker, and at the conference he provided a personal perspective on the experience of living with autism…Shore’s appointment gives the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee the “personal touch” it needs.
Okay, back to the IACC asking you for input. deadline for comments is September 30, 2008, and you can read the official Requests for Information (RFI) notice (NOT-MH-08-021) for more information and instructions for responding.