Chief Executive Officer & Founder Vincent Strully and Director of Outreach Richard Martin recently attended the bi-annual meeting of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) in Washington, D.C. on May 11, 2004.

The IACC is a committee jointly sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health and the U.S. Department of Education under the auspices of the Department of Health and Human Services. It has created a roadmap and research matrix to direct biomedical and services research on autism over the next ten-year period and meets twice each year to review progress. NECC provided public comment about the critical importance of thorough staff training to effectively implement Applied Behavior Analysis methods, and the need to provide adequate resources to accomplish this training. Comment was also presented suggesting the inclusion of Board Certified Behavior Analysis credentials as a criterion for awarding certain federal grants.

While in Washington, Mr. Strully also met with Massachusetts Congressmen Jim McGovern and John Tierney, both members of the Congressional Coalition for Autism Research and Education (referred to as the Autism Caucus) who have a strong interest in the field of autism, as well as staff from the offices of Congressmen Michael Doyle (PA) and Chris Smith (NJ), co-chairs of the Autism Caucus.

For more information about The New England Center for Children, visit www.necc.org, or call 508-481-1015.