There is going to be a meeting of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee on August 8.

Follow the link above for a description of the IACC, but it is basically what it sounds like: a committee to coordinate the government’s research efforts in autism.

Copied below is the email discussing this. This is exactly the sort of thing that I’d like to point out, but it doesn’t belong on the main site. Hence, the reason I added the blog.

The meeting is for the “Strategic Planning Implementation Workgroup”. A little explanation: There’s the IACC, which I think of as the “main committee”. Then, there has been a “working group” on creating a “strategic plan” for the IACC. This is the document that, when finalized, will explain what the IACC has agreed is the pathway for research. The group that is meeting on the 8th is the workgroup that will discuss how to actually implement the strategic plan. My expectation: a pretty dull meeting discussing details of how budgets should be calculated and other such matters. Doesn’t mean I won’t listen in as much as I can.

There will be a meeting of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) Strategic Planning Implementation Workgroup on August 8, 2008 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. EDT.  The purpose of the meeting is to discuss budgetary requirements for the IACC Strategic Plan for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) Research.  Workgroup findings will be forwarded to the IACC for consideration and discussion at the next committee meeting on November 21, 2008.

Audio of this workgroup meeting will be accessible to the public via a teleconference phone link, and web-based access to information will be displayed at the meeting via computer/projector.  To access the meeting, please visit the following web address:

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/250792981

The call-in phone number is: (888) 455-2920.  The pass-code necessary to access the meeting is 3857872.

In-person attendance at the meeting will be limited due to space available at the Neuroscience Center, Conference Room A, 6001 Executive Boulevard, Rockville, MD 20892.

The contact person for this meeting is:

Azik Schwechter, Ph.D.

National Institute of Mental Health, NIH

6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 8203a, MSC 9657 Rockville, MD 20852

(301) 443-7613

schwechtera@mail.nih.gov

Please Note: The meeting will be open to the public through a conference call phone number and a web-based presentation tool on the Internet. Individuals who participate using these electronic services and need special assistance, such as captioning of the conference call or other reasonable accommodations, should submit a request prior to the meeting.

Members of the public who participate using the conference call phone number will be able to listen to the meeting but will not be heard. There may be an opportunity for members of the public to submit written comments during the workgroup meeting through the web presentation tool. Submitted comments will be reviewed after the meeting. If you experience any technical problems with the conference call-in phone number or web presentation tool, please contact GoToWebinar at (800) 263-6317.

To attend this meeting, the following computing capabilities are required: A) Internet Explorer 5.0 or later, Netscape Navigator 6.0 or later or Mozilla Firefox 1.0 or later; B) Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server or Vista; C) Stable 56k, cable modem, ISDN, DSL or better Internet connection; D) Minimum of Pentium 400 with 256 MB of RAM (Recommended); E) Java Virtual Machine enabled (Recommended).