GAO recommendations A November 2013 study of federal autism activities by the
U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) found that better data and more coordination was needed. GAO found that 84% of "autism research projects funded by federal agencies from fiscal years 2008 through 2012" may have been duplicative and that "IACC members provided mixed views on the usefulness of the IACC's meetings, strategic plan, and portfolio analysis in aiding coordination and monitoring." In 2017, GAO noted that the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee has not collaborated with agencies outside the Department of Health and Human Services to support research for transition-age youth with ASD. They suggested that, "as a result, IACC may continue to miss opportunities to leverage the knowledge of other agencies." The GAO study on autism research and support services, published in February 2024, found that "although IACC strategic plans describe high-level progress made toward autism activities, they generally have not described how progress made relates to goals." GAO noted that despite HHS claims that "descriptions of how performance is lagging are provided in the IACC strategic plan," their study did not find those details "presented clearly for each IACC goal."
Bias toward neurodiversity Jonathan Mitchell, an autistic advocate, has criticized the IACC's nomination process by claiming that it is too biased towards accepting
neurodiversity. He points out that, as of the writing of his article in 2019, "seven pro-neurodiversity,
anti-cure autistics were appointed."
January 2026 appointments For over two decades, the work of the IACC was "sustained...by the dedicated service of leading scientists, advocates, and public servants."
Autism Science Foundation (ASF) President
Alison Singer, who previously served three terms as an IACC Public member, strongly disagreed with that official statement. She is concerned that, “the newly constituted IACC represents a complete and unprecedented overhaul, with no continuity from prior committees and a striking absence of scientific expertise” and that “members have been cherry-picked to reach a predetermined conclusion, not to seek broad, good-faith input from qualified experts and stakeholders.”
Facilitated communication Facilitated communication or
Spelling 2 Communicate (S2P) is an additional pseudoscientific idea promoted by a few of the new IACC appointees. A third member, Krystal Higgins, is the executive director of the National Autism Association which advocates facilitated communication and promotes possible links between autism and vaccines. ==Membership==