Fredericton's Autism Expertise No. 2: Pediatric Autism Rehabilitation Services - Stan Cassidy Centre for Rehabilitation

Fredericton has seen the development of autism expertise unmatched in Atlantic Canada.  The UNB Applied Behaviour Analysis Certificate Program (BACB Approved) is  one prominent example of that expertise.  In its earlier form as the UNB-CEL  autism invention program it was the foundation of NB's internationally recognized early autism intervention services program.  Another important example of Fredericton autism expertise is The Stan Cassidy Centre Autism Team which provides rehabilitation services for children with autism. The staff includes a Behaviour Analyst. Clinicial Dietician, Occupational Therapist, Social Worker, Speech-Language Pathologist, Developmental Pediatrician and an Educational Liason:  

I don't honestly know why the Stan Cassidy autism rehab services are restricted to children only and are not provided to adults with autism.  While autism is usually visible in childhood ( my autistic son Conor received his autism diagnosis the day after his second birthday ) it is a neurological disorder which does not magically disappear at age 16 or 18. There is no valid reason to exclude autistic adults from treatment or assistance but at present autistic adults are still excluded from autism rehab or treatment services in New Brunswick.

The Stan Cassidy autism team itself provides valuable services to autistic children.  I have talked to parents who speak of long wait periods for receipt of services which indicates the level of demand for those services (and the need for an expansion of those services). 

Despite the importance of autism rehab services a decision was made to close the autism team, to shut it down. That decision was reversed as a result of parent autism advocacy and a review by  River Valley Health, a reversal that has allowed the Stan Cassidy autism team to continue providing pediatric autism consultation services:  

October 4 2005

Rehab centre to treat autistic kids 

The Daily Gleaner

Children with autism will continue to be treated at the Stan Cassidy Centre for Rehabilitation. The board of directors of River Valley Health last week reversed a decision made earlier this year - at the administrative level - to stop treating children with autism who do not have a physical disability. The policy was to take effect in 2006. "We're elated," said Luigi Rocca, president of the Autism Society of New Brunswick. "We weren't at all happy with the original decision," he said.

Autism is a serious neurological disorder that typically appears during the first three years of life and has a profound effect on communication, social interaction and sensory integration. Autism, an incurable condition believed to be genetic in origin, affects about one in 500 individuals worldwide and is four times more common in boys than girls. Intense behavioural therapy has been found to help improve social and learning abilities, but experts say that for most autistic people, the condition continues to have some impact throughout life. The original decision to discontinue treatment of some children with autism was announced in May. At a recent meeting of more than 30 stakeholders from across the province, John McGarry, president and CEO of River Valley Health, apologized for the lack of dialogue that led up to that May announcement. 

The Stan Cassidy Centre for Rehabilitation is a tertiary care centre that provides services to children across the province in rehabilitation including speech language pathology and occupational therapy. Diane Morrison, senior vice-president of River Valley Health, said the centre has treated children with autism for many years and built up a level of expertise. "They were looking at their resources and how the resources were being utilized," she said about the initial decision. "Like most services there was more demand than you have the resources to meet." Children with autism represent about 20 per cent of the case load at the centre and required more than 20 per cent of resources to treat, she said. Morrison said it was initially thought that that children with autism could be better served elsewhere, particularly children without a tertiary rehabilitation requirement. If a child with autism did have an accompanying rehabilitation requirement they would still have been seen at the centre, she aid. Morrison said the meeting with stakeholders was positive. Following that meeting, and after further discussion within the organization and at the board table last week, the decision was made to continue the service, she said. 

The board motion to continue the service also called for the creation of a provincial working group to develop recommendations that will help ensure the Stan Cassidy Centre's autism services are sustainable and integrated into treatment across the province. Morrison said it was concerns about sustainability that prompted the May announcement. She said if the centre has just one speech language pathologist and one occupational therapist then the service is fragile. "We need to make sure that we can put in place plans for sustainable service," she said. "We are trying to take systemwide approach to this." Morrison declined to comment on whether the regional health authority would need additional funding from the province to make the autism service sustainable. "I don't want to presuppose the recommendations to come out of the working group," she said. Another meeting with stakeholders is planned for Oct. 14. 

Rocca said the dispute has highlighted the overall lack of resources allocated to autism in New Brunswick. The Stan Cassidy Centre for Rehabilitation does not have enough resources on its own to deal with autism, he said. Rocca said that stakeholders are pleased that when they complained they were taken seriously by officials at River Valley Health. He said they quickly reversed their decision and did not let it drag on for months. "We are starting a meaningful dialogue," said Rocca. "We will be involve in finding a solution. "We hope we get the same response from the provincial government."

(NOTE :The figure of 1 in 500 persons mentioned in the Gleaner article as having autism worldwide in 2005 is now assessed at 1 in 68 by the CDC in the United States a widely accepted authority; with much debate over how much of that increase was attributable to increased awareness and changes in diagnostic criteria).

The provincial government response sought by the autism community was ultimately delivered by former Health Minister (now a Justice of the New Brunswick Court of Appeal) Brad Green:

Health

PROVINCE TO FUND DEDICATED AUTISM TEAM AT STAN CASSIDY CENTRE FOR REHABILITATION (06/08/17)

NB 1149

Aug. 17, 2006

FREDERICTON (CNB) - The provincial government has approved a proposal from River Valley Health for ongoing funding to establish a dedicated team at the Stan Cassidy Centre for Rehabilitation to provide services to children with autism, Health Minister Brad Green announced today.

"The creation of an interdisciplinary team of health-care professionals with a specific mandate to serve children experiencing severe autism symptoms was recommended by a provincial working group that included community representatives," Green said. "I am very pleased to announce that annual funding beginning at $350,000 will be provided by government to support this specialized team."

Green said government recognizes that the provision of services to children with complex autistic spectrum disorders requires the specialized expertise of a team of care providers.

"The specialized team will comprise one full-time professional with specific autistic spectrum disorder expertise in each of the following: developmental psychology, occupational therapy, speech language pathology, dietetics, and applied behavioural analysis," Green said.

The team will offer functional assessments as well as design, model and perform interventions for children who have the most complex forms of autistic spectrum disorders. It will work closely with families, pediatricians, extramural and hospital-based therapists, educators and all autism support groups to ensure that services are well integrated. Part of the team's mandate will include education, consultation and support to health-care professionals in the province.

"We are very pleased by this decision, and look forward to making a significant contribution to the well-being of children faced with the challenges of autism," said Dr. Ron Harris, administrative director of the Stan Cassidy Centre for Rehabilitation. "The presence of a dedicated team with the highly specialized skills needed to address the challenges is a great step forward for New Brunswick."

Green said that funding for the team is over and above the $2.8 million the provincial government has been investing annually since 2003 to provide services for preschoolers with autistic spectrum disorders.

The Stan Cassidy Centre for Rehabilitation is the only facility in the province with teams of highly specialized health-care professionals and the equipment and technology required to treat patients with complex neurological disorders.

The new Stan Cassidy Centre is located beside the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital in Fredericton, and opened in June. It was built at a cost of $28 million.

Fredericton's Autism Expertise No. 1: UNB-CEL Applied Behaviour Analysis Certificate Program (BACB Approved)

The  information following the link is taken from the University of New Brunswick College of Extended Learning.page of the UNB web site.  It is not a paid advertisement, I have received no compensation, and will not receive any compensation for posting it here.  The  UNB-CEL autism intervention program was developed in response to parent  autism advocacy and played a central role in the provision of ABA training for early intervention workers and teachers aides.  ABA has been the most credible evidence based intervention for the treatment of autism spectrum disorders. The UNB-CEL ABA program has been developed further since the beginning days, has applications beyond autism alone,  and has two separate streams including one for on campus students and one for others.  

The information page linked below sets out the basic principles of the program, the admission criteria and requirements, courses required to be completed during the program, including practicum requirements, the current application deadline (March 31) the process for BCBA status, contact access  information for program representatives and for more information (Francyne Jutras)

http://www.unb.ca/cel/intervention/aba-credit.html

Applied Behaviour Analysis Certificate Program

Build your ABA knowledge & skills

UNB’s Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) Certificate Program provides students with specialized education and applied knowledge to conduct behavioural assessments and develop and implement behaviour change programs.

...

Download the Applied Behaviour Analysis  FAQ

*The UNB ABA Certificate is the first program of its kind in Atlantic Canada that meets the coursework requirements needed to apply for the BACB®'s Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst® (BCaBA®) examination. The Behavior Analyst Certification Board, Inc.® has approved the following course sequence as meeting the coursework requirements for eligibility to take the Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst Examination®. Applicants will have to meet additional requirements to qualify. People who hold BCaBA® Certification are much sought after by employers. Click here for more information about the credential.

...

For more information 

Contact Francyne Jutras at the  College of Extended Learning at 506 458-7843, toll-free 1-866-599-4646, or by email fjutra@unb.ca. 

No Autism Care Progress in 12 Years in New Brunswick ... the Inclusive, Community Province

The Toronto Star article below was published in October, 2005 and points out the desperate conditions for NB youth and adults with severe autism disorders 11+ years ago. The letter following the article addressed to Shawn Graham published in the Daily Gleaner in May of 2007 showed there was little if any improvement by 2007. The reality is there has been no change since then despite submissions to the PNB government by representatives of the autism community calling for an autism network with an autism centre located in Fredericton near NB's autism expertise with autism specific group homes located near families  in communities around the province.  As an autism advocate and as a lawyer I have been involved in proceedings which have seen autistic youth and adults sent to Campbellton, far from families  to the Restigouche Psychiatric Hospital located in Liberal MLA Donald Arseneault's riding. The PNB likes to consult various  allegedly community focused groups to support the generic group home system, lacking autism focus or expertise, while ignoring the autism specific submissions made to our learned (sarcasm intended) government officials. The "network" which the PNB consults has not advocated evidence based approaches to autism services in NB and in fact some of them even opposed the early autism intervention program fought for by autism parents and professionals, a program which earned NB international recognition.  

A cynic might think that our governments and our cabinet ministers are happy to take credit for the early autism program fought for by autism parents, including yours truly, or posing for photo ops on autism day walks, or cutting the cake at autism related events.  In fairness though the Department of Family and Community Services mentioned in the 2005 Toronto Star article have been very busy ... busy changing its name.  The Department changed its name to the Department of Social Development and most recently changed it again, to the Department of Families and Children to emphasize once again its important role in providing services to families ... unless of course they are families with severely autistic youth and adults in which case our far northern border in Campbellton "out of sight out of mind" as stated in the letter below is the only option. Apparently cabinet ministers are not as keen about photo ops for autism events when they relate to severely autistic adults needing permanent autism specific  residential care. 

" Autistic boy kept in New Brunswick jail

No other place for him to stay 13-year-old must go to U.S. hospital No other place for him to stay

13-year-old must go to U.S. hospital

The Toronto Star, KELLY TOUGHILL, ATLANTIC CANADA BUREAU, Oct. 19, 2005

HALIFAX—A 13-year-old autistic boy now living in a New Brunswick jail compound will be sent out of Canada because there is no home, hospital or institution that can handle him in his own province.

Provincial officials confirmed yesterday the boy is living in a visitor's apartment at the Miramichi Youth Centre and will be moved to a treatment centre in Maine by November.

They stressed he is not under lock and key, has no contact with other inmates and is living outside the high wire fence that surrounds the youth detention centre.

Nevertheless, the jailhouse placement and the transfer to Maine have outraged mental health advocates and opposition critics.

"They put this boy in a criminal facility because he is autistic," said Harold Doherty, a board member of the Autism Society of New Brunswick.

"Now we are exporting our children because we can't care for them. This is Canada, not a Third World country.

``We are supposed to have a decent standard of care for the sick and the vulnerable, but we don't."

Liberal MLA John Foran echoed his concern. "This boy has done nothing wrong, is not the subject of any court order, but is in a penal institution."

Provincial officials yesterday insisted critics are misrepresenting the nature of the boy's situation and that in fact the province has done everything it can to help him.

"This individual is not being held, and is not incarcerated," said Lori-Jean Johnson, spokeswoman for the family and community services department.

"He has housekeeping, bath and a separate entrance. We are just utilizing existing resources."

Privacy laws prevent officials from discussing anything that would reveal the boy's identity, including details of his previous living situation and the whereabouts of his parents.

This much is known: He suffers from a severe form of autism and is a ward of the state, under the guardianship of the minister of family and community services. He was living in a group home until recently, but became so violent that he was judged a danger to himself and others. At a psychologist's recommendation, he was moved to a three-bedroom apartment on the grounds of the Miramichi Youth Centre, a prison for about 50 young offenders. Two attendants from a private company watch the boy around the clock, at a cost to taxpayers of $700 a day.

Johnson said she does not know any details of his care.

Doherty said the jailhouse placement and move to Maine highlight the desperate need for better services for autistic children in New Brunswick and across Canada.

He said staff at most group homes in New Brunswick aren't trained to deal with autism and don't understand the disorder.

"If you don't understand autism, things can become very bad very quickly," said Doherty, who has a 9-year-old son with the disorder.

"We have been pushing for (better facilities) in New Brunswick for several years. This is not a crisis that has popped up in the last two days. Residential care is a critical element for these people and it is not being provided."

Johnson said the provincial system of group homes and institutions that care for children and adults with psychiatric disorders and mental disabilities works for most people.

"We do have existing resources, but once in a while, there will be an exception. Here, we are looking at a very extreme case."

The boy will be moved to an Augusta, Me., treatment centre at the end of the month, said Johnson.

The centre, run by a non-profit group called Spurwink, specializes in dealing with autistic adolescents.

A Spurwink representative did not return a phone call from the Toronto Star.

Provincial officials could not detail the cost to keep the child at Spurwink, nor did they have information about why he's being sent to Maine, rather than a Canadian facility in another province. "

....

Keep autistic children in the province

Daily Gleaner (Fredericton NB)

Published Wednesday May 23rd, 2007

Appeared on page C7

This is a letter to Premier Shawn Graham.

I am a father of a 13-year-old autistic boy. We had to fight for services for our son from the day he was born: to get diagnosed, to get Applied Behavioural Analysis therapy (before it was mandatory), to get teacher's aides in the classroom, to keep him in school, and to get hospital treatment when his compulsion to bite and pinch got to the point where he was covered in wounds and bruises.

I am afraid my wife and I do not have much fight left in us these days. Our son has lived under constant supervision 24 hours a day for the last year. Two workers stay in our home with him during the day (two are needed to restrain him during his rages). While we commend them for all they have done, the workers are merely a Band-Aid solution.

Our only option at this point is to send our son out of country to the U.S. for treatment that he desperately needs.

Services at the two facilities, in Maine or Boston, will cost the government $200,000 to $300,000 a year. Right now my son is costing the government $15,000 to $20,000 a month because of the government's lack of direction when it comes to older autistic children.

My question to you, Mr. Graham, is that it may have been cost effective at one time to send these children away (out of sight, out of mind). But now with it being 1 in 150 children being diagnosed within the autism spectrum disorder, maybe we should re-evaluate the direction our province is going in.

I realize that there may be no other recourse for my son but to be sent to these facilities in the U.S. for treatment.

I hope in the future we may be able to prevent our children from having to leave Canada to get the services they so desperately need.

Stephen Robbins

Woodstock, N.B."

NB "The Community & Inclusion Province"? Not For Adults with Severe Autism Disorders

NB Transportation and Infrastructure - Highway Cameras

New Brunswick likes to promote the values of community and inclusion unless the people to be included are adults with severe autism.

A view of the map of NB as shown above on the Department of Transportation highway cameras page shows clearly that Campbellton is as far from most municipalities in NB as possible.  If you were trying to make life as miserable as possible for severely autistic adults who need autism expertise, and the families who love them, a permanent residential centre and limited access to families in far away Campbellton would make sense.  If you genuinely care about New Brunswickers with autism disorders, and hopefully they all grow up to full adult age, then it makes no sense at all. The only way you could rationalize sending severely autistic adults to Campbellton, far from almost all of their families is if a) you don't really give a damn about those autistic adults and b) you don't take reality into account, the reality that the North is a small portion of the NB population and growing ever smaller.  

A far more efficient and humane approach would be to construct an adult autism centre in Fredericton centrally located part of the area comprising the bulk of NB population and the home of NB's autism expertise, an expertise whose accomplishment has been recognized by the Association for Science in Autism Treatment in the US as a model for emulation by other Canadian Provinces and some US states. The centre would also form the hub of a network of autism specific group homes around the province that could provide oversight and training to the facilities in communities near families of autistic adults.

But for Minister Horsman it is far better to send autistic adult to Campbellton far from the autism expertise and far from the vastly greater number of families with autistic adults who live in the south-central region os NB.  He has said to me in discussion, and to others, that an adult autism centre can't be justified because autism families in the North would have to travel south.  He ignores the autism expertise in Fredericton, he ignores the greater population in the south, he ignores the shrinking population of the North and he ignores the group homes that would form part of the autism network the proposal for which has been sitting in his Department hands ignored by a government that is brutally political.

The population of Northern NB is shrinking a fact known by most people not sitting in on cabinet discussions of the Gallant government so why does it make sense to keep sending autistic adults to a shrinking population on our extreme northern border far from the populations of the south?

Northern New Brunswick sees continued exodus, census shows

"Northern New Brunswick accounts for much of the province's decrease in population over the past five years, according to the 2016 census.

The Campbellton-Miramichi "economic region" dropped to 154,351, from 158,741 in 2011 — a -2.8 per cent change, the figures released by Statistics Canada on Wednesday show.

Edmundston managed to buck the trend, with a population of 16,580, an increase of 3.4 per cent.

Mayor Cyrille Simard said the city's economy is improving, with growth in the forestry sector as well as commercial investments.

"Hopefully it all adds up to better conditions for families," he said in an email to CBC News. "That's encouraging."

The city of Campbellton took one of the biggest hits, losing 502 people, coming in at 6,883, compared with 7,385 in 2011, a 6.8 per cent decrease.

Dalhousie saw fewer people leave than Campbellton, at 386, but experienced one of the biggest percentage drops. The town's population was cut to 3,126, a decrease of 11 per cent."

By contrast to Campbellton the cities of Moncton and Fredericton, yes centrally located Fredericton with recognized developing autism expertise, have actually been growing during the last census period:

New Brunswick is Canada's only province with a shrinking population

"Moncton has overtaken Saint John as the largest city in New Brunswick, according to the latest census.

Moncton's population rose by 4.1 per cent in 2016 to 71,889, up from 69,074 in 2011. Saint John's population decreased by 3.6 per cent — from 70,063 to 67,575.

...

Other cities in the province that experienced population drops include:

• Campbellton: by 6.8 per cent, from 7,385 to 6,883. 
• Miramichi: by 1.5 per cent, from 17,811 to 17,537.
• Bathurst: by 3.1 per cent, from 12,275 to 11,897.

Other areas of the province saw population growth, including the capital of Fredericton, where it rose 3.6 per cent, from 56,224 to 58,220. 

Fredericton Mayor Mike O'Brien said he is pleased with the city's population growth.

"It is very manageable in terms of providing new infrastructure and services to the new residences and businesses," said O'Brien. "It is also very positive given the state of the provincial economy."

"This is further evidence that the larger cities are the economic engines for the province, and why the province must have a robust urban strategy," he said."

While Campbellton and the North continue to shrink Minister Horsman and the current government ignore the numbers and continue to insist that adults with severe autism be sent to the North, to Campbellton, with its shrinking population, far from the growing numbers of families in the South and far from Fredericton's autism expertise, as sacrificial lambs to the political aspirations of the current governing party.

Conor's Family Lesson for the Minister of "Families" and Children

In the photos above Conor is showing the love he has enjoyed and shared with his family including his brother Brandon at a young age on the swings in the centre, his late Nanny, Kay, and his Mom and Dad.  For Conor family is important, very important  The NB autism experts and parent advocates who advocated for and developed the internationally recognized early autism intervention program, introduced autism training for education aides and resource teachers in our schools and reversed the decision to close the Stan Cassidy Centre Autism Team that provides consultation to autistic youth up to the age of 18 recognized the importance of family in developing principles for the establishment of an autism network for adults with autism.  Unfortunately the current Minister of Families and Children as it is now called has demonstrated no understanding at all of the importance of family to persons with autism in NB including my son Conor. 

Under the intellectual guidance and leadership of NB autism expert Paul McDonnell Ph. D. a network with a centre based in Fredericton, was proposed with autism specific group homes around the province. Fredericton is the most centrally located of our major municipalities and the location of the autism expertise that has been developed in Fredericton and which Minister Horsman also appears not to be aware of. He appears unaware of the advantages of a centre in Fredericton where NB autism expertise currently resides.  The centre would provide a permanent residence for those with severe autism and autism research and oversight to autism specific group homes around the province including in the Northern riding of Donald Arseneault. 

In my discussion with Minister Horsman I was not happy; to the contrary I was admittedly upset and annoyed that the Minister of Families and Children was not willing to consider the network proposal which is in his government's possession a network which would continue the autism services success NB has developed under the leadership of Premiers Lord and Graham. When discussing a Fredericton based centre Minister Horsman did not think it was a big deal that adults with severe autism would spend their lives in the Restigouche Psychiatric Hospital in Campbellton located on our Nothern border with Quebec as far as possible from most families located in the south.  He didn't think it was a big deal when he was a police officer to drive from Fredericton to Campbellton on occasion.  The Families Minister did not seem to realize that families would like to maintain regular contact with their loved ones. When he did comment about the travel burden imposed on families he seemed to be throwing the large numbers of autistic adults and families in the south under the bus by suggesting that families in the north would not like to travel to the south. It is my understanding from discussion with others in the autism community that the Minister of Families still holds that ill informed, harmful view of the challenges facing families and adults with severe autism disorders.

The Minister's comments do not reflect any understanding of the autism network proposal advanced in principle by Professor Emeritus (Pyschology) Paul McDonnell in his 2010 CBC interview with Dan McHardie and developed further and presented to Minister Horsman's predecessor Cathy Rogers.  In particular he does not seem to understand that the Fredericton based autism expertise does not exist in Campbellton.  He does not seem to understand that the central location would mean less hardship for a far greater number of  families located in the south.  He does not seem to understand that the autism specific group homes would provide residence with autism trained staff in locations around the province and in close proximity to families. The centre would also provide the oversight needed and consultation needed for all NBers with autism including those autistic adults capable of living in apartments with assistance.  Nothing the Minister of Families has said seems to indicate awareness of these principles. 

An infuriating aspect of the Minister's blank stare look at adult autism care and treatment is the failure to recognize NB's accomplishments in early autism services and in providing school based autism services.  This is not a construction company or a department store on the verge of going out of business. It is not a wonky geo-lottery system. It is an extension of proven evidence based approaches to provision of autism services that has made NB a leader in the provision of autism services ... except at the adult level.

Most of all I am disgusted that the so called Minister of Families is so lacking in compassion for the vast numbers of adults with moderate and severe autism who will have to live out their lives so far from families.  Stephen Horsman may be the Minister of Families in name but he doesn't show it in word or deed. 

If Minister Horsman wants a lesson in family values and the importance of family to persons with autism disorders he can look at the pictures above and learn from Conor and the family that loves him.

Autism Research and the Potential Negative Impact of Donald Trump's Muslim Immigration Refugee Ban

The message from the INSAR, International Society for Autism Research says it all.  The International Society for Autism Research is a key, even core, body for autism research in the world. The INSAR president's message diplomatically avoids the expression Muslim Immigration ban, avoids direct mention of the impact on Muslim refugees,  but that is the reality.  Trump's chaotic and inhumane executive order will have a negative impact on Muslim refugees AND on Autism Research and persons with Autism Disorders.  Ignorance in the Oval Office has far reaching impact.

Message from the INSAR President

February 1, 2017

Dear Colleagues,

The Board of Directors of the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) is deeply troubled about the potential negative impact of President Trump’s Executive Order concerning restrictions on immigration to the United States on a core part of the INSAR mission: To promote collaboration among researchers, students, clinicians, and stakeholders worldwide to better the lives of individuals and families living with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Autism science is greatly enriched by collaborations and ideas from all over the globe. INSAR joins with the Association of American Universities (AAU) in urging that “the administration’s new order barring the entry or return of individuals from certain countries...should end as quickly as possible.” We support the AAU’s call for the United States to continue “to welcome the most talented individuals from all countries to study, teach, and carry out research and scholarship at our universities.”

The new travel restrictions are perplexing and unsettling. They will potentially prevent researchers, scientists, and stakeholders from the seven identified countries from sharing their research at the May 2017 International Meeting for Autism Research in San Francisco, California.  Nearly 25% of the 2016 INSAR meeting’s 2,000 attendees were from non-United States countries. About 30% of INSAR members represent non-United States countries. If the ban remains, it could prevent non-United States-based ASD thought and research leaders from attending future United States-based conferences. Furthermore, United States-based scholars from the identified countries who hold visas or green cards may not be able to travel to INSAR meetings when they are held outside of the United States. This will have a direct, detrimental impact on our scientific community, scientific progress, and those who benefit from the research that we conduct and disseminate. Ultimately, we believe that this will slow progress in understanding autism and related disorders and in finding more effective treatments to lessen disabilities for those affected.

As an organization, we must think carefully about whether to host future international meetings for autism research in the United States.  As an international society, it would be inappropriate to hold the largest annual meeting on autism research in any country that restricts access to our colleagues worldwide.

As the Board of Directors of INSAR, we are unanimous in our denunciation of restrictive immigration policies that will impact researchers, students, and persons with autism and their families. The INSAR Board of Directors will be bringing these concerns to the attention of policy makers and the public.  As members of INSAR, we encourage you to do so as well.

Sincerely,

Geraldine Dawson, PhD

President, International Society for Autism Research

Duke University