"When I first got involved in autism research as a freshman in college, it was eye opening for me to read manuscript after manuscript with exclusion criteria of IQ < 70-80. As a sister of a young man with profound autism, I felt frustrated not to find much work representing the needs of individuals like my brother or families like mine. Similarly, it felt a bit disheartening for me to attend my first INSAR in 2019 and see such important work happening for much of the spectrum but such a paucity of work with individuals with co-occurring intellectual disability and/or low language abilities.
Fast forward to just 6 years later, I left this year's INSAR meeting energized and with so much hope in my heart. There was programming specific to profound autism not just once but on each and every day of the conference. It was so touching to look around at our Special Interest Group and panel sessions and see full rooms of scientists who wanted to learn more about how to execute studies including those with profound autism. I am so incredibly encouraged by the current momentum and collective action around the profound autism community and am grateful to meeting organizers for the thoughtful representation!"
- Cassie Stevens, Sibling