The committee has been steeped in controversy since it was largely remade by Kennedy
BETHESDA, Md. — The federal autism advisory committee met for the first time since Trump took office, months after health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired most of the committee’s scientific experts and replaced them with activists and advocates who more closely align with his controversial views on the link between autism, vaccines, and environmental factors.
In its first meeting in 19 months, the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, which helps set the federal research agenda and the hundreds of millions that come with it, focused on how to help autistic people with the highest support needs. The group voted on Tuesday to recommend several proposals to help this population, including a directive that would change the existing scientific definition of people with “profound autism.”
Most of the substantive discussion during the meeting revolved around how to define profound autism, a diagnosis that applies to about a quarter of people on the autism spectrum. Some advocates and researchers have been eager to increase recognition for this population, which often requires around-the-clock care but has routinely been overlooked by much of the existing research.
