Overview and General Information

This call for proposals includes all submissions for the 2019 Autism CARES Meeting on July 18-19 in Washington, D.C.  The theme for this year’s meeting is “Ten Years of Autism CARES Act Programs: Improving the Lives of People with ASD/DD, their Families, and Communities.” This meeting will be an opportunity for MCHB-funded CARES legislation grantees (representing research, training, and state systems change stakeholders) to share information about activities within their respective networks, discuss emerging trends, and facilitate meaningful collaboration.
 
The meeting will be organized around three strands:

1.     Increasing Equity
2.     Improving Systems Performance
3.     Achieving Population-Level Outcomes
 
Plain Language Definitions for Strands:
  • "Increasing Equity" means making the system more fair. Some people with ASD/DD have a hard time accessing doctors, jobs and other services because of their race, income or other identities. This strand will focus on how we are making life better for people with disadvantages.
  • "Improving Systems Performance" means getting programs and providers to work together so more people can get their needs met, both now and in the future. People with ASD/DD often need many different services to help them live in their communities. This strand will focus on ways that programs connect with each other to reach common goals.
  • "Achieving Population-Level Outcomes" means making things better for whole communities, not just for one person at a time. We can measure how things are getting better with numbers like employment rates or school statistics. This strand will focus on how we know if we are improving life for whole groups of people.
Note about language: Recognizing that the autism community has diverse opinions about terminology related to the identities of autistic individuals/individuals with autism, we will be following the language used by congress within the Autism CARES legislation: "individuals with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities" or the related abbreviation "ASD/DD."

Proposals will be accepted for poster symposia sessions, which seek to deepen levels of engagement between those interested in common topics, or concurrent sessions, which showcase promising practices within the Autism CARES network. 
Posters:

All posters for the Autism CARES Meeting will be presented on Thursday in one of four Poster Symposia. During these 60 minute sessions, several posters on a similar theme will be displayed on boards and grouped together in a room. With the guidance of a moderator, presenters will speak for 1-2 minutes round-robin style about their poster at the beginning of the session, after which time attendees will be able to speak with individual poster presenters directly for the remainder of the session.

If your presentation is accepted in this format, you will be expected to create and hang a poster (not larger than 4' tall by 8' wide), accompany your poster and discuss it with symposium attendees, and remove the poster at the conclusion of your assigned session. Electronic versions of posters, in PowerPoint or PDF format, are also required and will be posted on the Autism CARES Meeting website before and after the event.
Concurrent Sessions:

There will be four sets of 60-minute concurrent sessions on Thursday afternoon; this portion of the meeting is intended to highlight promising practices, innovative strategies, or emerging trends in each of the three subthemes.  Proposals may include a single presenter or a panel of up to three presenters.  Time for interactive discussion is encouraged.

Upon submission of your presentation proposal you will not receive an automatic receipt.  You may confirm receipt with ITAC staff (contact information below) if you are concerned about the submission.  

Please remember that all information presented during the 2019 Autism CARES Meeting must adhere to AUCD’s Accessibility Guidelines.  All questions regarding this call for proposals should be directed to AUCD MCH Technical Assistance staff: Luis Valdez.

*** Presenters are encouraged to download a preview of the full proposal submission form to prepare your draft content before continuing on to the next page. Click here to access the event page where you can preview the full call for proposals form.

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* 1. I understand that all presenters are required to register for the meeting and are responsible for all associated travel and attendance costs.  Click here to register for the event.

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* 2. In submitting this proposal, I assume the responsibilities of a presentation leader, namely the responsibility for notifying the following co-presenters of all requirements regarding registration, meeting fees, scheduling information, and accessibility requirements and the responsibility to communicate with AUCD staff and co-presenters regarding the status of our presentation.  

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* 3. I would like this proposal to be considered for the following type of presentation:

Please note: AUCD may accept your proposal for a different presentation format than requested. 

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