IEC was born out of the frustrations and anxieties that too many families face in getting proper medical care for their loved ones with IDD. Founded by Dr. Mai Pham and other healthcare professionals, IEC was created to drive sustainable change after their own difficult experiences navigating the healthcare system.

As a physician herself, Mai witnessed firsthand the lack of education, poor care coordination, and haphazard treatment her own child received growing up autistic. Mathematically gifted, kind, and highly observant, her child faced increasing struggles over time due to unreliable school and clinical support. Mai relates, “We encountered a lot of problems coordinating services…no one told us what to expect at different stages of development, and we had clinicians who gave him the right drug for the wrong reasons at the wrong dose just because they weren’t educated enough.”

IEC’s founders have led national healthcare transformation efforts in both public and private sectors. They understand the lack of clinical education, fragmented coordination among services, and dismissive attitudes that families often endure. They witnessed the daily barriers caused by a system ill-equipped to care for the complex needs of those with IDD. But based on their industry experience, they also saw the promise and potential when empathetic clinicians, robust training programs, advocates, and inclusive policies all work together seamlessly.