Jackie Kancir
Executive Director
Jackie Kancir is the Executive Director of the National Council on Severe Autism. A brain tumor survivor, she underwent a craniotomy in 2019 and lives with left-sided facial paralysis and single-sided deafness. She is the mother of a young adult daughter with profound autism, severe intellectual disability, and SynGAP1-Related Disorder — a rare genetic condition. Jackie serves on the Statewide Planning & Policy Council for the Tennessee Department of Disability and Aging and as Patient Advocacy Director for Cure SynGAP1. She also serves on the board of Saving Wrentham and the Hogan Alliance. Her advocacy is grounded in experience navigating a system that has too often fallen short for her daughter, and in the conviction that individuals with severe and profound autism deserve recognition, research, and real services.