 The diagnosis resulted in a second career that included local, state and national leadership roles with the Autism Societies of the Quad Cities, state of Iowa and nationally from the mid-80’s until the turn of the century.During this time, Gail Karp was also appointed to the Iowa Governor’s Task Force on Autism, worked on the establishment of the Autism Tissue Program, and consulted with numerous other funded special projects of regional and national significance (SPRANS grant programs) that impacted the lives of persons with disabilities.Cantor Karp has served on the editorial boards of The Journal of Information and Referral Services, The Advocate (a quarterly publication of the Autism Society of America), and the Iowa COMPASS.