I missed the signs. It’s a phrase that loops in my mind, a whisper of guilt and self-reproach that never fully fades. I am an educator, a perceived expert in teaching and learning, designing models that inspire curiosity and joy, reimagining the structures of traditional schooling. And yet, in the midst of all of that…
Arlington, VA, May 7, 2025 – In celebration of Autism Acceptance Month, the Organization for Autism Research (OAR) is excited to launch the AASPIRE Healthcare Toolkit on their website. The Academic Autistic Spectrum Partnership in Research and Education (AASPIRE) created the AASPIRE Healthcare Toolkit as part of a project to help improve healthcare access and…
Collecting Autistic Peoples’ Health Records CBS News reported that on Friday, April 25, a Department of Health and Human Services official walked back an earlier National Institutes of Health (NIH) announcement that the health department is creating an autism registry. “We are not creating an autism registry. The real-world data platform will link existing datasets…
Since starting at OAR in 2022 as a Hire Autism associate, Brittany Short has had “the privilege of engaging with passionate professionals committed to understanding and improving recruiting and workplace experiences for autistic and neurodivergent individuals.” Now that she has been promoted to Hire Autism manager, Short is excited to continue that conversation and “step…
During Autism Acceptance Month, 520 virtual and in-person participants took on the annual Active for Autism 5K and Kids Dash to support autism research. Participants hailed from 28 states, as well as Washington, D.C., and Canada, and ranged in age from 3 to 80. Together, they raised nearly $50,000 for OAR’s Changing Lives Fund. “The…
Don’t stop now! Autism Acceptance Month is over but there are plenty of chances for you to stay involved or get involved. It matters. And it’s fun! Volunteer Are you a parent, educator, or autistic individual who: Is interested in teaching children about autism acceptance? Would enjoy distributing informational resources to organizations in your community…
Check out the Neuroinclusive Healthcare Education Hub, created by All Brains Belong VT to host online resources and lived experiences for the autistic community. Partially funded through the OAR and AIR-P Community Grant in 2022 and 2023, the Hub is a collection of online resources co-created by neurodivergent healthcare professionals and patients to educate medical…
In October 2024, OAR’s Board of Directors authorized funding for six applied autism research grants and one autism resource grant. These new research grants, totaling $338,844, bring OAR’s total research funding to $5.3 million since 2002. This article is the fifth of the previews to be featured in The OARacle this year. In a 2014 study of newly diagnosed…
Across the lifespan, autistic people are more likely to have a diagnosis of obesity than non-autistic people. For this article, “obesity” refers to the medical diagnosis of an elevated body mass index. It is important to be mindful of variety in preferences related to term use (for example, a preference for “larger body size” instead…
