Since 2002, OAR has funded more than 115 studies totaling more than $3.7 million through its Applied Research Competition. OAR hopes to build on this success in 2019, continuing its support of research studies that offer meaningful outcomes to individuals with autism and their families. At its annual meeting, this year held in Washington, D.C.,…
Whether you are a seasoned researcher or someone new to research entirely, it is easy to be swept up by the extensive amounts of information available on the internet. The area of autism research is no exception. A quick Google search of the word “autism” brings over 167 million results in seconds. Sorting through all…
In 2016, OAR awarded $2,000 research grants to Shalini Sivathasan, a Ph.D. student in educational and counseling psychology at McGill University in Canada, and Andrea Trubanova, a graduate student in clinical psychology at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Both planned to study interventions that held the promise of improving facial emotion recognition. Sivathasan’s study…
When parents first learn of their child’s autism diagnosis, they may feel overwhelmed with the need to learn about the details and complexities of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). They have to not only educate themselves about the medical details, but also the range of treatment options available. Understanding a complex disorder such as autism can…
I co-founded the Academic Autism Spectrum Partnership in Research and Education (AASPIRE) with my friend and colleague, Dr. Christina Nicolaidis, in 2006. At that time, including a majority of autistic adults as co-researchers on the team and conducting autism research with autistic participants as self-reporters were such radical ideas that a grant reviewer told us…
Erin Clemens is a self-advocate with autism. In this post, which was originally posted on The Mighty, Erin talks about the benefits of an official autism diagnosis; she also writes about how depression affects her, specifically about the difficulties of being diagnosed with both autism and depression. Being on the autism spectrum affects my life…
Louis Scarantino is an autism self-advocate. In this post, Louis discusses his experience in college, and what he would change if he had the opportunity to return. Louis’ story provides excellent insight on what it is like to attend college as someone on the spectrum. Every child goes to school from kindergarten through their senior year…
In this week’s blog, Jennifer Rose talks about going to Dorney Park, an amusement park, with some friends. She hilariously mentions the problems she encountered at the park, and how she overcame them. Jennifer’s comedic narrative reminds all of us not to take life too seriously, and to be flexible with plans. She also writes…
OAR invites graduate students to submit research proposals for its annual Graduate Research Grant Program. Since the program was established in 2004, OAR has awarded over $249,600 in grants to fund 138 graduate research studies. Last year, OAR made grants to 11 students with grant awards totaling $21,000. OAR hopes to build on this success…
On Monday, October 15, 2018, OAR hosted its second webinar event on the topic of sexuality. The webinar featured Peter Gerhardt, Ed.D., OAR Scientific Council chairman and executive director of the EPIC School (Paramus, N.J.), and Amy Gravino, M.A., president of A.S.C.O.T. Consulting. They provided a wealth of helpful information, including: Existing literature on sexuality…
