In October 2025, OAR’s Board of Directors authorized funding for eight applied autism research grants. These new research grants, totaling $397,372, bring OAR’s total research funding to $5.8 million since 2002. This article is the first of the previews to be featured in The OARacle this year. Communication difficulties remain a core diagnostic feature of autism, significantly affecting children’s academic readiness, social…
Arlington, VA, December 12, 2025 – The Organization for Autism Research (OAR) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2025 Applied Research Competition. This program, which began offering grants of up to $50,000 in 2024, provides funding to researchers and professionals who conduct applied autism research. This year, OAR’s Board of Directors approved funding…
A congressionally mandated study by the National Academy of Sciences recommended that the Defense Health Agency (DHA) cover applied behavior analysis (ABA) for military families as a basic benefit through their TRICARE coverage. As reported by Behavioral Health Business, ABA has been a covered benefit through a demonstration program that began in 2014. But the National Academy report, released…
As OAR’s executive director, I have the honor of witnessing our community’s commitment to autistic individuals and their families each year. I see it in the students who receive scholarships, in the families who use our guidebooks, and in the researchers who take bold ideas forward. I also see it in advocates, educators, employers, and community members who stand alongside…
Autism is a complex, neurodevelopmental disability that affects many U.S. children and requires access to services and interventions to allow autistic children to thrive. Latinx, Black, and American Indian or Alaska Native families with autistic children face unique challenges related to disparities in access to services. Those disparities, along with lack of health care access and poor clinical encounters, often…
At the end of September, NIH awarded more than $50 million in funding to 13 projects that will examine how genetics and environmental factors determine a person’s risk of developing autism. Those projects, part of NIH’s Autism Data Science Initiative (ADSI), will be housed at universities, including Drexel, Emory, Johns Hopkins, University of North Carolina, and University of California, and hospitals such as Children’s Hospital…
On September 25, OAR hosted OAR Impact Day: From Research to Reality to bring together autistic individuals, families, researchers, and direct service providers and celebrate the meaningful impact research has on the autism community. The virtual event showcased the many ways OAR’s funded research has translated into practical tools, interventions, and programs. The archived event materials are available to access for free on…
When most people think about autism, they think of it as something that only affects children. Yet autism is a lifelong condition, and most autistic people are adults. Based on census data for the United States and the United Kingdom (and most other western countries), 20% of the autistic population are under 18 and 80%…
Community-based interventions are limited for autistic adults. Could community programs fill some of the gap? Programs that foster self-expression, confidence, and leadership offer promising opportunities to help neurodivergent adults to develop skills they need to achieve their goals. In their 2022 OAR-funded study, Amplifying Autistic Voices: Investigating the Impact of a Community-Based Public Speaking Program, researchers…
The alarm goes off late. You rush through the morning, skipping breakfast and brushing your teeth with the last squeeze of toothpaste. By the time you’re out the door, the plan for the day already feels derailed. It’s a familiar pattern. One small change snowballs into giving up on the rest. Keeping up with sleep, hygiene, and nutrition can be hard for anyone, and…
