With thousands of teens with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) moving into adulthood each year, employment has become one of the biggest issues in the autism community. Meaningful work and wages are core components of a productive adulthood. As far back as 2007, a two-year OAR-funded study highlighted the critical importance of jobs and work skills.…
It is widely known that adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) face obstacles that impede their quality of life. It is not as clear why so many become disconnected from services and educational or employment opportunities once they leave high school. In 2015, OAR awarded a two-year $30,000 grant to Connie Anderson, Ph.D., assistant professor…
In 2014, OAR awarded two research scientists, Nicole Matthews, Ph.D., and Christopher Smith, Ph.D., both from the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center, a two-year $30,000 grant for their study comparing the effectiveness of a peer-mediated social skills intervention to a traditional one. The intervention they used was the Program for the Education and Enrichment…
In 2016 OAR awarded an applied grant to researchers Anne Roux, M.P.H., M.A., and Paul Shattuck, Ph.D., both from the Life Course Outcomes Program at A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, Drexel University. They used the grant to study state-level variation in vocational rehabilitation services and employment outcomes for transition-age youth with autism. Their goals were to:…
Since OAR’s Graduate Research Grant Program was established in 2004, OAR has awarded over $222,800 in grants to fund 127 graduate research studies. These reviews describe the results of two recently completed studies. Using Apps for Appointment Completion Rachel Wright, a doctoral student at the University of Tennessee, completed an OAR-funded study, “IDirect My…
OAR-funded researcher Laura C. Chezan, Ph.D., BCBA-D., an assistant professor of special education at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., conducted a study in 2015 to test the use of an intervention that teaches children with ASD and language delays to wait to receive something they request. Numerous studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of functional…
In her 2011 OAR-funded study, Hsu-Min Chiang, Ph.D., an assistant professor in autism spectrum disorders in the Teachers College at Columbia University, analyzed data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2 (NLTS2) to identify which factors predict that students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are most likely to be able to find a job after…
In 2013, OAR funded a research study that evaluated a social skills group intervention for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Principal investigators Robert Koegel, Ph.D., and Ty Vernon, Ph.D., from the Koegel Autism Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara, set out to examine if the program could improve adolescents’ social skills in…
In 2012, OAR awarded a $30,000 one-year grant to Lucy Bilaver, Ph.D., an assistant professor of health administration at Northern Illinois University’s School of Nursing and Health Studies and an affiliated scholar at Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago. The goal of her study was to identify disparities in access to treatment for young…
For individuals with autism, a good night’s sleep can be elusive. Treating the problem with medication comes with its own difficulties, including side effects and the effectiveness of the medication. While many research studies have focused on sleep problems in young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), few have been conducted that examine solutions for…
