OAR Impact Day

OAR’s Executive Director, Kristen Essex, and OAR’s Scientific Council Chair, Peter Gerhardt, Ed.D., shared opening remarks about OAR, our research funding, and what to expect from the day’s event.

In 2007, OAR funded an intervention study to support intellectually disabled autistic preschoolers (average developmental quotient of 32). What began as a small pilot intervention has grown into a series of major studies funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), all focused on better supporting minimally verbal and non-speaking children.

At the center of this work is JASPER, a play-based intervention designed to teach social communication skills among young autistic children. Through randomized controlled trials, we have gained new insights on integrating augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and combining intervention models to personalize treatment.

Learn how these research activities have contributed to meaningful developmental outcomes for autistic children with complex needs.

What You’ll Learn
By watching this session, you’ll walk away with:

• A behind-the-scenes look at how a small pilot study grew into a large, NIH-funded research program focused on helping minimally verbal and non-speaking autistic children communicate.
• An understanding of what the JASPER intervention is, and what research shows about its success, especially when combined with tools like augmentative and alternative communication (AAC).
• Practical insights into how personalizing and combining different approaches can lead to more meaningful communication for children with complex needs.

Key Takeaways

• Learn two communication goals that are helpful to focus on for non-speaking autistic children.
• Discover two research-backed strategies from JASPER that support communication development.
• Understand how tailoring interventions can make a real difference in helping children connect and express themselves.

Handouts: [Presentation slides]

Toileting difficulties like encopresis (incontinent bowel movements) can have a major impact on the daily lives of autistic children and their families. With support from OAR, we developed and tested a novel interdisciplinary approach that has helped 9 out of 10 children in the program achieve continence, thereby improving daily routines, independence, and family quality of life. These promising results led to larger NIH funding, including a recent effort to examine the progression of toileting skills and whether the interventions can be delivered via telehealth. 

Learn the research behind the interventions and gain practical insights and strategies to support toileting success.

By watching, you’ll gain: 

• A deeper understanding of how toileting challenges affect autistic children and their families, and why traditional approaches often fall short.
• The ability to identify factors that make toilet training challenging. 
• A basic understanding of a successful, interdisciplinary approach to treating encopresis. 

Whether you’re a parent, caregiver, or professional, this session provides you with knowledge and tools to help make toileting a more manageable and achievable goal for the children you support.

Handouts: [Presentation slides] [Evidence for Facing Your Fears]

Anxiety is one of the most common mental health challenges experienced by autistic youth with and without intellectual disabilities. Facing Your Fears (FYF) is a group cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) program developed to help autistic youth better understand and manage their anxiety. Over the past 20 years, FYF has been carefully studied and refined, with strong evidence showing it can reduce anxiety and improve coping skills. 

This session shared what makes FYF effective, highlight its recent adaptations for teens with intellectual disabilities, and show how it can be delivered in schools by interdisciplinary providers to reach more students. 

Learn how the FYF program delivers practical, evidence-based strategies that can help autistic youth navigate and reduce anxiety. 

By watching this session, you’ll learn:

• Simple tools from FYF that help children and teens recognize and manage anxiety, including calming strategies and helpful thinking techniques. 
• About “graded exposure” and how it can help autistic youth face common fears appropriately. 
• How parents and caregivers can play an active role in reducing anxiety using key concepts from the FYF parent curriculum. 

Whether you’re a parent, caregiver, educator, or professional, this session will provide you with practical insights to better support autistic youth in navigating anxiety with confidence.

Handouts: [Presentation slides] [PEERS Treatment Outcomes] [PEERS Meta-Analysis]

The OAR-funded study was the first grant to support testing of the PEERS® for Young Adults program, developed by Dr. Elizabeth Laugeson at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. This pivotal funding helped establish the program’s evidence base and set the stage for its global expansion.

Since then, PEERS® has been implemented in over 150 countries and translated into more than a dozen languages. It is now widely recognized as the most evidence-based social skills intervention in the world, with over 85 peer-reviewed studies supporting its efficacy and effectiveness. The program has evolved to address a range of skills, from making and keeping friends, to dating etiquette, to soft skills for employment. Its impact has been far-reaching, improving social outcomes for neurodivergent individuals across diverse settings and cultures. 

By watching this session, you’ll walk away with: 

• An understanding of ecologically valid social skills found to be helpful in making and keeping friends.
• An awareness of evidence-based strategies for teaching social skills that enhance outcomes and generalization of skills.
• Insight into the immediate and long-term outcomes of PEERS® for autistic adolescents and adults interested in making and keeping friends.  

Handouts: [Presentation slides]

Autistic youth commonly report having executive functioning struggles, including trouble with flexible thinking, planning, goal-setting and other aspects of cognitive control. OAR was the first to fund research on the three school-based versions of Unstuck and On Target! The program has since expanded into a full suite of evidence-based interventions and supports for executive functioning for neurodivergent youth ages 8-22 and their parents. Learn more about the Unstuck program and how to access the free resources! 

By watching this session, you will:

• Understand the importance of interventions that are both community-informed and evidence-based  
• See the impact that OAR pilot grants can have –in the autistic community and beyond 
• Be able to access the Unstuck resources and hear what will be coming next 

This session tells the story of how a small OAR grant helped lay the foundation for a new line of autism research. That early support created space to pursue bold, underexplored questions about life after high school for autistic youth. In the years that followed, the program grew into a nationally recognized research effort that shaped data systems, policy, and services. Two former trainees—now independent faculty—shared how their own OAR-funded projects built on this foundation to explore poverty, disability benefits, and sexual health. Together, we reflected on how early support, thoughtful mentorship, and field-shifting questions can lead to lasting real-world impact. 

By watching this panel discussion, you will:

• Understand the power of asking bold questions that are new for the field. 
• Understand how early-stage funding can support long-term, field-shaping research.
• Learn how autism research can address overlooked needs like poverty, benefits, and sexual health.  

We ended the day with closing remarks from OAR’s Executive Director, Kristen Essex, and Senior Director, Research and Programs, Kimberly Ha.