ARLINGTON, VA, July 9, 2025 – The Organization for Autism Research (OAR) is delighted to announce the recipients of its 2025 Graduate Research Competition.
The program offers up to $1,000 to master’s students and $2,000 to doctoral candidates or post-doctoral students to conduct autism-focused research. This year, OAR is awarding 10 grants totaling $19,306. With these new grants, OAR has awarded over $361,229 to fund 203 graduate research studies since 2004.
OAR received 30 study proposals this year from graduate students across the world. Members of the OAR Scientific Council, a group of 18 autism professionals from a variety of fields and backgrounds, reviewed and scored each proposal. They based their evaluation on three key criteria:
In keeping with OAR’s dedication to high-quality research, only the best of the best proposals were selected for funding. “The OAR Graduate Grant is designed to highlight the best of the best of young autism researchers,” says Peter Gerhardt, OAR’s Scientific Council chairman. “This year’s awardees are no exception, and I am confident we will see this same high standard of research in future grant competitions.”
Congratulations to the 2025 grant recipients:
Laurel Benjamin, University of California-San Diego
Autistic Parents’ Participatory Engagement in Early Intervention Services: A Needs Assessment
Elodie Carel, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Context Matters: An Investigation of Social Determinants of Quality of Life in Autistic Adolescents
Yitong Jiang, University of Oregon
Adapting the ‘Red Light, Purple Light’ Intervention for Young Autistic Children: An Exploratory Sequential Design
Bridgett Kiernan, University of Virginia
We Need to Talk: Exploring Autistic Adults’ and Crisis Hotline Counselors’ Experiences and Perceptions of Accessing or Providing Support for a Suicidal Crisis
Kayla Malone, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
SHIFT to belonging: A participatory mixed-methods study of the initial social validity, feasibility, and acceptability of a support group facilitation guide for gender-diverse autistic young adults
Ja’Toria Palmer, Indiana University Bloomington
The Path Less Visible: Decoding the Autism Care Pathway Through the Lenses of Black Caregivers
Saurym Quezada, Florida State University
Exploring the Diagnosis Process for Children with Dual Autism Spectrum Disorder and Visual Impairments
Mackenzie Robeson, University of South Alabama
Further Investigation of PEERS for Preschoolers: The Role of Emotion Regulation
Cayla Solis, The Pennsylvania State University
Improving Word Reading and Spelling in Autistic Children Using Augmentative and Alternative Communication
Jinlan Zhu, The University of Texas at Austin
Understanding Diagnostic Experiences and Service Barriers Among Chinese American Families: A Nationwide Study
For inquiries regarding the Graduate Research Grant Program or for more information on the 2025 funding cycle, please contact OAR at 571-977-5391 or e-mail at research @researchautism.org
About OAR: The Organization for Autism Research (OAR) is a national non-profit organization formed and led by relatives of children and adults with autism. OAR is dedicated to promoting research that can be applied to help families, educators, caregivers, and individuals with autism find much-needed answers to their immediate and urgent questions. Learn more at www.researchautism.org.
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