OARacle Newsletter

OAR’s Board of Directors awarded eight new research grants for the 2023 Applied Research Competition. These new grants, which total $297,569, bring OAR’s all-time total research funding to more than $5 million since 2002. 

OAR received 138 letters of interest and invited 54 applicants to submit full proposals. From the full proposal submissions, OAR’s reviewers selected 19 to move on to the final round. On November 3, OAR’s Scientific Council met to review the finalists’ proposals, ultimately recommending eight studies to the Board of Directors as worthy of funding. The Board unanimously approved those studies subject to final budget review. 

Congratulations to the 2023 Applied Research Grant recipients: 

ACT FASTT: A Virtual Toolkit to Support College Instructors of Autistic Students
Shannon Crowley LaPoint, Ph.D.*
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Morrisville 

Barriers and Facilitators to Suicide Risk Screening and Management for Autistic Youth 
Paige Cervantes, Ph.D.
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond 

Evaluating the Effects of Virtual Support Groups for Intersectional Autistic Individuals 
Meredith Maroney, Ph.D.
University of Massachusetts Boston 

Extending Direct Instruction to Students with ASD Using Speech-Generating Devices 
Alice Shillingsburg, Ph.D., BCBA-D, and Sarah Frampton, Ph.D., BCBA-D
Munroe-Meyer Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha 

Feasibility and Efficacy of Assessing Child Preference for Feeding Treatment Using Choice Assessment
Laura Phipps, Ph.D.
Munroe-Meyer Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha 

Improving Access to Community-Based Occupations via a Rideshare Training Program 
Stacey Reynolds, Ph.D., OTR/L, FAOTA, and Alissa Brooke, M.S, CRC, PBSF
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond 

A Pilot Trial of a Culturally Adapted Intervention to Prevent Self-Harm in Young People with Autism
Nadia Shafique, M.D., and Nasim Chaudhry, Ph.D.
Foundation University Islamabad & Pakistan Institute of Living and Learning, Islamabad, Pakistan 

A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Parent-Focused Sexuality Education Program for Autistic Youth   
Lindsey DeVries, Ph.D.
University of Colorado Denver 

*OAR thanks the Lisa Higgins Hussman Foundation for generously supporting Dr. LaPoint’s ACT FASTT study. 

Summaries of each study are available in OAR’s research portal. For more information on the newly funded studies or on OAR’s Applied Research Competition, contact OAR at 571-977-5391 or via email at research @researchautism.org.