Autism

Temple Grandin—inventor, speaker, author and perhaps the autism community’s best-known advocate—encouraged her audience at Vanderbilt University on Thursday to embrace the diagnosis of autism for what it can do: add diverse thinkers to a workforce that not only can accommodate them, but desperately needs them. Read More

A $10 million gift from alumna Jennifer R. Frist, BS’93, and husband William R. “Billy” Frist will endow a new center focused on supporting and developing the neurodiverse talents of individuals with autism at Vanderbilt University’s School of Engineering. Read More

The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, along with the Vanderbilt Initiative for Autism, Innovation and the Workforce, will hold its daylong fall conference, "Envisioning the Future of Human Technology Partnerships," on Thursday, Nov. 29. The deadline to register is Nov. 9. Read More

The SENSE Lab invites children 10-13 years of age with ASD and children with typical development to take part in a NIMH-funded study that examines stress and social functioning across pubertal development. Read More

The TRIAD Families First Program is celebrating 10 years of serving parents of young children with an autism spectrum disorder. Read More

A Community Engagement Studio (CES) session for participants to give feedback on a research project looking at repetitive thinking among adults with high functioning ASD. Read More

The SeRenade Program uses small, group music classes for families with young children with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Families learn strategies for promoting social and other positive behaviors through music. Read More

Researchers at Vanderbilt are studying how nonverbal or minimally verbal children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), 8-14 years old, process different kinds of sounds in their environment. Read More

Led by the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center’s Zachary Warren, associate professor of pediatrics, the SPARK study is looking for individuals of all ages with a professional diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to become part of the largest autism study ever undertaken in the United States. Read More

The leaders of a new Vanderbilt initiative for young adults with autism are looking to expand its reach through distance learning. Launched a year ago to primarily serve Middle Tennessee residents, Spectrum Pathways has generated out-of-state interest with some participants flying into Nashville to take part. Read More

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) have found that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be accurately diagnosed in young children via remote, telemedicine assessments, a method that could significantly increase access and reduce wait times for autism services. In a first-of-its-kind study, the researchers compared the accuracy of rapid… Read More

  Autism researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and two other universities have received a $2.99 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to conduct a four-year multisite project investigating the impact of theatre and peer mediation on the social competence of youth with autism spectrum… Read More

Mark Wallace, Ph.D., drops his glasses on his desk and they land with a metallic clang. He is making a point about autism. “There’s sound energy and light energy that come from the same place in space,” said Wallace, dean of the Graduate School at Vanderbilt University and Louise B. Read More

"Surprising Connections in Autism and Innovation,” a day of presentations, poster sessions and cross-discipline conversations, will be held Friday, Nov. 17, at The Commons Center, rooms 237 and 235. Read More

Creating a model pipeline that will assist adults on the autism spectrum find innovative jobs is the purpose of Vanderbilt University’s new Center for Autism & Innovation. Read More

Inspired by Temple Grandin, Assistant Professor of Computer Science Maithilee Kunda figured out how to create artificial intelligence that emulates image-based thinking. Read More

New insights into the long-lasting effects of Fragile X syndrome on connections in the brain during early development highlight the importance of early detection and treatment. Read More

A new Vanderbilt initiative aims to improve the lives of young adults with autism spectrum disorders who often end up socially isolated once they leave school. Read More

Terunaga Nakagawa, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, has received a two-year, $100,000 grant from the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation to continue his studies of the molecular underpinnings of autism and other brain disorders. Read More

Researchers at Vanderbilt have identified what may be a genetic “smoking gun” for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) — a mutation in the gene for the critical neuronal protein CaMKII. Read More