Get the latest autism updates from SPARK, including information about genes and ASD research, webinars, and personal stories from our community.
Our ‘genes’ page provides short, easy-to-understand descriptions of genes linked to autism. Under ‘research’, you’ll find the latest updates from SPARK and other autism studies. In our ‘stories’ section, families, scientists and others share their journeys. In our monthly webinars, speakers from the autism community provide useful information for families and people with autism. All are welcome–invitation links are issued in our monthly newsletter. If you have suggestions for webinar topics, please email us at webinars@sparkforautism.org.
Over the last 20 years, Ann Palmer has helped hundreds, if not thousands, of families get the autism services and support that they need. Palmer has an adult son with autism. She began working in the field when her son, now 33, was about 9 years old.
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Sarah Easterling teaches English and science to fourth-graders at Palmer Elementary School in Missouri City, Texas. At Palmer, children with special needs, including autism and dyslexia, join mainstream classes.
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Patty Manning, a developmental pediatrician at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Ohio, sometimes sees patients in unusual places—in a car seat, walking around the hospital’s library, or simply in the clinic hallway. As a specialist treating children with autism spectrum disorders, she follows her patients’ needs and moods on that particular day.
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Ariana Viscione, age 23, is an outspoken advocate for herself and others.
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Kathy Koenig describes the programs that she has developed tp help girls with autism learn to socialize and form friendships.
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Discovering their son’s genetic diagnosis helps one family in many ways.
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The speaker for our eighth webinar is Kathy Koenig, MSN, director of the Initiative for Girls and Women with Autism Spectrum Disorder and associate research scientist at the Yale Child Study Center. In this webinar, Koenig discusses the complexities of diagnosing girls and women with autism and describes the different challenges for intervention that families face. She also offers some thoughts about how parents can create learning and social opportunities for their daughters. This webinar is 60 minutes long.
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