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Discover SPARK

The articles and webinars below highlight the latest autism research findings made possible by SPARK participants, researchers, and others throughout the world. You can also read about the autism journeys of SPARK families.

To browse through our articles, webinars, and family stories by topic, view our Topics in Autism page.

Answers for Autism

We asked you what you wanted to know about autism, and you responded with thought-provoking and important questions.

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Teens and Screens: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Cheryl Cohen discusses the latest research on how teens with ASD use technology in their day-to-day lives. She also talks about the barriers teens with autism encounter using the Web and parents’ concerns about online safety and screen time. Her discussion also includes an update on various technology careers for individuals with autism.

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Autism Treatments: What We Know and Don’t Know

The speaker for our ninth webinar is Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele, M.D., a child psychiatrist and neuroscientist who works at both Columbia University and the Center for Autism and the Developing Brain, in White Plains, New York. In this webinar, Dr. Veenstra-VanderWeele discusses what kinds of medicines and treatments for autism are out there and how researchers identify what works. He also offers practical advice about different medications and their side effects to parents of children with autism and adults with autism. This webinar is 60 minutes long.

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Understanding Research: An Autism Researcher Answers Your Questions

Consumers and patients are bombarded with information about medical research and autism treatments almost daily. Often these articles and social media posts include terms that can mean many different things. J. Kiely Law, M.D., MPH, research director and co-founder of the Interactive Autism Network (IAN), answers some common questions about what research really is and isn’t.

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Autism Heroes: Ann Palmer

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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Autism Heroes: Sarah Easterling

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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Autism Heroes: Dr. Patricia Manning

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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