SPARK for Autism

Discover SPARK

SPARK Snapshots: A Window Into the Autism Journey

Photo of a SPARK family

Date Revised: May 3, 2024

Sometimes, when you participate in research, you are left wondering what scientists have discovered. SPARK won’t let that happen. One way that SPARK is giving back to the autism community is by providing summary reports of data that have been collected. These reports are called SPARK Snapshots. They provide a window into the journeys of SPARK participants and contain interesting findings from the information that families have provided. As more families join SPARK and we explore new topics, we’ll take a new Snapshot to share our discoveries.

We take time to ensure that the information in the SPARK Snapshots and other reports is accurate, but these findings have not been evaluated by outside scientists via a process called peer review. View the peer-reviewed scientific publications made possible by your participation in SPARK. You can also look through summaries of SPARK Research Match studies.

Our current snapshots and reports, in PDF format, are listed below:

SPARK Snapshot – Autistic Independent AdultsSPARK Snapshot Independent Adults 2024

Did you know that the number of independent autistic adults participating in SPARK is larger than most other autism research studies in the United States? The findings in this Snapshot were gathered from information provided by independent autistic adults participating in SPARK from December 2015 through January 2024. This information is self-reported.

SPARK Snapshot – All Participants with AutismSPARK-snapshot-image-2024

When were our participants diagnosed and by whom? Were there problems during pregnancy and birth? How many people have conditions such as epilepsy, ADHD, and sleep problems? This SPARK Snapshot provides information about the 139,275 people with autism that joined SPARK between December 2015 and January 2024.

SPARK Girls and Women SnapshotSPARK Snapshot – Women and Girls

There are over 30,000 women and girls with autism in SPARK! This makes SPARK the largest research study of autistic women and girls in the country. This snapshot highlights research results from two publications from 2021 that focused on girls.

A Snapshot of the African American & Black Communities in SPARKSPARK Snapshot – African American & Black Communities

Did you know there are 15,429 African American and Black autistic individuals and their families participating in SPARK? This window into their autism journeys was gathered from the information they provided from December 2015 to March 2022. 

Listed below are older reports and snapshots:

 

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