Places to learn about Autism
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CHOP Regional Autism Center (RAC)
The Regional Autism Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is a multidisciplinary center for assessment, management and research related to children and adolescents with autistic spectrum disorders. The core team includes developmental-behavioral pediatricians, psychologists, nurse practitioners, speech/language pathologists, occupational therapists and social workers. Patients are seen for diagnostic evaluation and second opinion regarding diagnosis, recommendations for services and treatments, and consultation for treatment program design. Staff provides case- and program-centered consultations, in-service workshops for community-based service providers, and community-based treatment programs (e.g., social skills training for young children with Asperger's disorder). The RAC and the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing recently were selected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to be one of four new sites designated as Centers for Excellence for Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities Epidemiology.
The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development—The ACE Program
The ACE Program is a trans-NIH initiative that supports large-scale multidisciplinary studies on autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), with the goal of determining the disorders' causes and the best treatments for them. The mission of NIH is a government agency with the goal of advancing the treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder and other mental illnesses through basic and clinical research, paving the way for prevention, recovery, and cure.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
CDC conducts and funds research studies and monitoring activities to better understand and track Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) in the United States. These research studies examine a number of potential risk factors for ASDs, such as infection and immune function, and genes that are related to these factors. CDC also conducts educational programs with healthcare providers and the public to help detect symptoms of ASDs early.
The National Database for Autism Research
The National Database for Autism Research (NDAR) is an NIH-funded research data repository that aims to accelerate progress in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) research through data sharing, data harmonization, and the reporting of research results. NDAR also serves as a scientific community platform and portal to multiple other research repositories, allowing for aggregation and secondary analysis of
The National Institute for Mental Health