Developments - December 2019
Thursday, December 19, 2019
 |
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
Developments is a newsletter for Autism CARES programs funded under MCHB. The content of this newsletter has been generated by program staff and trainees, and does not necessarily reflect the views and policies of HRSA-MCHB. No official support or endorsement by HRSA-MCHB is intended or should be inferred. This publication is funded in part by cooperative agreement #UA5MC11068.
 AUCD | 1100 Wayne Avenue, Suite 1000, Silver Spring, MD 20910
|
||||||||||||||
To follow up on the successful 2019 in-person Autism CARES grantee meeting, AUCD (in partnership with HRSA-MCHB and AMCHP) will be establishing a planning committee for one or more virtual activities to take place in 2020. 
The Autism Intervention Research Network on Physical Health (AIR-P), led by Karen Kuhlthau, PhD, conducts research on evidence-based interventions to improve the physical health and well-being of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and other developmental disabilities, with an emphasis on reaching underserved communities. 
The Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics Research Network (DBPNet) is studying the pharmacological management of preschool aged children diagnosed with ADHD in 7 outpatient developmental-behavioral pediatric programs at academic medical centers. 
A chart review was performed of 38 children diagnosed with Bilingualism is increasingly prevalent; however, research in bilingual children with autism is sparse. The purpose of this study was to compare social skills and autistic features in monolingual English and bilingual English-Spanish children with autism spectrum disorder. 
To improve the hospital experience for patients with ASD and their families, the Autism Program at Boston Medical Center (BMC) launched the Autism Friendly Initiative in January 2017. The initiative began with the formation of a multidisciplinary steering committee involving clinicians and staff from various departments across the hospital (e.g., Nursing, Dental, Facilities, and Security) as well as parents of individuals with ASD. 
This study used qualitative methods to gather family and provider perspectives of perceived barriers and facilitators to obtaining an ASD diagnosis and accessing ASD-related services for underserved families. Themes from focus groups and interviews with families from three cultural groups (black, Hispanic/Latino, and Korean) and three primary languages (English, Korean, and Spanish) highlight specific barriers related to family, community, and systemic challenges as well as facilitators to accessing care for these populations. 
Please join the Autism Speaks Autism Treatment Network/Autism Intervention Research Network on Physical Health for our upcoming Advances in Autism Research and Care (AARC) webinar series scheduled for 2020! 
Over the past two decades, Maine has experienced a rapid growth of racially, ethnically and linguistically diverse populations. Although Maine's population is largely White (95%), children in Maine are disproportionately from minority populations; currently 9% of children in Maine are from a race other than White. 
NJ LEND Fellows Muna Khalif (pictured in center) and Jennifer Reiter (pictured at right) are participating in the non-profit organization's Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Parents of Kids with Special Needs course, a seven-week class developed by Vanderbilt University. They hope to integrate the techniques into their own lives and then create opportunities for bringing them to more parents across Minnesota. 
MN LEND Fellows Muna Khalif (pictured in center) and Jennifer Reiter (pictured at right) are participating in the non-profit organization's Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Parents of Kids with Special Needs course, a seven-week class developed by Vanderbilt University. They hope to integrate the techniques into their own lives and then create opportunities for bringing them to more parents across Minnesota. 
Amy Szarkowski, PhD, is a psychologist who specializes in working with children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) and their families. She is a faculty member with the Boston Children's Hospital LEND Program (BCH/LEND), and is part of the Institute for Community Inclusion at BCH and the University of Massachusetts, Boston. In September 2019, Dr. Szarkowski gave a keynote address at the Scarlett's Park conference in CA, an annual conference highlighting special topics related to DHH children. 
SPHARC, in partnership with HRSA, recently held an October in-person kick off meeting in Arlington, VA for the newly awarded Autism Community of Learners 2019-2022 state grantee cohort. This meeting laid the foundation for relationship-building and collaborative community for the subsequent grant years. 
The Wisconsin Care Integration Initiative (WiCII) is a HRSA-funded project at the Waisman Center to improve systems of care for medically underserved families of children with or at risk for ASD/DD. In order to support community-driven solutions in this area, WiCII brought together parents, policymakers, and community and state leaders to participate in the "100 Million Healthier Lives States of Solutions" program. 
The Autism Society of Minnesota (AuSM) has hired Ashwak Hassan (MNLEND Fellow, 2015-16) to help multicultural families affected by autism navigate and access services that lead to better lives and communities.Under a two-year Minnesota Department of Human Services Innovations Grant, Hassan will bring AuSM together with the Somali American Parent Network and the Multicultural Autism Action Network to streamline how families navigate services and increase their participation and meaningful engagement with culturally appropriate supports. 
Interested in working for a national disability organization in the Washington, DC area? Passionate about growing diverse and skilled leaders? If you or someone you know can answer "yes" to any or all of these questions, consider working for AUCD! 
This annual meeting was an opportunity for Division of Maternal and Child Health Workforce Development (DMCHWD) grantees to convene and network around a cross-cutting topic of interest. The meeting was hosted by AUCD's Interdisciplinary Technical Assistance Center on Autism and Developmental Disabilities (ITAC). 
HRSA
HRSA