Research Update
The Autism Center of Virginia Registry

The goal of the Autism Center of Virginia Registry is to foster research on autism and autism related disorders. Over the past 6 months we have busily pursued this goal. The Registry has supported three research projects, expanded the responsibilities of our research committee to include oversight of all research conducted at The Faison School, and revised the Registry’s enrollment process to enable us to provide written feedback to enrollees on new standardized autism measures now used by the Registry.

The Registry’s recent research projects include a two-phase study on how parents adapt and cope with the daily demands of raising a young child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study integrates parental focus groups (completed in January) with an experience-sampling phase involving the completion of a brief questionnaire twice weekly for 12 weeks (this phase is recruiting participants). The second study investigated the effectiveness of an ABA based 16-week social skills training program with a group of 11 to 14 year-old children and adolescents who have an ASD. The third and most recent project is questionnaire-based study seeking to examine the rate of autoimmune disorders in families that have a child with an ASD, and explore the possible link between a familial history of autoimmune disorders and developmental regression in children with an ASD (this study is recruiting participants).

To harmonize research activities at Autism Center of VA, the Registry’s research committee is now reviewing all research being conducted at The Faison School. This research committee is comprised of autism experts, parents of children with an ASD, and the directors of The Faison School and the Autism Center.

Finally, the Registry has improved our enrollment materials by including two standardized autism screening instruments: the Social Communication Questionnaire and the Pervasive Developmental Disorders Behavior Inventory. Parents that complete these questionnaires are given a written summary of the results. If you would like to enroll your child/family member in the Registry or are interested in receiving more information on the research supported by the Registry please contact us:

Autism Center of Virginia Registry
P.O. Box 980489
Richmond, VA 23298-0489
Telephone: 804.612.1947 (ext 315) or Toll-free: 1-866-628-2268
E-mail: autismreg@vcu.edu
Web site: http://www.vcuhealth.org/vtcc/Autism%20Registry.html