Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education, and Support

This Program supports activities to: provide information and education on autism and other developmental disabilities (DD) to increase public awareness; promote research into the development and validation of reliable screening tools and interventions for autism and other developmental disabilities and disseminate information; promote early screening of individuals with increased likelihood for autism and other developmental disabilities as early as practicable, given evidence-based screening techniques and interventions; increase the number of professionals who are able to confirm or rule out a diagnosis of autism and other developmental disabilities; and increase the number of professionals able to provide evidence-based interventions for individuals diagnosed with autism or other developmental disabilities. The Autism Research Portfolio includes the Autism Research Consortium (Autism RC), Autism Research Network (Autism RN) Program, Autism Single Investigator Innovation Program (Autism SIIP), Autism Field-Initiated Innovative Research Studies (Autism FIRST) Program, and the Autism Secondary Data Analysis Research (Autism SDAR) Program. The Autism RNs establish and maintain an interdisciplinary, multicenter research forum for scientific collaboration and infrastructure building. They provide national leadership in research to advance the evidence base on effective interventions for children and adolescents with autism and other developmental disabilities (autism/DD) across the lifespan. The Autism RC establishes research infrastructure and advances the evidence base on effective interventions, services, supports, and systems for children and adolescents with autism/DD. ​The Autism RNs develop guidelines for interventions and disseminate information as authorized by the Autism CARES Act of 2024 (P.L. 118-180) (Autism CARES Act). The Autism SIIP Program supports focused research on priority, emerging, and underdeveloped research areas in autism and other developmental disabilities (DD), with a special focus on the etiology of autism and transitions. The Autism FIRST Program supports research studies testing the implementation of new/innovative strategies that address critical issues surrounding the health of children and adolescents with autism. These studies collect primary data to analyze public health trends in their chosen area of focus within the autism research field. The Autism SDAR Program supports secondary data analysis of existing publicly available and accessible national databases and/or administrative records to determine the evidence-based practices for interventions that improve the physical and behavioral health of children and adolescents with autism/DD, with a particular focus on addressing barriers to identification, diagnosis, interventions and services among underserved populations and for whom there is limited evidence of the effectiveness of interventions, and limited access to screening, diagnosis, and treatment for autism/DD.