The purpose of this study is to identify the impact of state policies on publicly funded healthcare utilization among children with ASD.

Health care and related services for ASD are often intensive and expensive, with much controversy over what treatments work for which children under what circumstances. State Medicaid agencies have taken varied approaches to addressing the needs of children with ASD. The proposed study will provide a national picture of this variation, and will examine the resulting access to and appropriateness of care associated with different state policy models.

The Philadelphia Autism Instructional Methods Study (AIMS) was the largest randomized controlled trial of an autism intervention to date. Through AIMS, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia partnered with the School District of Philadelphia to determine the best ways to move evidence-based autism interventions into practice. The goal of the study was to improve educational outcomes for children on the autism spectrum. Although the study has ended, the AIMS continues to provide professional development training and in-classroom consultation to more than 120 classroom teams in kindergarten-through-5th-grade autism support classrooms across the city.

A number of new studies grew out of our initial trial. Our current studies examine implementation of social skills interventions in schools, and the best ways to increase teachers’ use of evidence-based behavioral interventions for children with autism, and Applied Behavior Analytic approaches like discrete trial training, pivotal response training, and functional routines.  The ultimate goal of these studies is to determine the best strategies to implement proven-efficacious interventions in community settings so that they are effective and sustain once training is complete. We accomplish this goal by assessing which types of interventions are most readily implemented in schools, and what supports teachers need to implement these interventions.

Closed for recruitment.

Please contact the Coordinator of Philly AIMS, Erica Reisinger (215-573-8472) for more information.

"Living with Autism Study"

The purpose of this study to understand the obstacles associated with raising a child who has been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), what goals parents/guardians set regarding treatments, services, and supports, and what strategies are most successful in achieving these goals.

Families of children recently diagnosed with ASD will be asked to describe their experiences related to their children's autism, what precipitated their concerns, and experiences related to getting screened, diagnosed and treated using semi-structured interviews. Parents will be interviewed 8 weeks post diagnosis and one year later. Parents will also complete measures related to parent stress, use of supports and services, barriers to care, and employment and child care decisions.

Closed for recruitment.

Please contact autism@mail.med.upenn.edu or 1-866-506-5841 for more information.

The purpose of this project is to determine the extent to which patients in state psychiatric hospitals meet criteria for an autism spectrum disorder. Another goal of the study is to learn more about different psychiatric diagnoses, like schizophrenia, and how different or alike they are with autism.

Nurses will administer an autism screening instrument to inpatients at a state hospital. Patients will be asked to participate in the study. Patients' charts will be reviewed and family interviews will take place. Family members will be asked about the patient's childhood development and the presence of autism symptoms. Patients will also be assessed by a team of clinicians from the University of Pennsylvania. The results of this study will aid in efforts to determine the prevalence of ASD among institutionalized adults, increase understanding of the prevalence of ASD in adults, and guide policy and practice regarding diagnostic practices and service delivery to adults with ASD.

Study is closed.

Please contact autism@mail.med.upenn.edu for more information.