Autism

The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) requests applications for research projects that will contribute to its special education research programs.

CNET 
U.K. researchers are testing a child-sized robot to help teach social skills to children with autism. The robot named Kaspar — or Kinesics and Synchronization in Personal Assistant Robots — is designed to have minimally expressive features that will help children with autism interpret expressions without becoming overwhelmed. The robot is designed to resemble an [...]

HealthDay News 
U.S. researchers said they were able to distinguish children who are developing normally from those who were diagnosed with autism or language delays by analyzing the sounds from a recording system worn by young children during the day. More research is needed, but the device potentially could be used to screen for language delays [...]

New York Times  
Computer scientists are developing machines that can teach people simple skills, like household tasks and vocabulary. In a handful of laboratories around the world, computer scientists are developing robots: highly programmed machines that can engage people and teach them simple skills. So far, the teaching has been very basic, delivered mostly in experimental settings, [...]

HealthDay News  
Technologies, including robots, toys and computer-generated avatars, are helping children with autism learn skills and improve their social interactions. Studies have shown that practicing with some of these tools has helped some children smile, clap and look at people when talking with them.
Full story

Popular Science 
Researchers at the University of Southern California are using robots to study how children with autism recognize and respond to facial expressions and social cues. A shortage of trained experts to diagnose, study and treat the growing number of children with the disorder has prompted the approach, which researchers say holds promise for improving [...]

May 20 – 22, 2010
Philadelphia, PA
The International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR) was convened for the first time in November 2001, to provide ASD researchers from around the world with a focused opportunity to share the rapidly moving scientific investigation of ASD.
Objectives of the meeting:
1.    The International Meeting for Austism Research (IMFAR) is [...]

ABC News
The Rethink Autism Web site features online tutorials on applied behavioral analysis, one of the most expensive and desired treatments for children with autism. Jamie Pagliaro of Rethink Autism said the Web-based program is meant to help families that might not otherwise have access to ABA. “[It] shouldn’t preclude you from having access to [...]

Researchers at ArticuLab, part of the communication and engineering schools at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, are studying how humans communicate with and through technology and are helping autistic children participate in conversations by using virtual peers, life-sized, computer-animated children capable of carrying on realistic conversations. Virtual peers invite autistic children to interact and play [...]

Vanderbilt University researchers found that a robot designed to interpret body signals is able to accurately read the mood of children with autism spectrum disorders more than 80% of the time. The robot measures the heart rate, skin temperature and other signals of children while they play a video game. If it determines the child [...]

With Asperger’s, a form of autism, people lack the inner voice that tells them what is, or is not, appropriate behavior. At Fraser Child & Family Center in Minneapolis, staff came up with the idea of programming iPods to act as an electronic substitute for that missing voice.
The staff helped students create a series of [...]

“The Transporters,” a series of short cartoon videos, is designed to help autistic children recognize the emotions in others’ faces. In a scientific study, “The Transporters,” with actors’ faces grafted onto appealing vehicles, helped autistic kids learn expressions.
To read more about this video series, click here.

Because only one in four youth diagnosed with autism are girls, little data has existed on how autistic girls of normal intelligence differ from boys of the same group, or why the number of girls is lower. A few researchers are now pursuing these questions. Click here to read the full story.