SPONSORED SYMPOSIA - PAST GRANTS


Lesley College Graduate School, Cambridge , MA
1993


Summer Autism Institute: Critical Issues in Facilitated Communication

The NLM Family Foundation provided support for the Summer Autism Institute: Critical Issues in Facilitated Communication, a three-day conference designed to examine current issues and research in the education and treatment of autism, pervasive developmental disorders, and related communication and behavior disorders. The conference was coordinated by Anne Larkin, Susan Gurry, Patricia Crain de Galarce, and Diane Fitzgerald. Experts from the fields of neurology, psychology, special education, education, speech and language pathology, as well as persons who use facilitated communication gave presentations.

Lesley University



Syracuse University, Syracuse , NY
2000


Expanding Horizons for New Research into Facilitated Communication

The meeting was designed to foster interdisciplinary discussion concerning future research directions for inquiring about facilitated communication and related communication strategies for people with autism and other developmental disabilities. Presentations included several by researchers who are in the midst of conducting quasi-experimental investigations of facilitated communication. Among those in attendance were Margaret Bauman, Doug Biklen, Donald Cardinal, Anne Donnellan, and Andrew Grayson. This was part of a larger conference entitled, "International Conference on Facilitation."

Syracuse University



New England Medical Center, Atlanta , GA
2000, 2001, 2002, 2003


Callaway Gardens Annual Autism Genetics Workshop

The purpose of the Callaway Gardens Annual Autism Genetics Workshop is to share unpublished data, ideas, and suggestions within the Autism Genetics Cooperative group, form limited collaborations for specific purposes, and generally spend 3½ days discussing how to find genes that predispose people to autism. This event was co-sponsored with National Alliance for Autism Research.

New England Medical Center



Federation of Behavioral, Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Washington, DC
2001


Science and Public Policy Seminars on Autism


This was a series of Science and Public Policy seminars on autism, featuring Drs. Morton Gernsbacher, Geraldine Dawson, Edward Cook, and Margaret Bauman.   These events were co-sponsored by the National Alliance for Autism Research and the NLM Family Foundation.  Four separate talks were held on Capitol Hill and served to educate members of Congress and their staff about autism and the policy implications of some of the latest research.  This series concluded in June of 2002.

Federation of Behavioral, Psychological and Cognitive Sciences



TASH, Boston , MA
2002


Breaking the Barriers: New Ways of Thinking that Lead to Civic Participation (Pre-Conference Session)

The purpose of this pre-conference session was to explore the extent to which people with autism, many of whom communicate with Facilitated Communication, were interested in becoming more involved in public policy work, and to begin to explore what system changes were necessary to allow this to occur. The event was an interactive dialogue aimed at exploring the changing perceptions of autism and communication. The pre-conference session was intended to move beyond training and research to support FC users to develop a voice nationally in order to influence policy.

TASH



Brandeis University, Waltham , MA
2004

Symposium on Autism and Behavioral Genomics

The Symposium on Autism and Behavioral Genomics was sponsored to celebrate the grand opening of the National Center for Behavioral Genomics at Brandeis University and the 10 th Anniversary of the Volen National Center for Complex Systems. Presenters included Catherine Dulac, Ph.D., Leslie Griffith, M.D., Ph.D., Thomas Insel, M.D., Rudolph Jaenisch, Ph.D., Edward Jones, Ph.D., David Skuse, M.D., and Charles Zucker, Ph.D.

Brandeis University



International Association for Disability and Oral Health, Calgary , Alberta
2004


Addressing Dental Care for Individuals with Autistic Disorders (Pre-Conference Symposium)

Held at the University of Calgary , the symposium was a full-day pre-conference event at the XVII International Congress on Disability and Oral Health hosted by the International Association for Disability and Oral Health. This pre-conference symposium focused on providing dental care to those with autistic disorders. Presentation topics included Advocating for Access to Dental Care, Identifying Behavior and Management Strategies, Oral Findings in Children with Autistic Disorders, and Adverse Oro-Facial Reactions to Medications Used to Treat Autism. With funding from the NLM Family Foundation, Dr. Tesini led a pre-conference symposium focused on providing dental care to individuals with autism.

International Association for Disability and Oral Health



Friends of Freie Universität Berlin in New York- Der Freie Universität Berlin
2004


Organizational Meeting for Dahlem Workshop to be entitled, "Re-conceptualizing Autism: Identifying the Neural Mechanisms Underlying Autistic Behaviors"

The NLM Family Foundation supported a preliminary, organizational meeting held in Chicago in preparation for a Dahlem Workshop entitled, "Re-conceptualizing Autism: Identifying the Neural Mechanisms Underlying Autistic Behaviors". The Dahlem Workshop on autism research brought together scientists from a broad range of disciplines to develop a new developmental focused research agenda for autism that would refine the behavioral phenotype of autism and identify neural, genetic, epigenetic, and environmental mechanisms that mediate autistic behaviors. Themes for working groups were The Autistic Nervous System and Personal Adaptation; Systems Neurobiology through the Life Span; Gene Discovery, Gene Regulation, and Neurogenetic Models; and Environmental Mediators: Risk and Protective Factors.

Friends of Freie Universität Berlin in New York



Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
2005


Community Responses to Autism: Public Health and Public Policy Challenges

The NLM Family Foundation provided support for a conference on policy issues in the delivery of care and services to individuals with autism entitled, "Community Responses to Autism: Public Health and Public Policy Challenges". This event was held at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in June of 2005. Topics of discussion included Early Identification and Diagnosis, Funding Issues, Models of Care, Legal Rights Within the System, and Coordination of Medical Care.

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia



University of Washington CPEA and STAART Centers, Seattle, WA
2005

Autism Neuroimaging Collaborative Research Meeting

Many autism research groups have neuroimaging research projects, which utilize magnetic resonance imaging for structural, functional, and metabolic imaging, included in their programs. Centers are currently using their own protocols for data acquisition and analysis and many of studies from these groups have yielded inconsistent results. The lack of consistency may result from relatively small sample sizes, differences in subject characteristics, differences in scan acquisition details, differences in fMRI task paradigms, and differences in data analysis techniques.

This meeting will provide the opportunity for researchers to discuss possible options for making the most meaningful use of data already collected at various sites and to plan for future studies whereby more consistent methods of data collection and analysis will be adopted by as many sites as possible. Researchers will also discuss development of the computational infrastructure that will be needed to support data-sharing among various groups, including the possibility of implementing a peer-to-peer neuroimaging network.


University of Washington Autism Center



Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Lloyd Harbor, NY
2006

A Critical Assessment of Autism Genetics

The NLM Family Foundation is providing support for a meeting, hosted by the Banbury Center at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, which will focus on emerging data in autism genetics entitled, “A Critical Assessment of Autism Genetics.” Although twin and family studies have demonstrated a strong genetic etiology, it has been difficult to identify susceptibility genes for autism that are influencing a majority of patients. There is increasing optimism about identifying susceptibility genes due to larger numbers of families being assessed, consortia being formed, and the development of better phenotype assessment and family history tools. Additionally, new technologies have been developed to perform high density genetic marker studies as well as assess the whole genome for alterations not detected by traditional methods. This meeting will focus on clinical considerations, whole genome genetic studies, candidate genes and regional association studies, chromosomal abnormalities and statistical genetics. It will bring together a prestigious, international group of researchers at an opportune time to critically assess our understanding of the genetic basis of autism and future directions for research in this area.


Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory



National Press Foundation, Boston, MA
2007


Press Seminar on Autism Spectrum Disorders

The NLM Family Foundation is sponsoring a one-day journalist training program on autism spectrum disorders scheduled to be held on October 15, 2007 in Boston . Organized by the National Press Foundation and offered at no cost to selected journalists, the program will enable working journalists to keep pace with the complex topics they cover and develop new skills, sources, and story angles. The objective of the program is to help to increase public knowledge about a range of issues relevant to autism spectrum disorders by educating journalists whose work reaches millions of readers, listeners, and viewers. Topics of discussion may include Introduction to Autism Spectrum Disorders, Diagnosis and Early Detection, Biomedical Research, Treatment, Autistic Children and the Educational System, and the Needs of Adolescents and Adults with Autism.

National Press Foundation

 
Copyright © 2005 Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation