Autism & Developmental Disorders Inpatient Research Collaborative

This grant supported the first national meeting of physicians who specialize in the hospital treatment of children with autism.  In the Fall of 2011, the directors of the eleven specialized psychiatric hospital units in the US that exclusively treat children with autism collaborated on a publication and formed a research collaborative. These hospital units admit over 600 children with autism a year into controlled environments for an average stay of 42 days. The collaborative has met monthly by teleconference since October 2011, developed a website for the Autism & Developmental Disorders Inpatient Research Collaborative and begun forming study questions. Areas of potential inquiry include: developing better tools to diagnose co-occurring psychiatric disorders in children with ASD; performing early clinical trials on novel compounds; evaluating treatments for self-injurious behavior and measuring the effect of intensive multi-modal treatment. This grant supported the gathering of 15-20 investigators at the Maine Medical Center Research Institute to facilitate communication and idea development to develop research questions into full-fledged proposals for external funding.