Center for Autism Research

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Access to Autism Spectrum Disorder Services for Rural Appalachian Citizens
Scarpa, Angela; Jensen, Laura S.; Gracanin, Denis; Ramey, Sharon L.; Dahiya, Angela V.; Ingram, L. Maria; Albright, Jordan; Gatto, Alyssa J.; Scott, Jen Pollard; Ruble, Lisa (2020-01)
Background: Low-resource rural communities face significant challenges regarding availability and adequacy of evidence-based services. Purposes: With respect to accessing evidence-based services for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), this brief report summarizes needs of rural citizens in the South-Central Appalachian region, an area notable for persistent health disparities. Methods: A mixed-methods approach was used to collect quantitative and qualitative data during focus groups with 33 service providers and 15 caregivers of children with ASD in rural southwest Virginia. Results: Results supported the barriers of availability and affordability of ASD services in this region, especially relating to the need for more ASD-trained providers, better coordination and navigation of services, and addition of programs to assist with family financial and emotional stressors. Results also suggested cultural attitudes related to autonomy and trust towards outside professionals that may prevent families from engaging in treatment. Implications: Relevant policy recommendations are discussed related to provider incentives, insurance coverage, and telehealth. Integration of autism services into already existing systems and multicultural sensitivity of providers are also implicated.
Brain Computer Interfaces and ASD Treatment
Gracanin, Denis (2012-10-12)
Denis Gracanin, from the computer science department, proposed research in the use of brain computer interface devices as help with social and health aspects of autism spectrum disorders, with the goal of developing a testbed framework and guidelines for testing and usability of intervention tools.
Carilion Clinic Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Adams, Felicity (2012-10-12)
Dr. Felicity Adams describes the child psychiatry training program at Carilion, including treatments for children with autism spectrum disorders and a trial of memantine. Dr. Adams explains future research interests in HPA axis and programming of epigenetic determinants of autism spectrum disorders and is seeking collaborators.
Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of ASD
Lee, Yong Woo (2012-10-12)
Yong Woo Lee describes the role of inflammation in disease and the pathophysiological mechanisms of ASD, and suggests multidisciplinary autism research into the efficacy of anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory drugs as potential treatment for autism.
Center for Autism Research Conference Flyer
Virginia Tech (2012-08-14)
This is the flyer for the Center for Autism Research Conference held at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute on August 15, 2012. The flyer describes the program idea, the purpose of the conference, presenters and break-out topics. A general schedule is provided.
Cognition, Affect, and Psychophysiology Lab at Virginia Tech
Bell, Martha Ann (2012-10-12)
Martha Ann Bell in the department of psychology describes how research into typical childhood development informs the study of atypical development, and a psychobiological conceptual framework and its applications to the study of physiological and developmental mechanisms of behavior. Findings from studies on social responsiveness are summarized.
Emotion socialization and socio-emotional development
Dunsmore, Julie C. (2012-10-12)
Julie Dunsmore of the social development lab discussed family attitudes toward emotion and emotional communication, child outcomes, and relevant research findings, and suggests applying basic developmental research to autism spectrum disorders.
Emotional and Social Functioning in ASD
Scarpa, Angela (2012-10-12)
The slides describe potential areas of research related to Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), especially those areas involving emotional and social functioning. A clinical program for stress and anger management (STAMP) is described. Possible collaborations that would become possible through the proposed center for autism research are listed.
Enhancing Flexibility: A Biosocial Model for Resilience to Adversity in Youth With Autism
Scarpa, Angela; Swain, Deanna M.; Factor, Reina S.; Dahiya, Angela V.; Bertollo, Jennifer R. (SAGE, 2021)
Flexibility is often associated with resilience from adversity. Youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at risk of stress and trauma yet have inherent difficulties with flexibility, including rigid behaviors, routines, “insistence on sameness,” and lack of social reciprocity. This review highlights literature of physiological and psychological processes related to inflexibility in ASD and proposes a heuristic model to understand mechanisms of resilience in the aftermath of adversity. This article presents the Biosocial Model for Resilience, which posits that interventions that target changes in central, autonomic, and endocrine dysregulation may in turn enhance processes of psychological flexibility (i.e., executive cognitive, emotional, and interpersonal regulation) that increase the likelihood of resilient adjustment in response to stressful experiences. This model of resilience is optimistic in positing that, in addition to critical programs on the prevention of social adversity, future research on flexibility can inform intervention programs that target this specific mechanism to minimize harmful aftereffects in youngsters with ASD.
Family Process - Autism Spectrum Disorders
Benson, Mark (2012-10-12)
Slides for a talk about family process and the importance of parenting dimensions in adolescent development. The slides list findings to date, and propose research into the influence of family on outcomes for those diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder.
Modeling for controlled oral drug delivery
Achenie, Luke E. K. (2012-10-12)
Presented by Luke Achenie at the Center for Autism Research Conference. Describes research in drug release profiles for oral medications, and suggests developing a complete pharmacokinetic model. Achenie requests collaborators and specific ideas on how his research can contribute to the mission of the Center for Autism Research.
Perceived Driving Difficulty, Negative Affect, and Emotion Dysregulation in Self-Identified Autistic Emerging Drivers
Fok, Megan; Owens, Justin M.; Ollendick, Thomas H.; Scarpa, Angela (Frontiers, 2022-01-31)
Driving is central to adult independence and autonomy; yet most autistic young adults do not acquire driver’s licenses. It is important to understand barriers to achieving this milestone for autistic adults. Differences in negative affect and emotion dysregulation associated with autism may interfere with managing difficult driving situations. The current study compared perceived driving difficulty (DD), emotion dysregulation, and negative affect in emerging drivers with and without autistic traits (AT), and investigated how emotion dysregulation and negative affect relate to perceived DD. We expected (1) greater perceived DD, emotion dysregulation, and negative affect in participants with AT and (2) a positive correlation of perceived DD with both emotion dysregulation and negative affect in the whole sample. Thirty-seven adolescents and young adults (15 AT) self-reported perceived DD in 15 scenarios and completed the Difficulty in Emotion Dysregulation Scale (DERS) and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS). Autistic participants scored significantly higher on mean perceived DD, DERS Impulse subscale, DASS total and DASS Stress subscale scores. Perceived DD positively correlated with the DERS and DASS total scores, all DASS subscales, and DERS Nonacceptance, Goals, and Impulse subscales across the whole sample. The findings highlight the roles of emotion dysregulation and negative affect in perceived DD in emerging drivers with AT. In particular, emotional stress and impulsivity may map onto mechanisms of over-reactivity to negative affect and explain why autistic people perceive particular situations as difficult when driving. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.
Pilot Study Examining Caregiver-Child and Family Functioning in PEERS® for Preschoolers
Factor, Reina S.; Rea, Hannah M.; Dahiya, Angela, V; Laugeson, Elizabeth A.; Scarpa, Angela (Springer, 2022-09)
Social impairments characteristic of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are evident in early childhood and often worsen. Research indicates including caregivers in social skills groups may increase generalization for child outcomes, while also benefiting caregivers by increasing their self-confidence in ability to coach their child. Further, there may be an impact on the entire family. This pilot study examined benefits to the caregiver-child relationship, caregiver self-efficacy, parenting style, and family functioning in an exploratory study of the PEERS® for Preschoolers (P4P) social skills program. The present pilot study aimed to examine the above variables with 15 children with ASD (11 boys; 66.7% white) without intellectual impairment in four groups, applying this novel intervention, informed by other PEERS® programs. Children ranged from 4 to 7 years (M = 4.87, SD = 1.25). Children and caregivers participated in groups twice weekly (i.e., 8 weeks, 16 sessions). Measures that captured specified variables were completed by caregivers as well as through an observational task. Results showed increases in parenting self-efficacy and positive caregiver-child interaction strategies, specifically in caregiver affect/animation and achievement orientation over intervention and at follow-up. Caregivers also noted improvements in overall parenting styles. Changes in family functioning were not indicated. This pilot intervention may positively impact both the child and caregiver, though more research is needed with larger samples that include a control group and apply conclusions to the larger population. Future research should address why changes to family functioning did not emerge and specific mechanisms that lead to positive caregiver-specific outcomes.
The Role of Microsatellite Variation in Cancer: New Technological Approaches for Biomarker Discovery from Within Our Genomic Repetitive DNA And extensions to Autism
Garner, Skip (2012-10-12)
Skip Garner, director of the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute, describes the role of microsatellites as potential biomarkers for cancer and suggests that the research approach could be extended to find biomarkers for autism risk.
Science of Team Science
Foti, Roseanne J. (2012-10-12)
Psychology researcher Roseanne J. Foti, Ph.D., describes the Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes of effective teams and proposes collaborating in the creation and evaluation of science teams at the Center for Autism Research.
Searching for quantitative biomarkers of ASD using computational approaches and rapid assessment fMRI
Kishida, Kenneth T. (2012-10-12)
Kenneth Kishida, a research scientist at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, proposes the use of functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging assays for classifying neural subtypes of children with autism spectrum disorders.
Social attention during object engagement: toward a cross-species measure of preferential social orienting
Weichselbaum, Claire; Hendrix, Nicole; Albright, Jordan; Dougherty, Joseph D.; Botteron, Kelly N.; Constantino, John N.; Marrus, Natasha (2022-12-14)
Background A central challenge in preclinical research investigating the biology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is the translation of ASD-related social phenotypes across humans and animal models. Social orienting, an observable, evolutionarily conserved behavior, represents a promising cross-species ASD phenotype given that disrupted social orienting is an early-emerging ASD feature with evidence for predicting familial recurrence. Here, we adapt a competing-stimulus social orienting task from domesticated dogs to naturalistic play behavior in human toddlers and test whether this approach indexes decreased social orienting in ASD. Methods Play behavior was coded from the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) in two samples of toddlers, each with and without ASD. Sample 1 (n = 16) consisted of community-ascertained research participants, while Sample 2 involved a prospective study of infants at a high or low familial liability for ASD (n = 67). Coding quantified the child’s looks towards the experimenter and caregiver, a social stimulus, while playing with high-interest toys, a non-social stimulus. A competing-stimulus measure of “Social Attention During Object Engagement” (SADOE) was calculated by dividing the number of social looks by total time spent playing with toys. SADOE was compared based on ASD diagnosis and differing familial liability for ASD. Results In both samples, toddlers with ASD exhibited significantly lower SADOE compared to toddlers without ASD, with large effect sizes (Hedges’ g ≥ 0.92) driven by a lower frequency of child-initiated spontaneous looks. Among toddlers at high familial likelihood of ASD, toddlers with ASD showed lower SADOE than toddlers without ASD, while SADOE did not differ based on presence or absence of familial ASD risk alone. SADOE correlated negatively with ADOS social affect calibrated severity scores and positively with the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales social subscale. In a binary logistic regression model, SADOE alone correctly classified 74.1% of cases, which rose to 85.2% when combined with cognitive development. Conclusions This work suggests that a brief behavioral measure pitting a high-interest nonsocial stimulus against the innate draw of social partners can serve as a feasible cross-species measure of social orienting, with implications for genetically informative behavioral phenotyping of social deficits in ASD and other neurodevelopmental disorders.
Toward neurobehavioral metrics of social function: Examples from autism
Chiu, Pearl H. (2012-10-12)
Pearl Chiu, researcher at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, describes the use of behavioral economic games and functional magnetic resonance imaging in the exploration of social symptoms of autism and lists desired collaborations that may become possible with a Center for Autism Research.
VA Tech services for students with disabilities and research collaboration
Hudson, Robyn (2012-10-12)
Robyn Hudson, Assistant Director at the Virginia Tech office of Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) describes issues for Virginia Tech students with autism spectrum disorders, and available services for those students, including an engagement group. Mention is made of potential research areas and possibilities for collaboration with SSD.
Virginia Tech Center for Autism Research
Center for Autism Research (2012-10-12)
These slides serve as a welcome for the Autism Research Conference held at Virginia Tech on August 15 2012. The slides describe symptoms and prevalence of autism spectrum disorders, list goals for the proposed Center for Autism Research, and list the speakers and agenda for the conference.

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