Thursday, August 30, 2007
A permanent autism research center at the University of Kansas is in the works, and more than 20 researchers and faculty are collaborating to develop it.
“We lack a synergetic effort to address the rapidly growing number of children identified with Autism Spectrum Disorders. The need is quite urgent,” said Debra Kamps, an autism researcher at the University’s Juniper Garden Children’s Project in Kansas City, Kan.
Autism is more common than pediatric cancer, diabetes and AIDS combined, Kamps said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that one in 150 children have the disorder.
The Life Span Institute at the University has created the Work Group on Autism Research and Training to organize the new research center.
Kamps will be the chairwoman of the group, which aims to combine faculty from the University and from the University of Kansas Medical Center to increase funding for research and training.
“Currently there are several grants funded, but limited collaboration across campuses and departments,” Kamps said.
The group will expand during the next few weeks to include parents of autistic children in an advisory committee.
A grant will finance the group for one year to explore the creation of the Kansas Center for Autism Research and Training, or K-CART. K-CART would increase training activities for people with autism, as well as the parents, special education specialists and teachers who work with autistic children.
Plans for the center currently do not involve construction of a new building, but that could change.
“A possible permanent Autism Center might not be a bricks and mortar place at first. Our centers are often virtual for quite some time until space and funds are secured,” said Karen Henry, assistant director of the Bureau of Child Research at the University.
Henry said the group’s activities would be housed in existing University and Med Center space, with potential outreach to University satellite locations.
Meredith Poore, Topeka graduate student and a graduate research assistant at the Bureau of Child Research, works with autistic children. She said the center would make a great addition to the University.
“There has been great progress in assessment and intervention for autism, but there’s also a large amount of misinformation out there,” Poore said.
Poore went on to say that many parents of autistic children are confused about what’s best for their child.
“I think KU recognizes this, and as a top research university, understands the need for creating a center which brings numerous top-notch scientists and autism specialists together to address the need for solid research on a disorder that affects so many people,” she said.
The group will present itself and its plans in a discussion entitled “Considering Autism: KU Life Span Institute Community Conversations” at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 25 in Regnier Hall at the Edwards Campus in Overland Park.
— Edited by Rachel Bock
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