Research Studies
Thank you for your interest in our research. We are a research laboratory located on the campus of the University of California San Diego in La Jolla, CA. The principal investigator of the autism laboratory is Dr. Laura Schreibman, who has been investigating Autistic Disorder
at UC San Diego for the past 17 years. Her research is currently supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health and a research grant funded by the Autism Society of America. In addition to our grant research, Dr. Schreibman’s graduate students develop and conduct individual research projects. We are always looking for parents who are interested in having their children participate in research projects.
All treatment is provided at no cost. The following is a description of each of the projects currently being conducted by our researchers. Below each project you will find a contact name of the director of that project. Please email or call the director of the study that interests you. All directors can be contacted through the Research laboratory phone (858) 534-6144.
NIMH Research Study
The goal of this investigation is to train parents to increase communication skills in their young children with autism. Interventions are based on the principles of behavior modification and are documented as effective in the research literature. Parents will also learn techniques to manage their children’s difficult behaviors. The intervention will involve coming to our lab for parent training (both parent and child) twice a week for two hours, and 10 hours a week of in-home clinician-delivered treatment for your child. The intervention, including assessments, will last approximately 4 months.
Enrollment is closed for this study.
Contact Becky Gutierrez
bgutierrez@psy.ucsd.edu
Infant Sibling Study
We are currently seeking 1-month old to 18-month old infant siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders for participation in a series of behavioral and/or EEG studies of social and communicative development through 36-months of age. All of the assessments are safe, non-invasive measures that we have used in previous studies in our laboratory to test infants in the general population. The assessments are carefully designed to assess specific brain and behavioral systems either known or strongly believed to be impaired in children with autism.
The goal of this research program is to better understand brain and behavioral development in autism, and to contribute to the development of assessment and treatment strategies for the disorders in early infancy in the future.
If your infant is 1 month to 18 months of age and has a sibling who is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, you live in the San Diego area, and you are interested in participating in this study, please contact our project coordinator.
Contact Joe McCleery
jmccleery@psy.ucsd.edu
Check out this
Link!
Receptive Language Training Study
The focus of this research study is to examine how
children with autism learn to understand the meanings of words and how their brain processes words they do and do not know. Children are asked to come to the laboratory for 10-12 one-hour visits over the course of approximately five weeks. Children will participate in
several computer-based receptive
language training visits with
behavioral and brainwave assessments administered before and after the
training.
To participate, children must:
-Have a diagnosis, or provisional diagnosis, autism/PDD-NOS
-Be between 18 months and 4 years of age
-Not have severe oral motor or hearing abnormalities
-Meet other inclusionary criteria
Contact Mikaela Kinnear
mkinnear@ucsd.edu
(858) 822-2729
Social Initiation Study
The goal of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of social initiation training in addition to Pivotal Response Training (PRT). Children will receive naturalistic behavioral treatment sessions targeting language, play and social skills. In addition, child participants will receive diagnostic and cognitive assessments before and after treatment. This project will involve coming to the laboratory 3 days a week for 2 hours.
To participate, children must:
-Have a diagnosis of autism
-Have fewer than 20 words
-Not have PECS training
-Not have seizure disorder
Contact Marie Rocha
mrocha@ucsd.edu
Pivotal Response Training in the Classroom
Pivotal Response Training (PRT) is a research supported naturalistic therapy. Therapists, parents, and teachers using PRT for children with autism have been successful in increasing their language ability, social skills, and play skills. The goal of this study is to determine how PRT is currently used in classrooms and how we can more effectively train teachers to implement PRT. This study may be of interest to you or a teacher you know.
To participate, you must:
-Teach full or part time in a special education classroom.
-Have no training in PRT
-Have at least 3 students with a diagnosis of autism
Contact Jessica Suhrheinrich
jsuhrhei@ucsd.edu
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