|
| Doreen Granpeesheh Speaker Series for the Interdisciplinary Approach to the Treatment of Autism: Toward ABA Leadership in the Science of Profound Autism: Challenges and Opportunities |
| Saturday, May 24, 2025 |
| 10:00 AM–10:50 AM |
| Marriott Marquis, M2 Level, Marquis Salon 1-5 |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Service Delivery |
| Chair: Doreen Granpeesheh (Center for Autism and Related Disorders) |
| CE Instructor: Doreen Granpeesheh, Ph.D. |
| Presenting Author: AMI KLIN (Marcus Autism Center; Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta; Emory University School
of Medicine) |
| Abstract: Children, adolescents and adults with autism accompanied by moderate to profound intellectual disabilities, or “profound autism”, have been severely under-represented in autism research and science. In response, federal and private grant-making agencies are now prioritizing this community, with a focus on clinical genetics/genomics, neuroscience and clinical trials. For decades, ABA science and practice have been at the forefront of clinical services for individuals with profound autism. Unfortunately, the new aspired science and the longstanding ABA expertise and achievements are disconnected, each depriving the other of the mutual benefits that could result from greater collaborations and synergies. ABA has always been the science of directly observable behavior. And yet, integration of root causes (e.g., genetics/genomics, neuroscience, contextual stressors), developmental factors (e.g., early brain development and how autism emerges over time), and biomarker-based measurements (e.g., objective and quantitative assays of a child’s clinical state and skills) have the potential of making ABA treatments more effective, less costly, more sustainable, and more accessible. While the new science of profound autism will fail to achieve clinical impact without the ABA community, the ABA community will not lead this revolution if it does not allow for evolution of its concepts, measurement methods, and models of training and clinical practice. In the absence of this dialogue, the major victims will be the families we all serve. |
| Instruction Level: Basic |
| Target Audience: ABA practitioners |
Learning Objectives: 1. Participants will recognize the early symptoms of autism, the foundations of early identification, diagnosis and treatment, their potential to optimize lifetime outcomes, the real-world crisis in access to these services, and the consequences thereof in fueling stark healthcare disparities.
2. Participants will learn about new advances capitalizing on eye-tracking research of early social development to generate cost-effective and community-viable solutions to increase access to early detection and diagnosis, and to reduce clinician burden in measurement and documentation of positive treatment response necessary for authorization and re-authorization of services.
3. Participants will learn about EarliPoint, an objective, standardized, quantitative, and cost-effective tool for the early diagnosis and assessment of autism, including the clinical validation data that led to its FDA clearance for broad use in the community, and its potential for making diagnostics and treatment services more efficient, accessible and sustainable, while maintaining high quality of services. |
| |
| AMI KLIN (Marcus Autism Center; Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta; Emory University School
of Medicine) |
 Ami Klin, Ph.D. is the Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar, The Bernie Marcus Distinguished Chair
in Autism, Professor and Chief of the Division of Autism and Developmental Health at Emory University
School of Medicine, and Director of the Marcus Autism Center, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. He
obtained his Ph.D. from the University of London (Medical Research Council, Cognitive Development
Unit), and completed clinical and research post-doctoral fellowships at the Yale Scholl of Medicine. He
directed the Autism Program at the Yale Child Study Center until 2010, where he was the Harris Professor
of Child Psychology & Psychiatry. The Marcus Autism Center is one of the largest centers of clinical care
for children with autism and their families in the country, providing a broad range of diagnostic and
treatment services, and it is also a large program of science, with research ranging from
genetics/genomics and developmental social neuroscience, to clinical trials and implementation science.
Dr. Klin’s primary research activities focus on social mind and social brain, and on developmental aspects
of autism from infancy through adulthood. He is the author of over 250 publications in the field of autism
and related conditions. |
|
| |