Targeted Condition: Autism Spectrum Disorder

Workforce for Student Well-being Initiative (WSW)

In 2023, Washington state was awarded $6 million from the U.S. Department of Education to create a pipeline from Washington state’s five accredited Masters in Social Work training programs to K-12 schools. Called the Workforce for Student Well-being Initiative (WSW), 100 aspiring school social workers will receive conditional scholarships based on their financial need so the cost of getting an education is not a barrier to their getting an advanced degree and then committing to working in a high-need public or tribal school. The goal of the WSW is to help all K-12 students in Washington to thrive by advancing the careers of skilled school social work professionals through training and mentorship.

Global Health Experiential Fellowship

The Global Health Experiential Fellowship (GHEF) is a Global South–North simultaneous training program that prepares students and early-career professionals to become global health researchers. Based in rural Uganda, the fellowship offers immersive, mentored experience in study design, data collection, implementation science, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Fellows contribute to ongoing community-based research alongside local partners, gaining practical skills in ethical engagement, cross-cultural research, and field-based methods. GHEF provides a distinctive opportunity to build research capacity, strengthen career development, and contribute to locally led global health initiatives through Empower Through Health.

Empower Through Health

Empower Through Health (ETH) is a healthcare, research, and education 501c3 organization operating in rural eastern Uganda. ETH runs a health center that provides general medical care for surrounding communities and delivers psychiatric and neurological services across Buyende District (population >400,000). ETH’s research focuses on reducing demand-side barriers to care and partnering with existing community structures to improve mental health outcomes and support recovery after mental health crises. ETH hosts the Global Health Experiential Fellowship (GHEF), a hands-on training program that pairs Ugandan and U.S. trainees on community-engaged research. ETH is also expanding its education mission by launching a primary school to strengthen long-term community wellbeing.

School-Based Paraeducator Education for Engagement at Recess (SPEER)

The purpose of this study is to compare two implementation strategies for a social engagement intervention that supports autistic children and their non-autistic peers during recess. Remaking Recess has been shown to improve peer engagement for autistic students when implemented by paraeducators during recess. However, without supports, paraeducators face barriers to implementing the intervention well. This study compares paraeducators’ use of Remaking Recess when they receive coaching alone and when they receive coaching along with consultation from school-based teams.

Systematic redesign of an autism community implementation toolkit for schools

The aims of the current project are to: 1) Engage stakeholders to identify targets for ACT SMART redesign to optimize its fit for middle and high school providers who serve autistic adolescents; 2) Conduct prototyping and usability field testing of the redesigned ACT SMART and iteratively refine to ensure usability, feasibility, acceptability, and appropriateness for use in schools.

CARR: Covid-Association Risk and Resilience

The CARR study explores trajectories of mental health and social-emotional wellbeing among youth, including those with autism, ADHD, and/or anxiety. Online assessments of social-emotional features from both youth and caregiver perspective take place every 6 months over a 2-year period, with the goal of understanding mental health in the context of the Covid pandemic.

SPARK

SPARK is an autism research study and a growing community of autistic individuals, their families, and researchers with a goal to advance the understanding of autism. This study aims to improve the lives of people with autism by identifying the causes of autism and informing more effective therapies, treatments, services, and supports.

G2MH: Genes to Mental Health

This study is looking at individuals who carry a rare gene event and their biological family members, with the the goal of exploring the differences between individuals with one of these gene events and their biological family members.

TIGER: The Investigation of Genetic Exome Research

In the TIGER research study, we are learning more about individuals with genetic events associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), intellectual disability (ID), and/or developmental delay (DD) in order to better describe how different gene disruptions impact behavior in children and adults.