Overview
The Shaffer Lab is dedicated to gaining a better understanding of neurobehavioral conditions and partnering with families to improve the daily lives of those impacted, particularly in the area of emotion dysregulation.
The Shaffer Lab is dedicated to gaining a better understanding of neurobehavioral conditions and partnering with families to improve the daily lives of those impacted, particularly in the area of emotion dysregulation.
We are examining how well a group intervention works for treating emotion dysregulation in autistic youth. Children ages 8-12 and their caregivers will participate in a group treatment program, either for emotion dysregulation or for study skills, and attend several study visits before and after the group intervention.
Project Details
This study is a partnership with Lockland School District as well as Rockdale Academy Elementary School and Autism and WE, a local support group for African American families who have an autistic child. The study will include community activities, educational sessions, family nights out and finally a day camp. Participants will also complete a saliva sample and be enrolled in the SPARK study (see below).
SPARK (Simons Foundation Powering Autism Research for Knowledge) is a national autism research study designed to speed up research and advance our understanding of autism to help improve the lives of autistic individuals. This study is funded through the Simons Foundation and we have been a site for the past 6 years.
This study will examine an early intervention platform that is completely virtual- from recruitment to treatment- and its effectiveness at improving outcomes for toddlers with ASD. This platform, Early Social Interaction Mobil Coaching deploys individual telehealth sessions with coaching and feedback in conjunction with online tools and resources.
This study will measure small molecules in saliva which may help us to learn more about autism and our ability to diagnose it at an earlier age.
PATH is focused on understanding underlying causes of autism through genetics and metabolomics. Your family’s participation in PATH will help researchers make new discoveries and that could lead to personalized healthcare and improved quality of life. This study is funded by Autism Speaks.