GWIPP Research: Roy Grinker

This page features research funded through GWIPP and performed by Roy Grinker.

Title: Heterogeneity in Autism

Funding: Florida State University, National Science Foundation

Researcher(s): Roy Grinker

Start Date: October 2009

Status: Completed

Category: Social Policy

Summary: There is a pressing need to improve early detection of ASD so that families can access intensive, appropriate intervention services as early as possible. However, studies indicate that important racial and ethnic disparities exist in the identification and diagnosis of children with ASD in the US, which impact access to services. Very little research is available on ASD from developing countries. This research investigation is a foundational study of early social communication markers of ASD in children from two diverse cultures from two different countries - Latino immigrants in Southeastern US and the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province of South Africa. Children in this study range from 18 to 36 months of age. This study will use an observational case-control research design to compare early behavioral markers of ASD in 15 children who end up with a confirmed diagnosis of ASD from a predominantly Latino immigrant population in the southeastern US (ASD-US1), 15 young African children from KZN who end up with a clinical diagnosis of ASD (ASD-Africa), and matched control children who have been diagnosed with ASD by the FIRST WORDS Project (ASD-US2). The three groups of children with ASD will be compared to groups of typically developing (TD) children from each site (TD-US1, TD-Africa, TD-US2).