Autism Speaks is an organization that has merged with the National Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR) in 2006. This is the worlds largest autism advocacy organization. They have also merged with Cure Autism Now (CAN).
Autism Speaks is a wonderful organization that has provided 20 million dollars toward autism research in four categories in the year 2006. These categories are 1) Pilot Study Awards, 2) Augmentation Awards, 3) Fellowship Awards, and 4) Bridge Awards. These awards were given for the first time ever for early treatment research for autism. There is also a grant funding the development of the Interactive Autism Network (IAN) Community Project which is scheduled to launch this year.
Less than ten years ago, autism was not diagnosed until the age of 3 or 4, but now through the research and funding by Autism Speaks, the Baby Siblings project was developed. Now children can be diagnosed routinely from 18 months to 24 months of age. There are so many benefits to early diagnosis, and Autism Speaks has made this available.
The most important research that has been done by Autism Speaks is the Autism Tissue Program (ATP). These research projects use post-mortem tissue, reporting changes seen in the cell number found in a particular region of the autistic brain, which may be contributing to the behavior dysfunction as well as the processing of emotion and fear.
Scientists at Yale University have been funded by Autism Speaks, finding that autistic children fail to focus on social cues seen given in facial expression. The research has discovered that the part of the brain that we use for facial recognition is not stimulated when he sees another face.
There is a Autism Genome Project that is funded by Autism Speaks that has gathered nearly 170 leading researchers throughout the world to conduct the largest study in finding genes that are associated with Autism. The first phase of the project was to identify genomes that may be harboring susceptible genes. This has been completed and published in Nature Genetics, which the worlds' largest and mos prestigious publication in research.
Autism Speaks is the catalyst for major research and bring autism awareness to the front. They are working toward the cure and providing the us with hope.
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