Our Studies
About Our Studies
Our studies focus on finding effective and equitable approaches to early identification and intervention.
These approaches are based on family-centered, neurodiversity-affirming, and culturally-responsive principles.
We are funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the Department of Education — Institute of Education Sciences (IES). We are currently conducting several federally-funded research grants and other student-initiated research projects.
Why Participate in a Study
Help us improve the early intervention system and evaluate different support for children and families.
Our motto is: “families first, data second.” That means we listen to your experiences and prioritize your needs. Participating in our research studies provides:
Receive additional supports and services:
For families: free additional services for your child and your family
Help other people like you (other families, children, and clinicians) by:
Finding effective approaches to early identification and intervention
Supporting the use of these approaches in community settings
Why Participate in a Study
We work together to design practical approaches that recognize the competing demands of life.
We will give you all the information you need to make an informed decision about whether or not participating is right for you! We try to make participation in our research studies as easy as possible.
Flexible scheduling
Payment for completing research activities
Materials needed to participate
Respect for your time and effort
Ongoing Research
Explore Current Studies
Advancing Autism Diagnosis
The Reduce The Wait Project
The Reduce the Wait project is a federally funded research study that will provide autism evaluations to over 1,000 children enrolled in the Illinois Early Intervention (EI) program.
Our goal is to find new and quicker ways to diagnose autism in young children. We want to make the autism diagnostic process efficient, accurate, and supportive for families of children enrolled in EI.
Supporting Communication & Behavior
Sequencing Methods for Autism: A Randomized Trial (SMART)
This project examines how caregivers can learn social communication strategies, behavior regulation strategies or both sets of strategies to support autistic toddlers’ communication and behavior.
PCORI Engagement Award
Engaging autistic adults & caregivers to improve PCOR/CER research in autism intervention research
We have partnered with Dr. Morénike Giwa Onaiwu and an advisory board of 12 autistic adults and (autistic and allistic) caregivers of autistic children to create tools that researchers and the autistic/autism communities can use to co-design early childhood autism research that prioritizes the needs of autistic people and their families.
Explore Our Work
New Publications
The Role of Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions in Early Intervention for Autistic Toddlers: An Observational Study
This study aimed to characterize the extent to which EI speech-language pathologists (SLPs) use NDBI strategies, and the range of skills and behaviors addressed during their EI sessions, to...
Involving Caregivers of Autistic Toddlers in Early Intervention: Common Practice or Exception to the Norm?
Family-centered practice (FCP) is a core component of early intervention (EI) associated with improved child and family outcomes, but little is known about community-based speech-language...
Advances in Early Communication and Language Intervention
Learning to communicate using speech and language is a primary developmental task for young children. Delays in the acquisition of language are one of the earliest indicators of developmental...