Transformative Care for Kids

More children with autism in Western New York now have access to highly effective, evidence-based clinical interventions, thanks to the move of the Institute for Autism Research (IAR) into an expanded location at the University at Buffalo.

The move, made possible by a $450,000 grant from The Children’s Guild Foundation and support from the university, brings the nationally regarded institute into the Department of Pediatrics in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB.

The grant allows the IAR to establish needs-based tuition fees so that it can serve a larger and more diverse population. Funds will also support the training and hiring of student intern clinicians and staff.

The institute is located on UB’s South Campus and integrated with The Children’s Guild Foundation Autism Spectrum Disorder Center. Jointly operated by Kaleida Health and UB, the center is the only entity in Western New York that offers access to a wide range of specialists working collaboratively to provide comprehensive care tailored to each child’s individual needs. Housed within Golisano Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, it also offers direct access to hospital-based services and support resources when needed.

Established at Canisius University in 2009, the IAR is an interdisciplinary research-based center focused on enhancing the lives of children with autism and their families through a range of social skills programs grounded in the institute’s rigorous research.

“If we are asking families to invest their time in something, we want to make sure it works,” says Marcus Thomeer, co-founder and co-director of the IAR with Christopher Lopata; both joined UB as professors of pediatrics.

The IAR is one of the few centers in the nation that offers evidence-based programs that can be implemented in different settings, such as in school, after school, during the summer or at home. Its programs support children’s social interactions through development of social skills, face and emotion recognition, and understanding of non-literal language.

Over the course of their work together, Thomeer and Lopata have received $11 million in research funding and helped improve the social, behavioral and educational outcomes of more than 1,400 children and their families. The institute’s federally funded randomized clinical trials have demonstrated that children in their programs exhibit immediate gains in social performance and behaviors, and they maintain those gains for as long as five years.

“We have spent many years researching instructional techniques and identifying skills that support the social development of autistic children,” Lopata says. “Our programs are the product of what we’ve discovered works.”