Research News

April 2012 marks the fifth anniversary of the IAN Project -- www.ianproject.org -- which has connected tens of thousands of individuals on the autism spectrum and their families with researchers nationwide to accelerate the pace of autism research.

BALTIMORE, Md. -- The first prospective study of ethnic differences in the symptoms of autism in toddlers shows that children from a minority background have more delayed language, communication and gross motor skills than Caucasian children with the disorder. Researchers at the Kennedy Krieger Institute concluded that subtle developmental delays may be going unaddressed in minority toddlers until more severe symptoms develop.

Kennedy Krieger Institute researchers have published the first study of ethnic differences in the presentation of early symptoms of autism in toddlers, and the results show that children from a minority background have more delayed language, communication and gross motor skills than Caucasian children with the disorder. Drs.

(Baltimore, MD) -- Learning from one's mistakes may be better than practicing to perfection, according to a new study appearing in the October 19 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. Researchers from the Kennedy Krieger Institute found that forcing people to switch from a normal walking pattern to an unusual one -- and back again -- made them better able to adjust to the unusual pattern the following day. The findings may help improve therapy for people relearning how to walk following stroke or other injury.

(Baltimore, MD) -- At a time when profound gaps remain in our understanding of how one person’s genes differ from another person’s , developing accurate methods to interpret the human genome is essential to uncover population history, population relationships and the genetic basis of some of the most common diseases affecting society.

(Baltimore, MD) -- Today, the Interactive Autism Network (IAN Project) launches a national survey to study the impact of bullying on children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Bullying, a pervasive problem among youth, has attracted the national spotlight in recent months because of the lasting, and sometimes tragic, effects on children and teenagers across the country.

October 4, 2011 (Baltimore, MD) -- New findings from a 16-year study confirm that the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the gold-standard for the classification of mental health conditions, can be used to accurately identify autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in children with Down syndrome, according to research from Kennedy Krieger Institute.