KU Autism Conference Returns to Edwards Campus March 14
Autistic individuals and their families will join researchers, educators, clinicians, professionals and students at the 2025 Autism Across the Life Span conference on March 14 at the Edwards campus of the University of Kansas in Overland Park, Kan.
The one-day conference, presented every other year by the Kansas Center for Autism Research and Training (KCART), fosters connections between the scientific community and stakeholders in autism research such as autistic individuals, families and professionals. KCART, a part of the KU Life Span Institute, is a multidisciplinary center that conducts research, trains professionals and families, and connects autistic individuals and their families with clinical, educational, and community resources.
Registration for the conference is $75 for autistic self-advocates and family members; $50 for students; and $150 for professionals.
Sean Swindler, director of community program development and evaluation at KCART, said supporting autistic individuals and their families requires support from the entire community.
“Autism Across the Life Span is an opportunity for all members of the autism community to come together and learn from one another,” Swindler said. “Shared knowledge is an opportunity to change our community as a whole to better support autistic persons and their families.”
Swindler said organizers hope to build upon the record number of 200 participants that attended the 2023 conference. This year, 16 breakout sessions will cover topics ranging from self-care for caregivers, neurodiversity in the workplace, alternatives to guardianship, and eating behaviors, among others.
Swindler said the format of the conference has been popular with participants throughout its history.
“We have many people who attend our conference every time it is offered and provide feedback on how a keynote, or an individual session gave someone a piece of information that made a difference in their lives,” Swindler said. “For some people it is their one chance to learn more about autism and make important connections.”
Keynote speakers for 2025 are Steve Kanne, professor of Psychology in Clinical Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College and director of the Center for Autism and the Developing Brain, and Kristin Sohl, M.D., a distinguished pediatrician and professor of Pediatrics at the University of Missouri, and founder and executive director of ECHO Autism Communities.