News
Staff Share Systems of Support for Employment and Transition with Disability Caucus
Staff from the KU Life Span Institute joined dozens of individuals with disabilities, advocates and professionals from across the state Aug. 10-12 at the Kansas Disability Caucus in Topeka, Kan. ...
Mosconi to Co-Chair Annual Meeting of International Society for Autism Research
Matt Mosconi, interim associate director and senior scientist at the KU Life Span Institute, has been selected to help lead the scientific program for the International Society for Autism Research, or INSAR, over the next two years. ...
REDCap Reports With Longitudinal Data
KU Life Span Institute Finance Administrator Named Haskell Board of Regents President
Brittany Hall, a staff member at the KU Life Span Institute, has been elected president of the National Board of Regents of Haskell Indian Nations University. ...
Understanding survey bots and tools for data validation: Strategies for identifying possibly fraudulent responses
If you plan to have an open research survey that you distribute through email lists or social media, especially if you indicate that you will be compensating your survey subjects, you should expect to have your survey completed by “bots” and should plan accordingly. This post will try to address...
KU Center Director, Interim Liberal Arts Dean Receives Research Award from International Congress on Infant Studies
Missouri Scientist to Discuss Overdose Crisis, Need to Improve Addiction Treatment Systems, Policies
LAWRENCE — Longtime disinvestment in health and social supports, roadblocks to treatment, historical trauma and the addition of fentanyl to the drug supply have combined to put Black communities at great risk for drug overdoses and deaths. In St. Louis, Black residents have the highest rates of drug-involved deaths of...
KU Autism Conference to Feature Research for Families, Professionals, Educators
The Kansas Center for Autism Research and Treatment will host the conference Autism Across the Life Span on April 8 at the KU Edwards Campus BEST Building. ...
New Research Pinpoints Promising Gene Target Specific Language Impairment
LAWRENCE — A study from the University of Kansas recently published in the peer-reviewed journal Brain Sciences identifies a new gene target related to Specific Language Impairment (SLI). ...
James Thompson Receives Fulbright Specialist Award to Portugal
James Thompson, professor of special education at the University of Kansas, has received a Fulbright Specialist Award to lead a series of plenary presentations and workshops in Portugal this semester. ...
New members welcomed at SWIFT Education Center
In the last year, SWIFT Education Center welcomed more new staff members to their team. The expanded team will help the Center bring an equity-based, multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) to school districts across the country. ...
Project Now Housed at KU Adds to 60 Years of Intellectual and Developmental Disability Research at the University
One of only three federally funded longitudinal data projects of national significance that collects and analyzes how public funds are expended on services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities has moved to the University of Kansas, building on 60 years of work in the field at KU. ...
KU Lands Grants to Work with Families, Communities to Improve Transition for Individuals with Disabilities
The University of Kansas has secured a pair of grants that will enable researchers to partner with community leaders, self-advocates with disabilities, and families to help improve the transition of young people with disabilities from school to vocational training, higher education, and careers. ...
International Report on Autism Offers Comprehensive Model of Autism Care
KU-Led National Health Project Awarded $600,000 Grant to Study Experiences of People with Disabilities Affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic
Autism Research That Relies On Preschool Peers Receives Grant To Study Predictive Factors For Communication Development
KU collaborative project that will evaluate method to help children’s literacy skills awarded $3.5 million
LAWRENCE – A national team that includes researchers from the University of Kansas has launched a five-year, $3.5 million project to study the efficacy of a language and comprehension program for elementary-age children. ...
Honoring a Life: Family Hopes Sharing Story and Establishing Research Fund Will Reduce Stigma of Addiction
Juniper Gardens Children's Project Enrolling Preschoolers with Autism for a Research Study
Partnership aims to improve student achievement in Washington, DC, area schools
By focusing on improving the experiences of students with disabilities in Washington, D.C., schools, a University of Kansas center dedicated to improving equity and justice in education will partner with the District of Columbia Office of State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) for a $3 million, five-year program to help educators...
KU researcher to test community-based method to help adolescents with autism take lead in education, careers
Research has shown that when students with disabilities shape their own learning, career and life goals, they attain higher levels of achievement than when following routine curriculum and plans. A University of Kansas researcher has earned a grant to test an evidenced-based intervention designed to enhance self-determination in community-based settings...
Study shows differences in rapidly processing sensory feedback among people with autism spectrum disorder
Sensorimotor issues aren’t well understood in people with autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, yet they are important because they can be observed before social and communication indicators for the disorder, and they can predict worse functional outcomes. Such skills can impact everything from handwriting to zipping up a coat to...
Study shows food choices at an 'all-you-can-eat' buffet tied to likelihood for weight gain
Researcher Begins Trial on How LGBTQ Individuals Experience SMART Recovery Substance Use Program
Sexual and gender minority individuals experience alcohol and substance use disorders at rates much higher than their peers, yet little is known about how treatment and recovery programs work for them. A University of Kansas researcher is leading a study to better understand how members of the LGBTQ community experience...
Participants Sought for App Study
The Health Behavior and Technology Lab at the University of Kansas is conducting a research study on eating experiences of individuals using a mobile app called SmartIntakeQnA. ...
KU researchers receive $2.4 million grant to increase access to and evaluate online interventions for autism spectrum disorder
As the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered schools and forced many children with autism spectrum disorder to be schooled at home, professionals and families became concerned that children with disabilities might not be receiving adequate and specialized instruction because teachers had limited time or resources needed to support all children and parents. ...
Objectivity with Heart: A Conversation with Investigator Nancy Brady
Nancy Brady, Professor and Chair in the Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences and Disorders at the University of Kansas and a researcher at the Life Span Institute, applies her interest in communication to her research focused on clinical practices that benefit individuals who have intellectual and developmental disabilities. ...
University of Kansas Autism Researcher Invited to Advise Sesame Workshop
Brian Boyd, director of the Juniper Gardens Children’s Project at the KU Life Span Institute, was invited by Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind Sesame Street, to join an advisory meeting on May 18th to discuss recommendations for new resources for Sesame Street and Autism: See Amazing in All Children. ...
KU's Project WRITE Helps Struggling Learners Improve Writing Skills
A new body of research from the University of Kansas has found that a new program is highly effective at helping teachers use technology to improve the writing skills of students, especially those with disabilities, as well as save educators time and give them new tools to assess learners’ progress. ...
Practitioners, Families, Students and Researchers Invited to 2021 KU Autism Conference
LAWRENCE - The Kansas Center for Autism Research and Training, part of the University of Kansas Life Span Institute, will host the conference Autism Across the Life Span on April 23. ...