Recruitment for this study is closed. However, if you are interested in participation, we have other current studies examining factors related to the transition to adulthood for youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their parents. Also, keep an eye out for future follow-ups to this study! If you are interested in being in the research community but do not want to participate at this time, we will contact you at later times for participation.
Charting the Course of Autism in Adulthood (CCAA): A Longitudinal Study on Employment and Educational Instability for Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder
The Transitions Lab in the Department of General Pediatrics is looking for young adults with an Autism Spectrum diagnosis who are interested in participating in a study about how life unfolds in early adulthood. The goal of the study is to understand which services, supports, and experiences are helpful in promoting employment and community participation for adults on the autism spectrum.
You may be a good fit for our study if you:
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- Have an Autism spectrum diagnosis
- Are 18 to 35 years old
- Have fluent language
- Are not in high school or receiving services through the high school system (e.g. in a transitions program).
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For more information, please contact Eman Durrani of the Transitions Lab via phone or email (615-241-0107, eman.durrani@vumc.org, or transitions@vumc.org).
You may also submit your information here and a staff member will contact you: https://redcap.link/CCAA
**To learn more about this study, please watch our informational video by clicking HERE, or by copying the following into your web browser: https://www.vumc.org/transitionslab/charting-course-autism-adulthood
Daily experiences and mental health study
Youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience extremely high rates of depression. However, few studies have investigated how depressive symptoms in this population relate to daily life experiences. This study aims to test the associations between depressive symptoms and various educational, vocational, and social experiences among youth with ASD. We want to explore the connection between mental health and various types of everyday experiences, such as feeling included at school, the level of engagement at work, and the types of people someone spends time with most. We will recruit 250 young adults with ASD and their parents from the Simons Simplex Collection (SSC) at the Interactive Autism Network registry (a national registry of well-characterized children and youth with ASD) and collect data using survey, interview, and experiential sampling methods. We also want to examine how other factors, like adaptive behavior and core ASD symptoms, play a role in the relationship between everyday life experiences and depressive symptoms. Completing the study aims will provide critical, specific, and actionable information to address the treatment barriers for depressed youth with ASD.
Potential participants from the SSC can find more information about this study HERE.
Language development in Fragile X syndrome study
Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the leading genetic cause of intellectual disability, resulting from a mutation in the FMR1 gene on the X chromosome. Language impairments are common among individuals with FXS. These language impairments can impact reading, learning, social interaction, and life skills.
In this study, we will focus on language development during transition from high school into adulthood, examining the experiences of individuals with FXS in contexts that require and promote independence. We will also evaluate pragmatics and literacy, which are challenging areas for individuals with FXS.
The project has four goals:
(1) Describe the development of language, literacy, and the capacity for independent functioning in FXS during the transition into adulthood. We will use a variety of measurement strategies and paint the most holistic picture to date of the transition to adulthood for FXS.
(2) Evaluate for the first time the two-way relationships between the independent functioning and language and literacy.
(3) Examine variations of language and literacy within the FXS population and which factors contribute to these differences.
(4) Identify sex differences in language, literacy, and the capacity for independent functioning, which are areas that have not yet been researched in the adult transition years.
Participants will enroll in the project in their last year of high school. They will complete 4 visits of the course of 3 years: two at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and two at home. Travel costs will be reimbursed.
To participate, please call 615-322-2943 or email us at transitions@vumc.org!
Employment and Educational Instability for Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Difficulties in employment and postsecondary education (PSE) among young adults with ASD are nearly universal. In response, interventions have been developed that target finding a job or gaining acceptance to a PSE program. However, getting a job or into a program is only the start — our work suggests that maintaining a job or PSE enrollment is more difficult than obtaining. The factors that influence how long an individual can keep a job or stay in an educational program (e.g., family climate, community size) are different from the factors that play a role in how someone starts a job or program (e.g., verbal skills, how well someone adapts to their environment). New interventions are needed that focus on maintaining employment or PSE. Yet the previous studies are limited in their ability to inform the development of these necessary interventions due to issues such as small sample sizes, finding how to address a group of people with such diverse skills and abilities, and not enough data to test hypotheses about job/educational instability. Our study’s primary goal is to thoroughly evaluate the factors that lead to and consequences that results from job and educational instability.
In studying the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of those on the individuals on the autism spectrum between the ages of 18 – 35, we aim to examine how these relate to the life course of these 200 participants over a period of years. The individual with ASD and (if possible) a family member or partner would each complete online questionnaire, as well as an online interview that should take about 2 hours. The total time to complete the interview and questionnaires is estimated to be between 3 – 5 hours. We will then follow up with participants 6 more times over the course of about 4 years. 3 of those times being brief check-ins with the participant with ASD, and the other half being longer interviews with that person and, if available, their study partner. Participants can each earn up to $275.
Interested participants will be scheduled for a brief phone screen (15-20 minutes) to confirm their fit for the study and to answer any additional questions. For more information, please contact our research coordinator, Florencia Pezzimenti, of the Transitions Lab via phone 615-322-2943 or email transitions@vumc.org. We are looking forward to hearing from you!