The Autism Research Institute's Accomplishments in 2009

View ARI's Accomplishments in 2008
View ARI's Accomplishments in 2007

The Autism Research Institute (ARI) has a 42-year track record of leadership in the autism field. We provide families and professionals with the information they need to make informed choices to help their children. ARI accomplishes these goals by conducting and sponsoring cutting-edge research and disseminating these findings. As you consider your options for giving this year, I would like to share our accomplishments:Perhaps the most significant and pressing news the autism community received this year was the release of a national survey, sponsored by the Health Resources and Services Administration and the Centers for Disease Control, revealing that 1 in 91 children between the ages of 2 and 17 are affected with autism. When you add these new facts to the realities of our weak economy, you understand why meeting the needs of families and their loved ones on the spectrum has become more urgent than ever.

Outreach

This year parents and professionals had three ways to contact ARI, always reaching a live person for information and support. We sponsor two toll-free call centers, one for English speakers (866.366.3361) and one for Spanish speakers (877.644.1184, ext. 5). Callers can also reach ARI directly (619.281.7165).
ARI continued to moderate its popular Yahoo Internet discussion group for parents.
We maintained our rural outreach program, sending ARI representatives to the country’s more remote regions to meet directly with parents, doctors, teachers, and local government officials.
Each year ARI hosts two major conferences. This year they were held in Dallas, Texas and Atlanta, Georgia. We held two smaller regional conferences, in St. Paul, Minnesota, and in Oklahoma City.
Over 500 professionals attended our clinician seminars and workshops in 2009.
We launched a two-day training program for nutritionists and dietitians.
We oversaw translation of many of our key publications into 15 languages, among them Spanish, French, Japanese, Italian, Chinese, Armenian, Hindi, Turkish, and Arabic.

Research

In the area of research, ARI awarded over $500,000 in grants to scientists whose work will have a direct impact on the lives of those on the autism spectrum. As Dr. Bernard Rimland, founder and former director of ARI, said: “ARI funds research that makes a difference.”
We sponsored two think tanks this year, each attended by approximately 60 researchers and experienced medical clinicians. In order to make meaningful progress in the field, ARI feels it
is critical for scientists and physicians who work directly with people on the spectrum to come together in regular, collegial dialogue.
This dialogue was also supported by ARI’s ongoing internet discussion group for researchers
and clinicians.
Additionally, we helped fund and promote a tissue bank for the National Institute of Child Health
and Human Development at the University of Maryland. More recently, ARI began funding a
second tissue initiative, the Digestive Function Laboratory Repository at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
At the American Society for Neurochemistry, ARI sponsored an Autism Colloquium on oxidative stress.
We also continued to publish our quarterly newsletter, Autism Research Review International (ARRI), which summarizes current biomedical and educational research.

Internet

Health Professionals and Organizations
In recent years ARI has focused on establishing formal collaborations with other autism organizations in the United States, including Autism One, the Autism Society of America,Generation Rescue, SafeMinds, Talk About Curing Autism, and Unlocking Autism. By hosting monthly conference-call meetings with executives from each of these organizations, ARI has been the catalyst for collaborations leading to several joint projects.
We have connected with autism organizations in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, and the United Kingdom.
Finally, a few months ago, ARI initiated an adult-residential group that meets monthly by phone to discuss concerns specific to this population. Many more network groups focusing on critical topics in autism are planned for 2010.

The Autism Research Institute's Accomplishments in 2008

View ARI's Accomplishments in 2009
View ARI's Accomplishments in 2007

We awarded $720,000 in 23 grants, for cutting-edge research on causes and on treatments that will help today’s children and adults affected by autism.
ARI published 12 monthly e-newsletters.
ARI published four quarterly issues of the Autism Research Review International, which keeps readers up-to-date on the latest developments in biomedical and educational research.
We developed three new Internet websites: www.autism.mobi (for mobile phone users), www.autism.tv (a portal to videos on recovery and treatment), and www.AutismDiscrimination.com (focuses on discrimination issues in autism).
ARI maintained its Autism Resource Call Center (toll-free, 1-866-366-3361), providing free information, contacts, and support for parents implementing special diets.
ARI established formal written agreements (Memorandums of Understanding) with autism organizations abroad, including certain ones in Australia, Canada, France, Japan, Mexico, and Nigeria, as well as with DAN! Europe. This allows us to share resources and knowledge efficiently.
We continued to work closely with like-minded autism organizations, including Autism One, Generation Rescue, the National Autism Association (NAA), SafeMinds, the Schafer Autism Report, Talk About Curing Autism (TACA), Treating Autism, and Unlocking Autism (see www.autism.org).
Our staff translated numerous articles into a range of fifteen languages.
ARI compiled a list of adverse effects associated with various prescription drugs. This document is posted on www.autism.com.
ARI co-sponsored a gastrointestinal consensus conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts with the Autism Society of America.
ARI co-sponsored, with DAN! Europe, an autism seminar in Palermo, Sicily.
We continued to help sponsor and promote the National Institute for Child and Human Development tissue program at the University of Maryland.
We expanded our rural outreach program into Wyoming and Oklahoma.
ARI subsidized a 41-page review paper on Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, a diagnosis used by doctors to accuse parents (usually wrongly) of fabricating their child’s medical problems.
We developed two new brochures to help parents convey the reasons they use the biomedical approach to treatment (“Why we do biomedical”) and place their child on a restricted diet (“Why my child is on a special diet”).
ARI opened the Edgeware Art Gallery to raise funds to support research on effective treatment.
With help from several parents, ARI sponsored the Puzzle Piece campaign, with a goal to raise one million dollars for research.
ARI was affliliated with research programs at: Arizona State University - Tempe; Autism Treatment Center - Dallas, Texas; Evergreen Center - Portland, Oregon; SUNY at Stonybrook; University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey; and the University of Turin (Italy, Dept. of Gastroenterology)

Defeat Autism Now! – a program of the Autism Research Institute

We put together two Think Tanks, in Cherry Hill, New Jersey and in San Diego, California. The Think Tanks included more than seventy leading researchers and clinicians from around the world.
We sponsored two three-day conferences (Cherry Hill and San Diego). Approximately 2,500 parents and professionals attended, picking up helpful scientific information. The videos from the three-day conferences have been uploaded to ARI’s website, and can be viewed free of charge.
We sponsored clinician-training seminars at our two Defeat Autism Now!! conferences as well as at the Autism Society of America’s national conference in Orlando and the Autism One conference in Chicago. In all, more than 700 practitioners attended.
We started a dialogue with representatives from the American Academy of Pediatrics in order to discuss effective biomedical treatment.
We implemented a new policy for practitioners, defining more stringent requirements for inclusion on ARI’s Defeat Autism Now! Clinician Registry. The requirements will become yet more stringent in 2010.
We continued to sponsor practitioner-to-practitioner conference calls, during which experienced clinicians discuss the Defeat Autism Now! approach with recently trained practitioners.

ARI and DAN! worked hard every day in 2008 to help people with autism spectrum disorders and their families—and we have many plans and more ideas for the coming months and years. ARI relies on the generosity of its donors to continue helping individuals with autism spectrum disorders and to advance autism research. We need and appreciate your support, now more than ever!

*****

View ARI's Accomplishments in 2009
View ARI's Accomplishments in 2008

The Autism Research Institute's Accomplishments in 2007

Under the guidance of new director Dr. Steve Edelson, ARI’s dedicated staff has done an extraordinary job of carrying on Dr. Bernard Rimland’s vision. In the past 12 months, these things have been accomplished with that vision in mind:

ARI awarded more than $650,000 for 18 grants for cutting-edge research on causes and on treatments that will help today’s children and adults affected by autism
ARI began publishing a monthly e-newsletter.
ARI launched its www.Autism.com website with outstanding new content offering an extensive collection of articles and videos covering every aspect of autism for both parents and professionals.
ARI activated the Autism Resource Call Center: 1-866-366-3361 (toll-free), providing free information, contacts, and support for parents implementing special diets.
We signed a formal agreement (Memorandum of Understanding, MOU) to work closely with the Autism Society of America (ASA) at the end of 2006, and this year similar formal agreements were established with several non-profit organizations, including SafeMinds, Generation Rescue, Unlocking Autism, Talk About Curing Autism (TACA), the National Autism Association (NAA), Autism One, the Schafer Autism Report, and Treating Autism. These agreements will create strength in numbers by allowing our organizations to coordinate activities and combine resources in order to better achieve mutual goals.
ARI hired an interpreter to coordinate the translation of many of our papers into French, Spanish, Armenian, Arabic, Italian, Russian, Portuguese, and Japanese; these include “'Leaky Gut' and the Gluten- / Casein-Free Diet,” “What I Would Do If I Were a Parent of An Autistic Child: Recommendations Based on 30 Years of Research Experience,” and “Vitamin B6 (and magnesium) in the treatment of autism.”
ARI entered a partnership with the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development and the University of Maryland to set up a tissue bank that will store extra-cranial tissue. This is crucial because it will facilitate research into the systemic effects of autism—for example, the gut problems that play an integral role in the disorder. ARI provided the necessary equipment and was instrumental in recruiting a medical examiner to participate in the tissue-bank network . We also developed educational materials explaining how human tissue donation offers hope in finding answers to help end the autism epidemic.
We produced a video interview on the Rapid Prompting Method, and produced two interview videos on autism and sexuality (one pertaining to men and one to women). Both videos were uploaded to our website and can be viewed free of charge.
ARI began a collaboration with the Autism Network for Hearing and Visually Impaired Persons, updating their database and recruiting more families and professionals to participate in the network
ARI organized “network parents” from around the country. Collectively, they wrote ARI’s Frequently Asked Questions document, containing more than 60 questions and answers. In addition, they wrote the article, “Finding a Clinician using a Defeat Autism Now! Approach: Questions to Ask.”
ARI devised the model for a Rural Outreach Pilot Project to aid parents in areas with few resources for children with autism spectrum disorders. The first outreach meetings were held in Washington State.
ARI sponsored printing and distribution of an autism awareness handbook developed by the Helping Autism Now Society (HANS), and sent a copy to every pediatrician west of the Mississippi River.
ARI co-sponsored a debate between David Kirby and Arthur Allen on the role of thimerosal in autism, and two talks by Dr. Arthur Krigsman on gastrointestinal issues in autism. These videos were uploaded to ARI’s website within days after the events, and can be viewed online free of charge.
Dr. Edelson, with board member Jane Johnson, met with representatives from the National Institute of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) in an effort to begin a dialogue on supporting biomedical research. Jane also met with NIMH Director Tom Insel, MD and NICHD Director Duane Alexander, MD, two of the lead agencies responsible for autism research, in an effort to promote communication and partnerships with The National Institutes of Health
ARI co-sponsored autism walk fundraisers in Phoenix and Los Angeles
ARI premiered a web-based program that allows parents and professionals to access ARI’s treatment-rating database of more than 25,000 cases. It can help to determine the most appropriate treatment(s) for a particular child. The program is located at www.autism.com.
In addition, Dr. Edelson drove throughout the mid- and north-west to collect documentation on recovered autistic children, and to evaluate them in person. He also visited several autism clinics and met with numerous parents during this six-week field trip. On a separate trip, he drove roundtrip from San Diego to Seattle to meet with “network parents” and to give several lectures.
Dr. Edelson was elected in 2007 to the Autism Society of America’s Board of Directors.

Defeat Autism Now! – a program of the Autism Research Institute

We sponsored two two-day Think Tanks in Alexandria, Virginia and Garden Grove, California The Think Tanks included over 50 leading researchers and clinicians from around the world.
We sponsored two successful three-day conferences (Alexandria, Virginia and Garden Grove, California) and several two-day mini-conferences, including one in Rome, Italy. Approximately 2,600 parents and professionals attended these conferences. The videos from the three-day conferences have been uploaded to ARI’s website.
We sponsored practitioner-training seminars in Alexandria, Virginia; Garden Grove, California; Little Rock, Arkansas; and Jacksonville, Florida. More than 250 practitioners attended.
We developed a new policy for practitioners, defining requirements for inclusion on ARI’s Defeat Autism Now! Clinician Registry. The new Clinician Registry will be posted to ARI’s website on January 3, 2008.
*Representatives from Defeat Autism Now! addressed members of the Institute of Medicine during a workshop on “Autism and the Environment: Challenges and Opportunities,” regarding the potential for partnerships in research and treatment initiatives.
We sponsored several practitioner-to-practitioner conference calls. The aim of this pilot project is to provide better communication between experienced practitioners who integrate the Defeat Autism Now! approach, and those recently trained.
We published a supplement to the Jon Pangborn and Sid Baker book, Autism: Effective Biomedical Treatments.
We published a book on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD), written by Judy Chinitz and Dr. Sidney Baker, titled We Band of Mothers

ARI and DAN! made every day in 2007 count—and we have many plans and more ideas for the coming months and years. ARI relies on the generosity of its donors to continue helping individuals with autism spectrum disorders and advancing the field of autism research. We appreciate your support, now more than ever!

*****

ARI is a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization, Fed ID No. 95-2548452,
and donations are tax-deductible.

ARI's work relies on charitable contributions from concerned individuals
and organizations. We are proud to be the only autism non-profit to be awarded
the coveted Charity Navigator 'Four Star Award" for sound fiscal management .