July 20, 2010| The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) will use a $423,626 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to continue identifying and evaluating changes in the number of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and other developmental disabilities in Arkansas.

Autism spectrum disorders – which include related disorders like Asperger syndrome, a milder form of autism – are developmental disabilities that affect language, cognition, emotional development and the ability to relate and interact with others.

The grant will allow the Department of Pediatrics in the UAMS College of Medicine to expand its pilot program in Pulaski County to monitor autism prevalence statewide in 2010 and 2012. Program methodology includes screening records at multiple sources that serve children with developmental disabilities, including the UAMS Dennis Developmental Center and Arkansas Children’s Hospital.

“This grant is vital for adequately identifying children in Arkansas with autism spectrum disorders,” said UAMS’ Eldon G. Schulz, M.D., medical director for Arkansas Children’s Hospital Rehabilitation Services and Rockefeller Chair for Children with Special Health Care Needs. “Our research will expand our understanding of the characteristics of children with autism spectrum disorders and provide the information needed to get treatment to those who need it.”

U.S. Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor along with U.S. Reps. Marion Berry, Vic Snyder and Mike Ross recently announced the grant.

“Autism is a serious condition that many Arkansas children and their families are coping with as the number of diagnoses has increased significantly in the past decade,” Lincoln said. “I am pleased this funding will allow us to better understand how autism and related disorders are affecting Arkansas children and their families, and I will continue to do all I can to ensure funding for autism research, early treatment and education.”

“The more we learn about autism spectrum disorders, the more we can help the growing number of Arkansas children affected by the condition,” Pryor said. “These funds will help UAMS learn more about autism in Arkansas so we can provide better treatment and diagnoses.”

“UAMS is a great institution to help families with an autistic child,” Snyder said. “I’m pleased to see these monies available for this important research.”

CDC has awarded a total of $5 million per year to 11 sites in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah and Wisconsin. These sites participate in the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network to provide comparable, population-based estimates of the number of 8-year-old children with ASDs and other developmental disabilities in different locations over time.

“Over the last decade, we’ve learned that autism affects about one of every 110 American children,” said Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of Health and Human Services. “The collaboration with these grantees is one part of an historic new investment in autism research by our agency and others to better understand this urgent public health challenge and address the complex needs of people with autism and their families.”