Breakout Sessions

Autism Across the Life Span 2025, presented by the Kansas Center for Autism Research & Training (KCART), is an opportunity for researchers, educators, students, providers, and autistic people and their families to learn from national autism experts.

The 2025 breakout sessions and presenters are listed below.

Registration

Schedule

10 a.m. sessions

Navigating Puberty and Changing Bodies

10-10:50 a.m. BEST 120

Presented by: Kerry Prout, Ph.D., ABPP, Children's Mercy Hospital

As children enter puberty, they experience changes in their bodies and begin to navigate new emotions and expectations. The goal of this talk is to provide education and strategies for how to support a child with autism or other developmental differences as they navigate physical changes during puberty, learn new self-care tasks, and teach new concepts necessary as they mature (e.g., teaching about boundaries, privacy, and addressing sexual urges and behavior).

Identifying Autistic Toddlers in Kansas

10-10:50 BEST 125

Presented by: Nancy C. Brady, Ph.D., University of Kansas, with Kourtney Nigh, Research Scientist, University of Kansas; Suzanne Martell, Project Coordinator, University of Kansas; Olivia Boorom, Ph.D. candidate, University of Kansas

Although clinicians can diagnose a child as autistic as young as 12 months old, there are not enough resources in Kansas to complete evaluations in a reasonable amount of time. Long waiting lists present a barrier to many families who seek a diagnosis, extending the length of time to diagnosis by a year or more. Identifying children earlier can lead to early interventions during optimum ages to help children and their families.

We will present the early signs of autism, current referral mechanisms, and discuss some of the barriers that prevent early diagnosis, including families personal experiences.

Along with audience members, we will brainstorm strategies aimed at alleviating some of these barriers, with the aim of having more children in Kansas diagnosed during the toddler ages.

Guardianship ... A Journey Not Needed

10-10:50 a.m. BEST 130

Presented by: Stephanie Coleman, Autism Family Educator, University of Kansas Medical Center Leadership Education in Neurodevelopment and Related Disabilities (LEND), Matthew Coleman

Mother and son duo, Stephanie and Matthew Coleman will share their personal story of how Stephanie sought guardianship of Matthew after being encouraged by the school, then had it removed 10 years later as she learned more about Supported Decision Making and how they have always used this form of informal support.

Empowering Families and Providers: Background and Expansion of OASIS Training Opportunities

10-10:50 p.m. BEST 135

Presented by: Linda Heitzman-Powell, Ph.D., BCBA-D, Director of Community Research, University of Kansas Medical Center; Lugeine Alshurafa, M.A., LMLP, University of Kansas Medical Center; Jaclyn Humphrey, BS, RBT, University of Kansas Medical Center

The Kansas Center for Autism Research and Training (KCART), in collaboration with the Kansas Family Support Center (KFSC) and key community stakeholders, is implementing OASIS (Online and Applied System of Intervention Skills) to expand training for families and service providers supporting individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual/developmental disabilities (I/DD).

This initiative builds on the existing infrastructure to enhance community living and participation by equipping families and service providers with strategies to teach and manage behaviors, fostering greater independence and well-being. This presentation will include a background of OASIS, the current training opportunities, and the impact of these trainings.

We will also present on the expansion of the OASIS trainings aiming to empower stakeholders and increase access to critical services for children, families, and service providers with other diagnoses.

The importance of including autistic individuals with high support needs in research studies

10-10:50 a.m. BEST Auditorium

Presented by: Robin Shafer, Ph.D., Assistant Research Professor, Kansas Center for Autism Research and Training; Cassie Stevens, Graduate Research Assistant, University of Kansas; Jeri Sickels, parent of an autistic teenager; Leia Holley, Program Director, Families Together

Autistic individuals who have high support needs - including those with intellectual disability, minimal spoken language, and/or who cannot complete daily living skills independently - are often excluded from studies of autism. This has led to a gap in our understanding of this significant portion of the autistic population, and it has resulted in a lack of treatment and support strategies that help these individuals and their families with their unique and substantial support needs.

This panel will discuss the consequences of excluding autistic individuals with high support needs from research, what affected individuals and their families stand to gain from research that includes individuals with high support needs, and recent efforts by researchers to design studies of physiology and behavior that are accessible for individuals with high support needs with the goal of informing the development of treatments and supports that are catered to the specific needs of each autistic individual and their families.

11 a.m. sessions

Parenting In Perspective: Self-Care for Parents/Caregiver

11-11:50 a.m. BEST 120

Presented by: Mary Anne Hammond, Community Education Coordinator-Autism, Children's Mercy Hospital

Parenting can be rewarding and demanding at the same time. Parenting a child-adult with special needs at times may feel superhuman. This session will give some of the science behind why self-care for the caregiver is critical for sustaining the responsibility. Together, we will learn how others accomplish this, as well as specifics on what makes it easier for others to help.

NDDs in Rare Diseases: A Symptom-Based Cross-Disease Analysis Using RARE-X Data

11-11:50 a.m. BEST 125

Zohreh Talebizadeh, Ph.D., Global Genes, Senior Director, RARE-X Research Program

As the research arm of Global Genes, RARE-X has developed an innovative, scalable platform for collecting symptom and patient-reported outcome (PROs) data using a disease-agnostic approach. Unlike traditional rare disease studies that focus on single conditions, RARE-X captures both shared and unique symptoms across diseases, enabling broader insights and cross-condition comparisons.

In collaboration with 120+ patient advocacy groups, RARE-X represents over 75 rare disorders globally, with more than half classified as neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). Traditional research efforts often limit data sharing and lack longitudinal data. RARE-X addresses these challenges by providing a data-driven platform that supports comprehensive, cross-disease data collection.

This presentation will highlight how RARE-X data can be leveraged to study NDDs across rare diseases, offering unique insights into symptom trajectories, cross-disease comparisons, and broader research applications. We will also discuss how AI-based technology can enhance analytics for PROs data, uncover deeper insights, and identify key patterns, driving meaningful advancements in biomedical research.

Supporting Families and Providers of Kansas through Kansas Family Support Center and Parent Empowerment Program

11-11:50 a.m. BEST 130

Presented by: Christopher Engler, M.A., BCBA, University of Kansas Medical Center; Caity Hynson, Ed.D, University of Kansas Medical Center

Through generous grant funding, the Kansas Family Support Center (KFSC) was created to serve families with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and the providers who serve them. Based on our previous work within the Kansas Center for Autism Research and Training (KCART), KFSC was created to provide a tiered system of supports that includes broad education, behavior-analytic training, and individualized supports for system navigation, advocacy, and referral needs.

In this presentation we will provide an in-depth breakdown of these supports and discuss their impact on families and their providers. Recently, we expanded upon our services to begin a Parent Empowerment Program (PEP) funded by Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF). The purpose of PEP is to develop an advocacy training program for Peer Support Specialists to support other caregivers during interactions with the child welfare system.

We will discuss our efforts in developing and disseminating educational materials and resources for families with youth in foster care.

Peer Play Strategies: Making an Impact on Social Reciprocity and Communication for Autistic Preschoolers

11-11:50 a.m. BEST 135

Presented by: Kathy Bourque, Ph.D., Juniper Gardens Children's Project; Janet Weaver, Project Coordinator, JGCP; Riley Timmons, Assistant Researcher, JGCP

Delays in social reciprocity and communication are core symptoms of autism. Balanced communication turns is a better indicator of higher quality interactions.

This session focuses on creating successful environments and teaching peers to be responsive play partners to improve autistic preschoolers ability to engage in reciprocal communication exchanges. The children have limited or no spoken language, and are learning to use an iPad with voice output app. Videos will demonstrate positive changes in social interactions, documented by measuring changes in both peer and child communication skills.

2 p.m. sessions

From Isolation to Connection: Our Journey

2-2:50 p.m. BEST 120

Presented by: Leia Holley, parent of severely autistic child

Leia Holley shares her family's inspiring journey from isolation to connection. Walk through this raw and real story of resilience, starting when the doctor told her that her 2-year-old son was severely autistic and would never be a functioning member of their family.

Their world continued to shrink as Leia struggled to understand Sean's needs and battled to keep him in his neighborhood school. In the community the pain of isolation continued, people stared and judged her parenting skills.

Walk away from this session, inspired and empowered with strategies to build a school team and community that celebrates your child's strengths and quirkiness.

Reading and Autism: What We Know and What We Don't Know About Supporting Reading in Autistic Individuals

2-2:50 p.m. BEST 125

Presented by: Meghan M. Davidson, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, University of Kansas; Thomas Gottstein, Project Coordinator, University of Kansas

In this session, we will discuss why reading is important from society's view and from an autistic perspective. We will then briefly summarize what we currently know from research about profiles of, supporting skills for, and access to (related to communication modality and intervention) reading.

Next, we will touch on what we do not know about reading in autistic individuals, including topics related to the role of social communication and neuronormative positioning, how reading development is supported in and out of school, how reading abilities impact outcomes and quality of life, and which intervention works for whom.

Lastly, we will open it up to the audience to hear questions and feedback.

Neurodiversity In the Workplace

2-2:50 p.m. BEST 130

Presentation by: Austin Myers, Hilary Casey, and Ben Edwards, all from the KU Center on Disabilities

This presentation will discuss the importance of creating working environments that support and embrace neurodiverse people. We will also present strategies that businesses and co-workers can use to support neurodiverse colleagues.

Measuring Big Gains in Little Voices: Introducing the ECI-A for Autistic Infants and Toddlers

2-2:50 p.m. BEST 135

Presented by: Jay Buzhardt, Ph.D.; Lashanna Brunson; Project Coordinator; Susan Higgins, Project Coordinator; Sara Diaz de Villegas, Research Associate, all from Juniper Gardens Children's Project

There are limited observational measures of social communication in autistic infants and toddlers that are both designed for practitioners and sensitive to intervention effects over time. To address this need, we adapted the Early Communication Indicator (ECI), a brief play-based assessment of infant-toddler expressive communication, to measure communication outcomes often targeted by early intervention for young autistic children.

The new measure, the ECI-A (ECI-Autism), is a 10-minute play-based observation between the child and a familiar adult that captures the same key skills as the ECI-gestures, vocalizations, single words, and multiple-word phrases-plus the child's initiation of joint attention and the quality of directed communication. We are currently validating the ECI-A with families primarily from Kansas, Missouri, and North Carolina.

In this presentation, we will:

Describe the ECI-A's administration and scoring guidelines;
Discuss its feasibility and acceptability with diverse families, including Latino and African-American families;
Present inter-rater reliability in terms of Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) values; and
Examine children's growth trajectories on the ECI-A subscales, including expressive communication, initiated joint attention, and directed communication.
Finally, we will highlight implications for practice, particularly the measure's use in data-driven decision-making.

3 p.m. sessions

Autistics On Campus: College Student Experiences & Recommendations

3-3:50 p.m. BEST 120

Presented by: Spencer Hunley, Advocacy Specialist, University of Kansas Medical Center LEND; Mac Oppermann, Neurodivergent Student, UMKC (He/Him); Z Kemp, Founder & President, Neurodivergent Student Union, UMKC (They/Them); Cameron "CJ" McCaslin, Autistic Student, Vice President, Neurodivergent Student Union & Officer-at-Large, Trans+, UMKC (They/Them/Theirs); Phillip MacGruder, Advocacy Trainer, Self-Advocate Coalition of Kansas

Post-secondary education for autistic students can be an overwhelming and notably different experience from high school, but can also be incredibly affirming and rewarding. This panel discussion will focus on experiences as a neurodivergent college student, including diagnosis journeys, experience in school before college, and current experiences attending university.

Topics include accommodations, inclusion, community, identity, and panelists' thoughts on how neurodivergent students can thrive in college, but also what colleges and communities can do to make such an academic journey more inclusive, equitable and accessible.

An audience Q&A will take place near the end of the session.

Understanding Factors Influencing Eating Behavior in Autism

3-3:50 p.m. BEST 125

Presented by: Anna Wallisch, Ph.D., OTR/L

In this session we will explore multiple factors underlying challenging eating behaviors in autism. Specifically, we will explore:

the influence of sensory processing
internalizing and externalizing behaviors
underlying gastrointestinal symptoms
physiological mechanisms involved
parent stress during mealtime
parent-child interactions (via interpersonal physiological synchrony) during meals

Building Independence in Teens with ASD

3-3:50 p.m. BEST 130

Presented by: Darren Olsen, Ph.D., Psychologist, Children's Mercy Hospital

Taking on increasing responsibility for one's own life is a common challenge for adolescents with ASD. Such challenges with independence often impact the entire family. This session will provide an overview of reasonable areas to target for increasing independence, common roadblocks towards progress, evidence-based interventions, and practical strategies for families to take home.

Promoting Communication, Reading, and Writing Using Stories: Research and Applications with Autistic Children

3-3:50 p.m. BEST 135

Presented by: Ana King, M.S., BCBA, University of Kansas; Alex Davidson, doctoral student, University of Kansas; Trina Spencer, director of Juniper Gardens Children's Project, professor in Department of Applied Behavioral Science

Interventions that promote both academic skills and social communication at the same time are in high demand. There are few tools that can meet multiple objectives with efficiency. However, recent research suggests that social communication and reading and writing can be enhanced through the strategic use of storytelling.

In this session, the presenter will provide an introduction to stories as an intervention tool and outline key features of a program that leverages personally relevant stories for maximum impact. They will present recent research showing meaningful impacts on personal experience stories, reading comprehension, and writing.

In addition, they will present multiple applications of stories for autistic children with various verbal abilities (such as Augmentative and Alternative Communication).