3:45 pm - Very Early Intervention for ASD: Research Challenges & Promising Results, Studies exploring both behavioral and pharmacological interventions for very young children with ASD will be discussed. Dr. Dawson will participate in the panel discussion sharing information on the Early Start Denver Model, a new and proven strategy in providing treatment to toddlers. She will be discussing new research on factors that help predict which children will be most responsive to very early interventions.

7:00 p.m. - Autism Speaks and the INSAR Diversity Committee will co-host a dinner and meeting. The purpose of the event is to facilitate interactions and networking between the INSAR board/committee members with international researchers, especially those from low and middle income countries. The dinner will be followed by presentations on screening and diagnostic instruments adaptation and the development of more efficient tools for research and clinical care that can be used in countries with low resources. This event is not open to press, however interviews may be scheduled with Autism Speaks leadership and with involved international attendees.

Saturday, May 21 9:45 a.m. - Medical Care of Children and Adolescents with ASD: Findings from the Autism Treatment Network. Autism Speaks Vice President of Clinical Programs Clara Lajonchere, Ph.D. will chair this meeting to present findings from this Autism Speaks-funded network of 14 sites across the U.S. and Canada. This session will present new findings regarding the prevalence of GI, sleep, psychiatric, and other medical conditions associated with ASD as well as the wide range of treatment methods that are being used by parents to help address these conditions.

Source: Autism Speaks