Autism Speaks, with the support of a Royal Arch Research Assistance grant, is funding a pilot study and a research fellowship to address sound-processing difficulties among people with autism and other developmental disabilities.
Royal Arch Masons International ranks among the leading charities helping children with Central Auditory Processing Disorder. Many people with autism experience related challenges, including difficulty using, understanding and remembering information conveyed through speech and other sounds.
Chief Science Officer, Autism Speaks
One-year research grant.
Two-year fellowship award.
Funded Research
Aysenil Belger
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Neuropsychologist Aysenil Belger will assess how sound processing difficulties develop in families affected by autism. Dr. Belger directs the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute and the Clinical Translational Core of the Intellectual Developmental Disabilities Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her co-investigator is speech-language pathologist Linda Watson.
To guide the development of early interventions that ease the symptoms of auditory processing disorder in autism.
The study will enroll twenty infants between twelve and eighteen months of age from families affected by autism and compare them with twenty infants from unaffected families. Researchers will identify differences in brain activity related to sound processing and examine how those differences relate to autism symptoms and language development.
Deborah Rupert
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Royal Arch Research Assistance Fellow Deborah Rupert will identify brain-pathway changes caused by mutations in the MECP2 gene. Mutations in this gene result in Rett syndrome, which shares characteristics with both autism and Central Auditory Processing Disorder.
To identify brain pathways that respond to treatment and ultimately ease symptoms associated with auditory processing disorder and autism.
Ms. Rupert will conduct her research at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory under the guidance of Stephen Shea.
A Longstanding Partnership to Improve Lives
In 2011, Autism Speaks and the Royal Arch Masons established a partnership that has since invested more than one million dollars in auditory processing research. In 2016, Autism Speaks announced the first Royal Arch Masons Fellowship. Beyond research funding, Royal Arch Research Assistance also supports educational initiatives that help healthcare providers and caregivers recognize and evaluate auditory processing disorders in individuals with autism.
Jim Hodge
President, Royal Arch Research Assistance Board of Directors
