“Emily Browne is laughing and nobody really knows why,” writes science writer Chris Berdik, for Boston University Research News. “The 14-year-old with a broad face and a mop of curly brown hair has autism. She drifts through her backyard, either staring into the distance or eyeballing a visitor chatting with her dad, Brendan, and her 15-year-old sister, Jennifer on the nearby patio. That’s where the laughter started – a conversational chuckle from somebody on the patio that Emily answered with a rollicking high-pitched guffaw.”
But Emily can’t join the conversation, Berdik explains. She is among the 30 percent of children with autism who is minimally verbal or entirely nonverbal.
The feature story that follows spotlights several Autism Speaks-funded research projects – research made possible by the generosity and passion of our families, donors and volunteers.
To learn more about Autism Speaks-funded research at Boston University and its sister institutions, follow these links:
* Music as a Path to Language in Autism
* Novel methods for testing language comprehension in children with ASD
* Neurophysiological investigation of language acquisition in infants at risk for ASD
* Comparing AMMT vs. Control Therapy in facilitating speech output in nonverbal children with autism
For still more Autism Speaks-funded research focused on helping nonverbal children and adults, also see:
* Your Dollars@Work: Helping Nonverbal Children Speak
* Developmental and Augmented Intervention for Facilitating Expressive Language
* Promoting Communication Skills in Toddlers At Risk for Autism
* A Novel Parent Directed Intervention to Enhance Language Development in Nonverbal Children with ASD
Read the rest of “Unlocking Emily’s World” at Boston University Research News.
Explore all the research and family-service projects that Autism Speaks is funding using this website’s grant search. These projects are made possible by the passion and generosity of our families, donors and volunteers.