Autism Speaks, Science, Latest Research, Innovative Technology for Autism Initiative

The growing success of the Autism Speaks-Innovative Technology for Autism (AS-ITA) initiative requires that it develop effective ways to manage its expanding role in advocacy, mentorship, and agenda-setting for the emerging field of ITA. While existing methods of grassroots networking and grant-making and reviewing have played a significant role in AS-ITA's success, there is a need to further refine these methods and expand how AS-ITA serves the ITA community. The Chair, Katharina Boser, is working along with vice-chair Matthew Goodwin, and with Advisory Board (ITAB) members across the country to address these needs. ITA serves both researchers and developers, teachers, clinicians and other general users of the technology both for treatment, knowledge and diagnosis of autism.

An iterative approach has been and continues to be employed to develop an expanded and more useful ITA website; create new ITA documentation that better communicates its goals and accomplishments; catalog the strengths and weaknesses of current student outreach programs, such as classes and internships to inform future programs; explore the value of social networking technologies; create standards for dealing with new AS-ITA inquiries; and establish a student design competition. Additionally, methods will be developed and tested to better track the reach of AS-ITA's support in the generation of new projects, publications of findings, products going to market, policy setting, grantees success at seeking funds at other organizations, and attracting new talent to the ITA field.

Innovative Technology for Autism Advisory Board

Chair
Katharina Boser, Ph.D.
President and Director of Professional Development
Individual Differences in Learning (IDL)
Howard County, Maryland

Vice Chair
Matthew Goodwin, Ph.D.
Director of Clinical Research
MIT Media Lab

Gregory Abowd, D.Phil.
Associate Professor
College of Computing and GVU Center
Georgia Institute of Technology

Yoram Bonneh, Ph.D.
Center for Brain and Behavior Research
The University of Haifa

Portia Iversen
Co-founder, Cure Autism Now

Albert (Skip) Rizzo, Ph.D.
Research Scientist
Centers for Creative Technologies
University of Southern California

Olga Solomon, Ph.D.
Department of Occupational Science and Therapy
University of Southern California

Simon Wallace, Ph.D.
Director of Scientific Development – Europe
Autism Speaks