U. receives grant to study autism

The University of Utah has received a $2.4 million, four-year grant to estimate the number of Utah 8-year-olds with autism spectrum disorders and other developmental disabilities.

The university is one of 11 national centers awarded a total of $5 million in grants by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as part of the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network in an ongoing effort to understand the growing prevalence of autism spectrum disorders nationwide.

The university, in partnership with the Utah Department of Health, also is one of three centers awarded extra funding to begin estimating the number of 4-year-olds with ASD and other developmental disabilities.

The grants will allow the centers to continue work begun last year to undertake long-term tracking of 8-year-olds with ASDs in each of the 11 states. Most ASDs are diagnosed by age 8, by tracking kids that age in their individual states, the centers will be able to construct a broader picture of ASDs across the country.