Autism

Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati is working together with the national network for autism that helps to support families that have been affected by autism and giving them a look at the newest research and clinical trials that researchers are performing.

Work by researchers and clinicians in the Autism Treatment Network could one day lead to more definitive methods for diagnosing and treating autism, said Patricia Manning-Courtney, medical director of the Kelly O’Leary Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders, part of the division of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at Children’s.

“This opportunity presents a real marriage of the clinical and the research world,” she said. “It puts Children’s at the national table in setting the framework for how children with autism should be evaluated and followed medically.” With the network, families receiving treatment at Children’s will be able to participate in research trials taking place across the nation. Right now, Children’s alone doesn’t have enough slots to meet the demand, Manning-Courtney said.

Two areas of emphasis for centers in the Autism Treatment Network will be sleep problems and gastrointestinal disorders affecting children and teens with the disorder. Autism Speaks, a national advocacy organization, Wednesday named Children’s and nine other hospitals and medical centers to its Autism Treatment Network.

With the expansion, the network includes 15 treatment and research centers. As part of the network, Children’s received a three-year, $450,000 grant to help pay for personnel and administrative costs.