Psychologist, Seattle Children’s + Assistant Professor, University of Washington

Description

SPARK is an autism research study and a growing community of autistic individuals, their families, and researchers on a mission to advance the understanding of autism. SPARK’s mission is to improve the lives of people with autism by identifying the causes of autism and informing more effective therapies, treatments, services, and supports.

To understand the complexity of autism ─ what makes us the same and what makes us different ─ we need large numbers of people to participate. SPARK is open to all individuals living in the U.S. with a professional diagnosis of autism and their family members.

SPARK has more than 380,000 participants including 157,000 people with ASD and their first-degree family members. Over 31,500 participants are autistic adults. Autistic adults and their families are not only participants in the study, but are also serve on our advisory boards, on our staff, and as community partners.

When you join, SPARK asks you important information about yourself and participating family members. You can also choose to share your genetic information (DNA) from saliva samples, though you do not have to do this to participate in the study. Over time, you can do as much or as little as you want — all from a mobile phone, a desktop computer, or anything in between.

Over 400 genes have been linked to autism. We hope that by understanding the genetic basis of autism, we will better understand what makes autistic individuals special and how to best support them.

SPARK is making important progress possible. We are committed to supporting autism research for decades to come. There are exciting things on the horizon.