Autism Speaks funds new research on auditory processing disorder

Autism Speaks, with the support of a Royal Arch Research Assistance grant, is funding one predoctoral fellowship, one postdoctoral fellowship and one pilot study to understand central auditory processing disorder in people with autism.  

Royal Arch Masons International ranks among the leading charities helping children with central auditory processing disorder. The disorder can lead to difficulty using, understanding and remembering information conveyed through speech and other sounds.   

“We are thrilled to support these groundbreaking research studies alongside our longstanding partners, the Royal Arch Masons,” said Dean Hartley, senior director of genetic discovery and translational science at Autism Speaks. “Understanding how auditory processing differences impact individuals on the spectrum is crucial for developing targeted interventions and supports that can affect them daily. These studies represent a significant step forward in our mission to improve quality of life for autistic people by fostering greater understanding and innovation in treatment approaches.”  

The pilot study will be funded at $60,000 for one year, the predoctoral fellowship will be awarded $40,000 per year for two years and the postdoctoral fellowship will be awarded $55,000 a year for two years. 

Learn about the funded studies: 

Predoctoral Fellowship 

Katherine Byrne 

University of California, Los Angeles 

Researchers have long studied how language develops in children with autism. However, there hasn’t been much research on how autistic children’s ability to hear and process sounds affects their language development over time.  

This study aims to learn if early auditory processing skills, like recognizing and understanding sounds, can predict the development of language. 

To do this, the study will follow a group of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other developmental disorders from ages 2 to 9. Researchers will track how their language skills progress and identify different patterns of language development. They will also look at how early ability to respond to sounds, differentiate between sounds, speak clearly and understand spoken language affect these patterns. Understanding these relationships can help guide early interventions that can improve language development in children with autism. 

Postdoctoral Fellowship 

Erin Bojanek 

University of Rochester 

About 25% of people with ASD have an IQ of less than 50, limited language abilities and high support needs. Researchers don't know much about how these individuals understand the basic elements of language or how central auditory processing disorder (CAPD), a disorder affecting sound processing in the brain, contributes to their language difficulties. 

This study aims to understand how children with level 3 autism process sounds in the brain and how this relates to their clinical outcomes.  

Researchers will compare how children process sound across three groups: individuals with level 3 autism, autistic children without intellectual disability and typically developing children. They will also explore how sound processing is linked to cognitive abilities, everyday functioning, language abilities and autism presentation. These findings will help inform future autism treatments and interventions. 

Pilot Study 

Howard Moskowitz 

Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University 

Understanding hearing problems in children with autism is critical. Because these issues are so common, it’s important to know more about why autistic children often have these auditory problems and how they might be linked to CADP. By finding out exactly what parts of the brain are involved and how they work, researchers and healthcare providers will be able to diagnose these issues earlier and improve quality of life for autistic children. 

In this study, researchers will use electrical electroencephalography (EEG) to measure brain activity. They’ll also use a set of CAPD tests and passive listening tasks to see how common CAPD is in children with autism and how attention affects their ability to hear sounds.  

The researchers believe that understanding these factors will help them improve the ability of autistic children to focus on speech sounds. The findings will also help develop better ways to enhance autistic children’s communication and social skills, leading to new strategies that improve their overall outcomes.