Research Projects

The National Autism Center at May Institute engages in research to identify, evaluate, and disseminate effective practices to better support people with autism.

Students with Autism Accessing General Education (SAAGE)

This is a federally funded research project (U.S. Department of Education, R324A150032-16) focused on school-based interventions for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The project is a multi-site project; work is being done in Massachusetts through the National Autism Center at May Institute, in New York through University of Rochester Medical Center, and in Florida through University of South Florida.

SAAGE is a modular intervention that is evidence-based but designed flexibly such that it is applicable for all students with ASD and can be implemented by educators in public schools with little to no additional resources. We are currently evaluating the feasibility and effectiveness of SAAGE in several schools in Massachusetts, New York, and Florida.

Assessing the Evidence Base for Interventions for School-Aged Children

In this project we are expanding upon the National Standards Project to identify parameters of effective interventions and to better understand (a) behavioral targets addressed by a given intervention, (b) implementers of interventions, and (c) the settings in which interventions have been found to be demonstrably effective.