Ongoing Research
Sex and Gender in Autism: The SAGA Study
A five year longitudinal study examining differences in the development of children with and without a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder ages 4-8-years-old.
Connections+ Study
Connections+ is a remote study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health with the goal of understanding how community connections protect against suicidal thoughts and behaviors in older autistic and non-autistic adults (55+). Suicide is the leading cause of premature death in autism. Rates of suicide also increase with age, therefore our team is studying this interplay between autism and aging. Participants in this study will track their social interactions and community participation using daily diaries and GPS. They will also complete two video interviews. If you are interested in this study, please email connectionsplus@unc.edu.
Executive Functioning and Inflexibility in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Cross-Syndrome Study
ADHD is a common comorbidity in ASD and there is a lot of overlap between the two conditions. In this study, we will be extending some of our measures and questionnaires from Project BIDD to individuals with a diagnosis of ADHD. Funded through a NC TraCS Pilot 2k, we will see 40 individuals (3 to 17) with a diagnosis of ASD. They will complete a series of iPad based measures of executive functioning. A smaller group will also complete EEG measures of executive functioning. We are still recruiting for this study. If you are interested, please contact us at Harroplab@med.unc.edu.
Sex and Gender in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Bio-Behavioral Study
As ASD is considered a male dominant disorder, little is known about the presentation and trajectories of females. Funded through a CTSA Career Development Award (PI: Harrop), we are examining the interplay between biological sex and gender in ASD through a combination of behavioral and electrophysiological methods. This study is recruiting males and females with and without a diagnosis of ASD ages 2 to 8 to visit our lab. They will complete a series of EEG and eye tracking tasks to understand social and non-social attention and motivation and behavioral measures. Parents will also be part of the study – we will ask them a series of questions about their child’s developmental history, their diagnostic experiences, and their interests and strengths. We are currently recruiting for this study. If you are interested, please click this link and take a short survey: https://unc.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9ZYa5kUUSpeZtNH
Executive Functioning (EF) Study
ADHD is a common comorbidity in ASD and there is a lot of overlap between the two conditions. In this study, we will be extending some of our measures and questionnaires from Project BIDD to individuals with a diagnosis of ADHD. Funded through a NC TraCS Pilot 2k, we will see 40 individuals (3 to 17) with a diagnosis of ASD. They will complete a series of iPad based measures of executive functioning. A smaller group will also complete EEG measures of executive functioning. We are still recruiting for this study. If you are interested, please email harroplab@unc.edu.