We are currently seeking 1- to 18-month-old siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders for participation in a series of behavioral studies. Our assessments evaluate social and communicative development longitudinally, from 3- through 36-months of age. All of the assessments are safe, non-invasive measures that we have used in previous studies to test infants in the general population. The assessments are carefully designed to assess specific brain and behavioral systems believed to be impaired in children with autism.

The goal of this research program is to better understand brain and behavioral development in autism and related developmental disorders. By doing so, we hope to contribute to the development of diagnostic and intervention paradigms targeting young infants at-risk for developing autism.

Participating infants are followed throughout the first three years of life, with assessments and/ or questionnaires being performed or distributed at 3-months, 6-months, 8-months, 10-months, 12-months, 14-months, 18-months, 24-months, and 36-months. We use four types of assessments: 1) visual, 2) social-behavioral, 3) neural (brain-based), and 4) developmental. Please follow the links listed to the right to learn more about the assessments we use.

If you live in the southern California region, have a 1- to 18-month-old infant who has a sibling diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, and are interested in participating in this study, please contact our project director, Dr. Karen Dobkins, at (858) 534-5434 or kdobkins@ucsd.edu. You may also call our project coordinator, Liz, whose contact information is listed below.

Free parking and small gifts are provided for all of our participants. We look forward to hearing from you!

Contact the Baby Siblings Project:

Michelle Peltz
Department of Psychology, MC 0109
University of California, San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, California 92093-0109

Telephone:
(858) 822-0541
Fax:
(858) 534-7190

Email:
mpeltz@ucsd.edu

This Study is Conducted By:

The UCSD Infant Vision Laboratory (Home)

The UCSD Developmental Neurosciences Laboratory

With Funding From:

The UC-Davis M.I.N.D. Institute

Autism Speaks

Project Investigators

Karen Dobkins, Ph.D., Director of the Infant Vision Lab, Professor of Psychology

Leslie Carver, Ph.D., Director of the Developmental Neuroscience Lab, Assistant Professor of Psychology

Natacha Akshoomoff, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry

Lauren Cornew, M.A., Graduate Student

Rebecca Cunningham, B.A., 18-Month Coordinator

Elisa Price, B.A., 10-Month Coordinator

Michelle Peltz, B.A., Project Coordinator

More Useful Links

History of the UCSD Baby Siblings Project

Other Baby Siblings Studies

A Scrapbook of Our Participants