Global Café presents top autism researchers nationally in live virtual symposium

Case Western Reserve University's International Center for Autism Research and Education (ICARE) is leading a five-hour “Global Dialogue Café” on autism on April 23. Throughout the Autism Virtual Symposium, leading researchers and clinicians from Case Western Reserve, with colleagues in autism research nationally—including from Yale University, University of California–Los Angeles and Duquesne University—will present the latest findings in areas of interest to parents and professionals working with individuals on the autism spectrum. Topics include social and language assessment, behavior management and motor, cognitive and language development. The symposium allows for live interaction between speakers and viewers through CWRU’s Telepresence system. “We are excited about providing a platform that is a first for creative awareness about autism spectrum disorders,” said Lynn Singer, CWRU’s deputy provost and vice president for academic affairs and chair of the International Center for Autism Research Steering Committee. “In all the cities engaged across the country, participants can ask these experts questions in real time, either in the studios or through their own computers.” Among the presenters from Case Western Reserve are:

• Gerald Mahoney, director of the Center on Intervention for Children and Families and the Verna Houck Motto Professor of Families and Community at the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences. He will discuss the effects of parent-mediated intervention on social and language development of young children with autism spectrum disorder.

• Nancy Roizen, professor of pediatrics and division chief of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics and Psychology at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, who will address medications and other treatments.

• Anthony Wynshaw-Boris, professor and chairman of the Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences at the School of Medicine and director of ICARE. He will examine hypothesis-driven investigation of the pathophysiology of autism.

The event will be live-streamed on tv.case.edu/caselive from the faculty’s respective institutions and available to the campus community for viewing in CWRU's Kelvin Smith Library room 215 and at the Laura and Alvin Siegal Lifelong Learning Program’s facility in Beachwood. The schedule can be found at cwru.edu/dialoguecafe/autism/ The symposium, sponsored by ICARE and Autism Speaks, the world's leading autism science and advocacy organization, is a joint project of Cisco Systems, CWRU’s Information Technology Services and the university’s Laura and Alvin Siegal Lifelong Learning Program. "Autism Speaks is proud to support the Global Dialogue Café,” said Amy Helgeson, the nonprofit’s executive director of Ohio. “With science rapidly advancing, this is a unique opportunity for families to connect with leading experts to understand how research is finding more answers to the autism puzzle." The Autism Virtual Symposium brings together scholars sharing some of their latest research on autism in an open and interactive conversation with participants across North America. Live participation, through Telepresence, is also available at the Center for Autism Research in Philadelphia and the Munroe-Meyer Institute/UNMC in Omaha, Neb. The Global Dialogue Cafe virtual technology connects communities around the world with international experts in a range of subjects.