Simons Simplex Families: Welcome to IAN, Your New Autism Research Home

Date First Published: April 14, 2011
Date Last Updated: May 20, 2013

At autism centers across North America you have shared your children’s behavioral profiles, developmental histories, and diagnoses. You have also contributed genetic samples to create a vital resource for autism science. Now that the initial family-recruitment phase of the project is complete, we are inviting you to join the Simons Simplex Community @ Interactive Autism Network (SSC@IAN) – the project’s new online home and continuation.

SSC@IAN

Researchers hope to continue advancing knowledge based on the information SSC families have provided, and to continue learning from your experiences and input. Through SSC@IAN, you will find out about new studies and surveys specifically for Simons Simplex families like your own. You will also discover what researchers are learning from the information you have contributed so far.

When your family joins SSC@IAN:

• IAN will notify you about important SSC follow-up studies. (It will be up to you whether you choose to participate in these.)
• IAN will offer SSC-specific online research surveys.
• If you choose to complete IAN's online autism research questionnaires, IAN will facilitate the linking of SSC and IAN data so that researchers will have an even more powerful data set to use when exploring autism research questions.

SSC Speech Study Results The Epilepsy Connection: Why are People with Autism at Risk? A Place of Their Own: Residential Services for Adults Not Just for Boys: When Autism Affects Girls Autism and the Emergency Room Using Mobile Devices to Teach Adaptive Skills Early Start Denver Model Therapy Repetitive Motions and Obsessions

Through SSC@IAN, autism researchers will be able to stay in touch with you and other Simons Simplex families as children grow and situations change. There is a possibility that the study may become longitudinal, which means it will become even more valuable because information is collected at several points in time instead of just once.

Joining SSC@IAN

U.S. Families: If you have already joined, welcome! If you still need to join, or would like more information before deciding, click here.

Canadian Families: Click here to learn more.

Your New Research Coordinator

Tara Zandi is your SSC@IAN Research Coordinator. Tara is a resource for you, and we hope you will not hesitate to call or email her. She can assist with SSC@IAN registration, answer any of your questions, and help in any way you need. You can contact Tara at 443-923-4153 or SSC@IANproject.org.

Tara received a Master's degree in Clinical Psychology from Assumption College and a Master's degree in Social Work from the University of Maryland. She has worked with children on the autism spectrum, and became part of the IAN team specifically to work with Simons Simplex families.

Videos/Webinars

• Webinar on Autism Interventions
• Webinar on Aggression, Meltdowns, and ASD

Articles of Interest

• The Epilepsy Connection: Why are People with Autism at Risk?
• A Place of Their Own: Residential Services for Soon-to-Be Adults with Autism
• Not Just for Boys: When Autism Spectrum Disorders Affect Girls
• When a Psychiatric Crisis Hits: Children with Autism in the Emergency Room
• Using Mobile Devices to Teach Adaptive Skills
• The Promise of Early Start Denver Model Therapy
• Behaviors that Puzzle: Repetitive Motions and Obsessive Interests
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Autism Spectrum Disorders
• Floortime and Pivotal Response Training
• Behavioral Therapies: Key Interventions in ASD

Research Made Possible by Simons Simplex Families

Researchers are studying a variety of questions using the Simons Simplex data. This is autism research made possible by you. Read about the latest findings here.

• More Children with Autism Learn to Speak than Previously Believed
• Deletion of Gene Could Increase Risk of Autism
• Redefinition: Autism, Asperger's, and the DSM-5
• Webinar on Aggression, Meltdowns, and ASD
• Simons Simplex Collection: The Key to Findings in Three Major Autism Genetics Studies
• New Research on Children with ASD and Aggression
• Searching in a "Smaller Haystack" Leads to Promising Findings in Autism Genetics
• Striking Differences in the Social Brain Found in Children with ASD, "Unaffected" Siblings, and Typical Children
• The Simons Simplex Collection: Partnering with Families to Search for the Source of ASD
• Friendship, Internalizing Symptoms, and ASD: Researchers Explain Their Findings

Simons Simplex Families Share Their Stories

Learn about the experiences and insights of families who participated in the Simons Simplex Collection project.

• SSC@IAN Prize Winners Share Their Stories
• Meet the Macleans: The SSC@IAN "First Family"

Simons Simplex News

On 21 October, 2011, more than 100 investigators and clinicians who had worked together on the Simons Simplex Collection (SSC) gathered in New York City to celebrate this landmark achievement in autism research. Read more.

Contact Us!

Have questions about SSC@IAN? Call or email your SSC@IAN Research Coordinator, Tara Zandi, at 443-923-4153 or SSC@IANproject.org.