Current projects

Comprehensive support for children with ASD on the basis of evidence-based-approach

The R&D is carried out as part of a global task to uncover methods with proven effectiveness in the practice of working with children with ASD. The relevance of this task is steadily increasing due to the expressed request from both parents and specialists in the psychological and pedagogical profile. At the same time, the effectiveness of care is not simply determined in a program that has proven itself by methods, but they are effective in assessment with complex diagnostics. On the other hand, experience, the use of well-established, effective in the opinion of specialists and parents of children with ASD, but not observed scientific studies of effectiveness. The need for a systematic solution to this problem determined the tasks of the first stages of research.

An Interdisciplinary Study of the Heterogeneity of the Autism Spectrum Disorders

Autism spectrum disorders are a heterogeneous group of developmental disorders, which are based on different pathogenetic mechanisms. The search for biological markers associated with various types of clinical manifestations is one of the most urgent research tasks. The current research project will analyze a large amount of data, including the results of an interdisciplinary (psychological and neurophysiological) assessments. At the pilot stage of the study it was shown that EEG characteristics, combined with psychological examination data, are a reliable marker that makes it possible to identify a special group of patients with autism caused by the FMR1 gene mutation with a high degree of sensitivity and specificity. The results of the study will allow us to understand the general features of the functioning of the brain, which are characteristic both for autism disorders in general and for individual variants of the development of children with ASD, due, in particular, to genetic disorders.

Development and approbation of a methodology for assessing life competencies in students with ASD at the level of primary general education

Assessment of the development of life competencies is a necessary condition for monitoring the results of the comprehensive development of educational programs in accordance with the Federal State Educational Standard. In accordance with the provisions of the activity approach, recognized as fundamental in modern education, one of the most important learning outcomes should be the formation of social competencies, as well as the mastery of key competencies that form the basis of the ability to learn.

Approbation of Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS-2) in Russian environmen

The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS), recognized as the "gold standard" for diagnosing ASD at the international level among the instruments that involve direct communication with the subject.

The ADOS procedure is a diagnostic session that includes a series of structured and semi-structured tasks, during which the specialist presents the subject with the opportunity to use his social and communication skills, as well as to display other behaviors related to ASD.

The data on the predictive validity of ADOS-2 will become the basis for its implementation in the work of a wide range of specialists.  Presented research will open up the opportunity to Russian researchers for connection to international multicenter research projects and will improve the detection and quality of dicription of ASD in the Russian Federation. The dissemination of knowledge will be provided by the publication of an expert opinion and the holding of trainigs.