We operate as a training clinic for graduate students and research is conducted through our center.  Below is an overview of our current research efforts.

Assessments and professional development for educators:  

Develop and test the feasibility of a model for autism service provision within an academic-community partnership.  VTCAR will leverage community engaged scholarship to provide essential diagnostic assessments and build local capacity of autism knowledge in southwest Virginia counties, with a focus on the Dickenson/Wise County and city of Norton catchment areas. We have hired 2 full time postdoctoral fellows/early career psychologists.  One will be housed in Clintwood, VA and the other will work primarily remotely. They will conduct diagnostic autism assessments for school-aged children, comparing telehealth versus hybrid approaches, and also will provide virtual ECHO Autism trainings and consultations to area educators.  See the recruitment flyer below for more information.

Additional research areas:

- Development of a hybrid mentoring program for autistic STEM undergraduate students and establish a pipeline from-graduation-to-work with industry partners.

- EmotionAIze - Empathy-Driven Interactive Human-AI System for Countering Negative-Self Talk for Autistic Individuals

- Machine learning in AI to better understand collaboration between autistic and non-autistic individuals in the workplace

- Designing AI as a Mental Health Resource for Autistic Adults: Enhancing Therapeutic Approaches with Multimodal Interactions

- Piloting a Parenting Mobile App to Reduce Treatment-time for Families in Virginia

- Mobile Autism Clinic (MAC), one of our signature initiatives, which supports our work on accessible autism services for rural Virginians.