Autism in a Global Context

IN OUR LABORATORY, WE ARE COMMITTED TO THE STUDY OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT.

**WE ARE ALSO COMMITTED TO STUDYING AND PROMOTING PRACTICES THAT CAN IMPROVE THE LIVES OF INDIVIDUALS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL CONDITIONS IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT.**

Dr. Paulina Buffle, SMAS

MOST RESEARCH IN AUTISM AND OTHER DEVELOPMENTAL CONDITIONS IS CONDUCTED IN HIGH-INCOME COUNTRIES.

HOWEVER, THE VAST MAJORITY OF CHILDREN LIVE IN LOW-AND-MIDDLE INCOME COUNTRIES

Since 2015, we have been working in Ecuador to identify the needs of families and children with Autism. We have cooperated with local professionals to better understand their needs related to diagnosis and intervention practices.

Since 2017, we have identify potential barriers to Early Diagnosis in Pediatric Settings and provided training to paediatricians to respond to those challenges.

Since 2018, we have been working to disseminate knowledge on evidence-based intervention programs, such as the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) and the Paediatric Autism Communication Therapy (PACT).

In 2021, we published a narrative literature review on ASD Early identification and Diagnosis evidence-based recommendation in cooperation with paediatricians from Universidad Católica de Quito. This review has been published in Spanish and can be accessible and free of cost by Ecuadorian and Latin American professionals.

A significant amount of knowledge concerning developmental conditions is primarily disseminated in scientific settings within high-resource countries.

An important aim of the project Autism in a Global Context is to contribute to the dissemination of evidence-based knowledge in Low and Middle-income contexts.

Since 2022, we have been working to disseminate knowledge on Good Practices for Diagnosing and Intervening in French and Spanish.

REcent Projects and activities

PUBLICATIONS

Autism In a global context

We are grateful for the cooperation and contribution from:

The Ecuadorian Society of Pediatrics, Dr. Alfredo Naranjo (School of Pediatrics form Universidad Católica de Quito), The Parents Association (APADA Ecuador), Lic. Cristina Armijos (RedPanda, Ecuador), Prof. Rosa Hoekstra (Kings College London), Prof. Giacomo Vivanti (Drexel Autism Institute), Dr. Georgina Perez Liz (Drexel Autism Institute). Prof. Laura Crane (University College London).

The preschool institutions and the professionals in the fields of paediatrics and education who contributed to those projects.

We are particularly grateful to the children, parents and grandparents who accepted to participate.

With the financial support of Fondation Ernst et Lucie Schmidheiny and Fondation Ernst Boninchi.