Landmark year helps MU break new ground in autism

     Last year, the Thompson Center celebrated 10 years of progress in autism care, research, and training. The vast leaps in professional knowledge and public awareness of autism spectrum disorders over the last decade has been nothing short of incredible. Our center celebrated this amazing momentum with a number of noteworthy events.
     Our 10th annual Autism Conference, which was held in St. Louis for the first time in September 2015, welcomed a record number of more than 200 attendees from the health professions, education and behavior analysis fields. Read about the conference highlights and get details for the 2016 conference.
     In October, we hosted our founders, Bill and Nancy Thompson, at a 10th anniversary party in Columbia during Homecoming week. We were joined by many of our local and campus supporters, including patient families and the Alpha Tau Omega chapter that recently fulfilled its $25,000 patient scholarship endowment pledge. Our combined silent auction and ticket sales raised money for the Thompson Center’s Endowment Fund, which was created to ensure another 10 years of success in diagnosing, treating, studying, and educating others about autism. Read about several of our research studies and patient programs.
     Finally, we ended the year with the news that the Thompson Center was selected to be a part of the next generation of genetic research in autism, as a pilot site to begin recruitment for the National Autism Cohort. A project of the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative, this research study, known as SPARK, will gather the DNA signatures of 50,000 individuals with autism over the next three years. Participants can register online at www.sparkforautism.org/MUTC, fill out a brief questionnaire, and complete a saliva kit that is mailed to their homes.
     The SPARK project launched nationwide on April 21 as a fitting bookend to Autism Awareness Month, during which we once again brought Light It Up Blue to Columbia with an afternoon of outdoor fun at Mizzou’s football stadium, Faurot Field, on April 2. Families and community partners joined us for rides on Truman’s Taxi, face painting, games, prizes and the chance to run the field like the University of Missouri Tigers football team. Find out what else we have in store for 2016 on our Events page.
     Moving forward, the Thompson Center is poised for even bigger changes. Gov. Jay Nixon and the state Legislature recently approved a $5 million expansion of our center, which will allow us to provide a dedicated space for research that is autism-friendly, train about 100 more providers over the next five years, and increase clinical visits by 2,000 per year. We are thrilled to be able to further our mission to become an international destination for expert autism care, research and training and help more families and individuals with autism in Missouri and beyond.