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Credit: Sharmila Banerjee-Basu, Ph.D.
WASHINGTON – May 29, 2012 — MindSpec proudly announces the public launch of its new science outreach website, Autism Reading Room (http://readingroom.mindspec.org).
Autism Reading Room is the first comprehensive online project to build bridges between autism research scientists and the public. It features interactive tools to explain current scientific knowledge about autism spectrum disorders.
Designed to enhance public understanding of autism research, Autism Reading Room offers easily understandable summaries written by a team of MindSpec scientists, as well as direct access to published scientific articles.
Autism Reading Room explores topics such as
- Risk Factors: comprehensive summary of genetic and environmental factors
- Diagnosis: compilation of all current tests and strategies
- Brain Biology: overview of brain development, focusing on autistic brains
- Advances: latest scientific developments in autism treatment
- Trends: exploration of current and historical trends in autism research
- News in Context: guide to autism news stories
- Misconceptions: the facts about autism
- Autism Dictionary: >900 terms related to autism
Autism Reading Room aims to unite researchers with families, service providers, clinicians, and policymakers in order to promote communication among these largely segregated branches of the autism community.
For more information, please contact: Catherine C. Swanwick, Ph.D., Director of Outreach, MindSpec, at catherine@mindspec.org, 202.531.4138.
ABOUT MINDSPEC
MindSpec (www.mindspec.org) is a nonprofit organization that utilizes innovative bioinformatics strategies to accelerate research on common neurodevelopmental disorders. MindSpec created the first genetic database for autism, AutDB. Autism Reading Room is its first outreach project.