On May 6th, 2023, the Duke Center for Autism partnered with Duke Varsity Baseball to host our second Baseball Bonanza event at Jack Coombs Field on Duke’s West Campus. Families from as far away as Texas and New York made the trek to Durham to join us for this very special opportunity.

Close to 70 kids had a blast practicing throwing, batting, catching, and base running while receiving hands-on coaching from the Duke Baseball players. The kids also enjoyed getting autographs from the players, and each participant received a special Baseball Bonanza t-shirt, Duke Baseball 2023 season poster, and soft baseball toy.

Duke Baseball Head Coach Chris Pollard said, “What an incredible opportunity to partner with the Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development for the 2023 Baseball Bonanza. A great time was had by learning and growing in the game of baseball. I am so humbled by the efforts of so many of the families that traveled from all across the country to be a part of this special event.”

If you haven’t already, be sure to sign up for the Duke Autism Research Registry to be the first to find out about our Center's special events and activities like the Baseball Bonanza!

Autism Society of North Carolina Run/Walk for Autism

On October 14, 2023, Duke Center for Autism staff represented the Center at the Autism Society of North Carolina's 2023 Triangle Run/Walk for Autism. Our team raised money for ASNC and got to meet some dedicated members of the community who showed up to participate in this event on a cool and rainy Saturday morning.

New funding for Tackling Acquisition of Language in Kids (TALK) Initiative Supplement

Congress recently mandated NIH funding for research that will help explain why some children are late talkers, called the TALK Initiative. Duke researchers were awarded new funds to understand language delay in children with and without a diagnosis of autism.

This recently-funded project will leverage routinely collected health data to improve understanding of language development in children identified as late talkers, identifying factors that predict differential developmental trajectories across two groups of late talking children: (1) late talkers who have no co-occurring neurodevelopmental conditions, and (2) late talkers with autism. Lauren Franz, MBChB, MPH, and Benjamin Goldstein, PhD are leading this project at the Duke Center for Autism.