Autism Child and Family Lab

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We ask questions aimed at improving the lives of autistic children and their families.

14/10/2026

משפחות יקרות 👋

איך היה בכיתה א'? אנחנו רוצים לשמוע את זה ישירות מהילדים!

אנחנו מזמינות ילדים אוטיסטים שעלו השנה לכיתה ב' להשתתף בפרויקט מיוחד חדש. נלמד יחד מה היה מוצלח במעבר לכיתה א', ומה הילדים היו רוצים לשנות.

⭐ מי יכול להשתתף? ילדים עם אבחנה של אוטיזם בכיתה ב', בכיתת תקשורת, שילוב חלקי, או בשילוב מלא.

⭐ מה כולל? מילוי 3 שאלונים ע"י ההורים, ו-3-4 מפגשים בקבוצה קטנה (כ-35-45 דקות כל אחד), חלק בזום וחלק בקמפוס הר הצופים. במפגשים הילדים ישתפו מהחוויות שלהם דרך משחקים ופעילויות מותאמות (וכיפיות!).

מעוניינים או יש שאלות? נשמח לשמוע מכם:

[email protected]

נשמח אם תשתפו עם משפחות שזה יכול להתאים להן 💙

English

Dear families 👋

How was first grade? We want to hear it straight from the kids!

We invite autistic children who started second grade this year to take part in a new project. Together, we’ll learn what went well in the move to first grade and what children would like to change.

⭐ Who can join? Autistic children in second grade, in special education or inclusion.

⭐ What’s involved? Parents fill out 3 questionnaires. Children take part in 3-4 small-group sessions (about 35-45 minutes each), some on Zoom and some at the Mount Scopus campus. In the sessions, children will share their experiences through games and developmentally appropriate (and fun!) activities.

Interested or have questions? Contact us at [email protected]

Please share with families who might be interested 💙

06/10/2026

What an awesome way to start the academic year! 🌟🎉

Huge congratulations to Tal Mentch Lifsh*ts on being awarded the prestigious Doctoral Student Fellowship from the Israel Center for Addiction and Mental Health (ICAMH Huji - המרכז הישראלי להתמכרויות ובריאות הנפש) at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem! 🎓✨

Tal’s PhD research, co-supervised by Mor Nahum in the School of Occupational Therapy, together with Judah Koller, explores: "Cognitive control and autism-related traits: From individual differences to family dynamics."

We are super proud of you, Tal! Onward and upward! 🚀👏

17/09/2026

המעבדה שלנו גאה להיות חלק מהמרכז הלאומי ע"ש עזריאלי לחקר אוטיזם ונוירו-התפתחות באוניברסיטת בן-גוריון ואנחנו שמחים לשתף במידע על אירוע מרתק וחשוב שמתקיים שם בקרוב: הכנס הישראלי השנתי לחקר אוטיזם – כנס קהילה 2026, בנושא:

"Neuro AI – מחקר ויישום טכנולוגיה ובינה מלאכותית באוטיזם".

הכנס יעסוק בחיבור המבטיח שבין בינה מלאכותית, טכנולוגיות מתקדמות וחקר האוטיזם.

🗓 לפרטים נוספים והרשמה לכנס:

https://www.autismisrael.org.il/i-mar-2026-community-conference-registration

Our lab is proud to be part of the Azrieli National Centre for Autism and Neurodevelopment Research, based at Ben-Gurion University, and we're happy to share this fascinating and important event happening soon: The Annual Israeli Autism Research Conference – Community Conference 2026

This year's focus is "Neuro AI – Research and Application of Technology and Artificial Intelligence in Autism."

The conference will explore the cutting edge where AI, innovative technologies, and neurodevelopmental research intersect.

🗓 For full details and registration:

https://www.autismisrael.org.il/i-mar-2026-community-conference-registration

14/09/2026

📣 הורים לילדים אוטיסטים בגילאי 3–7? נשמח לעזרתכם!

אנחנו מזמינים אתכם להשתתף במחקר חדש של האוניברסיטה העברית, שמטרתו להבין טוב יותר את השינויים בהתנהגותם של ילדים לאורך זמן.

ההשתתפות כוללת מילוי שאלונים קצרים מהטלפון הנייד בזמנים מוגדרים לאורך תקופת המחקר.

במסגרת ההשתתפות במחקר תקבלו:
💰 פיצוי כספי לאורך ההשתתפות
📊דוחות אישיים על שינויים בהתנהגות ילדכם

אם זה רלוונטי עבורכם, נשמח שתצטרפו! 💙
לפרטים נוספים והרשמה, סרקו את קוד ה-QR בפלאייר המצורף או צרו קשר במייל: [email protected]

17/08/2026

📢 New paper out in Journal of Early Intervention!

This 3-year mixed methods study tested whether RUBI, an evidence-based, parent-mediated intervention for autistic children with disruptive behavior, holds up outside specialized clinic settings.

🏙️ RUBI was delivered by community clinicians across six sites and 53 families, and it worked, but only under certain conditions: protected clinician time, materials that fit the local context, and institutional buy-in. These factors separated the sites that sustained it from those that stopped.

🤝 This project was a collaboration between our lab and the awesome Mor Nahum, whose team created the platform via which we disseminated the intervention and collected data, with significant collaboration from Adam Rose in our School of Public Health and Community Medicine.

👏 Mohamed Tarabeih and Yana Sinai Gavrilov led this paper and project, alongside amazing students and collaborators: Shay Netzer Hellman, Amjed Shoughry, Orly Shimony, Aviva Binet, and Dana Costa.

🙏 None of this happens without the entire lab, community clinicians who took this on, the families who let us learn alongside them, and support from the Joseph Levy Foundation.

Onward and upward!

22/07/2026

New paper, led by the awesome Tobi Graucher, out now in Research in Autism! 🎉

Family accommodation refers to modifications made by families to reduce their children's distress, which, in this case, stems from the child's restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs).

We studied nearly 300 young children referred for suspected autism, divided into those confirmed as autistic, a developmentally delayed group, and another group who received no diagnosis. This is the first study to examine family accommodation of RRBs alongside emotion regulation in both children and parents, and the first to test whether this phenomenon (accommodation of RRBs) extends beyond autism.

The main finding: Accommodation by both mothers and fathers was consistently associated with negative child affect (the tendency toward distress and frustration) across all three groups. Parents' own emotion regulation strategies surprisingly showed no clear link to accommodation, though those analyses were limited by sample size.

Takeaway: Accommodation of RRBs isn't specific to autism. It tracks the child's emotional distress, whatever the diagnosis. Families of young children high in negative affect may benefit from accommodation-focused support early, even before or without a formal diagnosis.

Check out this paper (and you can access all our other published work) here: https://www.autismchildfamily.com/publications

We're proud of you, Tobi! Onward and upward!

12/07/2026

New paper out in Autism Research, from the PARC (Pediatric Autism Research Cohort) team!

Led by Ella Brouwer, working with Beth Kelley at Queen's University, this short report separates how often autistic traits occur from how much they impact the child's daily life, and asks how each relates to family experience.

Across 206 families of young autistic children (ages 2 to 7) in the first year post-diagnosis, the impact of traits was associated with parents' reports of their own experience, while the frequency of traits was associated with how they described family life more broadly.

The takeaway for practice: post-diagnostic family support should be tailored to the child's specific profile, not to a global severity score.

Onward and upward!

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aur.70303

06/07/2026

We had an awesome time at our annual PhD/postdoc outing!

We got out of the lab to learn about the history of Tel Aviv's Sarona neighborhood, followed by a visit to the offices of the Aviv Foundation - the incredible organization that funds the heart of our lab's clinical research infrastructure. We are honored and humbled to be a small part of the amazing work they do!

29/06/2026

We had a great time at the The Hebrew University Mt. Scopus campus Community Day! 🏛️✨

Our team was proud to showcase our research and share how the work we do connects with and impacts our community. Making science matter is what it's all about!

Thanks to everyone who stopped by, chatted with us, and asked great questions.

22/06/2026

📢 Why do two autistic children with similar profiles often follow very different developmental paths?

Join us in two days for an online talk by lab PI Dr. Judah Koller, who will present a Contextual Transactional Developmental framework for understanding how development unfolds through ongoing interactions between children and their environments over time, and what this means for supporting autistic children and their families. Developed through the work in our lab, this framework will be presented as part of the PARC Speaker Series at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.

💻 Online
🗣️ The talk will be in English.

Space is limited. To register, please click the link in the first comment below.

Address

Seymour Fox School Of Education
Bethany
91905

Website

https://www.autismchildfamily.com/

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