Innovations in Neurodevelopmental Sensory Processing Research (insp!re)
Director: Grace Baranek PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA
Led by Grace Baranek, the Innovations in Neurodevelopmental Sensory Processing Research (insp!re) lab is a multidisciplinary team of researchers, students, post-doctoral fellows and volunteers committed to advancing our knowledge of early risk signs of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and related neurodevelopmental disorders. We believe that true innovation occurs at the intersection between science, creativity and technology. We partner with local artists, engineers, clinicians and families to employ cutting-edge methods and technologies to design novel multimodal screening tools, including parent-report and biobehavioral measures, for pediatric community settings. We are also developing efficacious interventions for caregivers and infants to optimize development in social-communication, sensory reactivity and regulation, and overall engagement in daily routines such as play and mealtime.
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Brain Activity and Behavioral Indicators of Sensory Processing (BABeIS) ⟩
Infant participant wearing EEG cap in the insp!re lab Sensory hyper- and hypo-reactivity are core features of autism, often evident early in infancy, however, the neurophysiological mechanisms behind these behaviors are not well understood. Sensory discrimination, which refers to the ability to…
Period: Jul 2025 – Jun 2027
Federal Funding $161,972
Screening for Autism Risk in Preterm Infants (SARP) ⟩
Young participant in the insp!re lab SARP is a longitudinal study examining early signs of autism in preterm infants, 6 -18 months adjusted age. Families are recruited through the high-risk infant follow-up clinic at LA General Medical Center and are seen during their well-child check appointments.…
Start: Jan 2019
Sensory and Social Development in Infants and Toddlers (SASI) ⟩
Young participant plays with a ball in the insp!re lab SASI is a longitudinal study which aims to understand individual differences in social and sensory development in typically developing and high-risk infants and toddlers. This study examines these domains through behavioral and physiological…
Southern California Child Development Survey (SoCal CDS) ⟩
SoCal CDS is a survey study examining children’s development from 6 to 16 months of age in domains such as social communication and sensory regulation. We are recruiting families from communities within the greater Los Angeles area to collect normative data on a diverse population. Participants…
Moving Beyond the Average: Building a Comprehensive Model of Classroom Quality that Incorporates Children’s Individual Experiences ⟩
The goal of this project is to explore how individual children's engagement varies within classrooms and the degree to which variation in child engagement is associated with children's outcomes. Specifically, the research team aims to (i) evaluate the degree to which the average engagement of…
Period: Sep 2020 – Jul 2022
Federal Funding $37,648
Early Behavioral Characteristics and Biobehavioral Signs of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): A Novel Parent-Infant Interaction Paradigm ⟩
This pilot study will examine biobehavioral synchrony during mother-child interactions associated with infants’ at-risk status for later diagnosis of ASD. The findings will provide insights into the relationship between the patterns of the synchrony and early behavioral risk markers of ASD…
Period: Nov 2018 – Aug 2020
Intramural Funding $25,000
First Years Inventory (FYI) Pilot Study to Culturally Diverse Populations in Los Angeles ⟩
Young participant plays with blocks in the insp!re lab This study aims to add new data to our team’s ongoing research to identify early risk markers of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and develop better screening tools for infants in the general population. In our previous study in North Carolina,…
Period: Nov 2018 – Aug 2020
Private Funding $3,000
Parents and Infants Engaged (PIE) ⟩
The PIE study is a “proof of concept” evaluation of PIE, an intervention for infants at-risk for neurodevelopmental disorders. This study is a two-site collaboration at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (UNC) and the University of Southern California (USC Chan Division). It examines…
Period: Aug 2017 – Jul 2020
Federal Funding $79,172
Evaluation of a Novel Intervention for Infants at Risk for Neurodevelopmental Disorders ⟩
This project aims to develop and test a parent coaching model for increasing awareness of sensory modulation and communication functions to increase social engagement for infants at-risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in a community sample. Our current ability to detect infants at-risk for…
Period: Aug 2017 – Jul 2020
Federal Funding $79,172
Parent-Infant Engaged: Extension Pilot Study to Culturally Diverse Populations in Los Angeles ⟩
This study aims to develop more culturally sensitive early screening tool to identify early risk markers of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) for ethnic minority infants in the general population. The First Years Inventory (FYI; Baranek et al., 2013) is a newly revised screener that has been normed…
Period: Nov 2018 – May 2020
Intramural Funding $3,000
Parent-Infant Physiology Study (PIPS) ⟩
insp!re team watch a young participant playing in the lab This pilot study examines the relationship between biobehavioral synchrony during mother-infant interactions and early developmental outcomes. The study aims to understand individual differences in behavioral and physiological patterns of…
Period: Nov 2018 – Mar 2020
Intramural Funding $25,000
Interdisciplinary Leadership in ASD: Optimizing Research-Practice Partnerships for Evidence-Based Outcomes ⟩
Period: Feb 2017 – Jul 2019
Federal Funding $29,875
Sensory Experiences Project (SEP) ⟩
Young participant plays with a toy puffer fish in the insp!re lab The SEP was a 10-year longitudinal study that has concluded enrollment and is in the data analysis phase. The purpose of this project was to explain the development, functional impact, and pathogenesis of unusual sensory experiences…
Period: Jul 2008 – Jun 2014
Federal Funding $2,516,180
2025
Artis, J., Nowell, S. W., Dubay, M., Grzadzinski, R., Thompson, K., Choi, E., Baranek, G. T., & Watson, L. R. (2025). Early language, social communication, and autism characteristics of young toddlers at elevated likelihood for autism identified by the First Years Inventory–Lite. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 34(1), 347–363. https://doi.org/10.1044/2024_AJSLP-24-00149 Show abstract
Purpose. The purposes of this article were (a) to compare the developmental skills of toddlers whose scores on the First Years Inventory–Lite (FYI-Lite), an early screening tool, indicated an elevated likelihood of a later diagnosis of autism (ELA) to the developmental skills of toddlers at a lower likelihood of a later diagnosis of autism (LLA) and (b) to examine how autism characteristics are correlated with communication measures in toddlers at an ELA.
Method. We assessed the language, social communication (SC) skills, and characteristics of autism demonstrated by 45 toddlers at an ELA and 37 toddlers at an LLA between the ages of 11 and 18 months and compared group scores on these measures. We also examined the correlations between the characteristics of autism and language measures within the ELA group.
Results. Toddlers at an ELA demonstrated lower scores on measures of global expressive and receptive language, receptive vocabulary, gestures, and response to joint attention bids as well as SC characteristics of autism when compared to those demonstrated by toddlers at an LLA. There were no significant differences between groups on expressive vocabulary, language profiles (i.e., the relationship between receptive and expressive scores), or restrictive and repetitive behaviors. Within the ELA group, the SC characteristics of autism were significantly associated with their global receptive and expressive language skills.
Conclusions. On the basis of the FYI-Lite screening tool, toddlers at an ELA are demonstrating delays in language and SC skills when compared to toddlers identified with an LLA. For toddlers at an ELA, the SC characteristics of autism are significantly associated with early language skills.
2024
Chen, Y.-J., Sideris, J., Watson, L. R., Crais, E. R., & Baranek, G. T. (2024). Early developmental profiles of sensory features and links to school-age adaptive and maladaptive outcomes: A birth cohort investigation. Development and Psychopathology, 36(1), 291-301. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579422001195 Show abstract
Sensory-based subtypes among autistic children have been well documented, but little is known about longitudinal sensory subtypes beyond autistic populations. This prospective study aimed to identify subtypes based on trajectories of parent-reported sensory features measured at 6–19 months, 3–4, and 6–7 years of age among a community-based birth cohort (N = 1,517), and to examine their associations with school-age clinical and adaptive/maladaptive outcomes on a subset sample (N = 389). Latent class growth analysis revealed five trajectory subtypes varying in intensity and change rates across three sensory domains. In contrast to an Adaptive-All Improving subtype (35%) with very low sensory features and overall better school-age outcomes, an Elevated-All Worsening subtype (3%), comprised of more boys and children of parents with less education, was associated with most elevated autistic traits and poorest adaptive/maladaptive outcomes. Three other subtypes (62% in total) were generally characterized by stable or improving patterns of sensory features at mild to moderate levels, and challenges in certain outcome domains. Our findings indicate that characterizing children based on early sensory trajectories may contribute to earlier detection of subgroups of children with sensory challenges who are more likely to experience developmental challenges by school age, followed by early targeted interventions for improved long-term outcomes.
Keywords. autism, community sample, latent-class trajectory, school-age outcomes, sensory features
2022
Baranek, G. T., Sideris, J., Chen, Y.-J., Crais, E. R., Turner-Brown, L., & Watson, L. R. (2022). Early measurement of autism risk constructs in the general population: A new factor structure of the First Years Inventory (FYIv3.1) for ages 6–16 months. Autism Research, 15(5), 915-928. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.2691 Show abstract
Early detection of autism risk in the community is critical to increasing families' access to early intervention, yet few measures have been developed and tested for the general population of infants <16 months to tap a broader range of autism risk constructs. This study aimed to (a) examine the factor structure of the First Years Inventory, version 3.1 (FYIv3.1), with a sample of 6454 infants 6–16 months, and (b) determine the ability of the resulting factors to discriminate clinical outcome groups at 3 years of age. The FYIv3.1 is a parent-report tool designed to detect early behavioral risk signs that may be associated with a later diagnosis of ASD and related neurodevelopmental conditions. Factor analytic models were used to determine the number of constructs and inter-factor correlations. Findings supported a seven-factor structure: communication, imitation and play (CIP); social attention and affective engagement (SAE); sensory hyperresponsiveness (HYPER); sensory hyporesponsiveness (HYPO); self-regulation in daily routines (SREG); sensory interests, repetitions, and seeking behaviors (SIRS); motor coordination and milestones (MCM). Mean comparisons on these factors demonstrated significant discrimination of the three outcome groups at age 3 years including those classified as having an ASD diagnosis and/or high autism symptoms, those classified as having other developmental disorders/conditions/concerns, and those classified with no known conditions/concerns. These findings support the validity and multidimensionality of early ASD risk constructs, as well as the potential use of the FYIv3.1 for phenotypic subtyping in the general population, and early detection in a broader age range of 6–16 months in future clinical studies.
Study finds 3 percent of children have elevated sensory issues that seemingly worsen throughout early childhood, a pattern strongly linked to autism ⟩
December 29, 2022
By following more than 1,500 children over six years, USC-led study helps confirm sensory features are an early behavioral marker of autism.
New analysis of developmental screen finds autistic children showed heightened sensory, motor behaviors as infants ⟩
March 7, 2022
By analyzing more than 6,000 questionnaire responses, team of USC and UNC researchers identify areas during infancy linked to later neurodevelopmental risks.
New study shows autism correlated with changing sensory preferences during early childhood ⟩
March 3, 2022
Results from a USC–UNC study suggest sensory issues in early infancy may be the first signs of a later autism diagnosis.
Elementary school students tap imagination and empathy to design mural in new USC research lab ⟩
March 21, 2019
Lab studying early screening, sensory issues tied to autism opens with Mirman School field trip visit.
