GRASP has been asked by the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI) to help launch an exciting new initiative called SPARK, and we now invite you and your family to take part. SPARK is an online long-term study with an overall goal of accelerating autism research to gain a better understanding of causes and treatments for autism by building a community of tens of thousands of individuals with autism and their biological family members.

 

GRASP is honored to be one of just a handful of community organizations across the United States selected by SFARI, the nation’s leading private funder of autism research, to help get this initiative off to a successful start. Should you and your family choose to participate, you will be among just a few hundred participants to join SPARK before it launches nationally in April 2016. There is no cost to participate, and participation can be done entirely at home. 

 

To participate you will need to register online  (click the yellow button JOIN SPARK!) to build profiles for you and your family, including the biological parents, and, if applicable, an unaffected brother or sister. During this initial step, you will be asked to consent to share your data and to be recontacted by researchers about opportunities to take part in future studies for which you qualify. Please do not share the SPARK link yet. Until SPARK’s nationwide launch in April, the URL is intended only for select invited individuals and their families.

 

You will then be asked to consent to provide saliva samples for yourself and/or your family members for DNA analysis. In some cases, SPARK may be able to share with your medical provider genetic results that indicate a change in your DNA that caused your autism. You will be able to choose whether or not you would like your provider to receive these genetic results. SPARK will mail you a saliva collection kit to collect the samples in the privacy of your home and provide a prepaid mailer to mail them back to us. 

 

Finally, you will be asked to provide some additional health information. 

 

The information you provide will be strictly protected. As a thank you for your time and participation, SPARK will send you a $50 Amazon gift card. We are asking that surveys and sufficient saliva samples for you and both biological parents (if available) all be completed for you to get the gift card. For more information about the gift card requirements, click here and scroll down to the Technical FAQ.

 

As a SPARK pioneer, you will be making invaluable contributions to advancing the understanding of autism. Together, we can improve lives by helping to accelerate research into potential causes and treatments for autism. GRASP and SFARI sincerely appreciate your time, effort, and participation in this landmark research initiative, and we look forward to learning more together!

 

Questions? Please contact info@grasp.org for more information or the SPARK Team at info@SPARKforAutism.org for technical questions.  

 

We will be providing a webinar for interested individuals and families.  Email us at info@grasp.org to be included in this webinar opportunity.

 

Sincerely,

 

Kate Palmer, MA, CCP, CAS

GRASP President/CEO

Wendy Chung, M.D., Ph.D.

Director of Clinical Research, Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI)