ABA Inside Track – Bonus Episode 37: Thompson Center 2025 Special

Release Date: October 29, 2025
Hosts: ABA Inside Track Team

Episode Overview

This bonus episode of ABA Inside Track spotlights the Thompson Center’s 2025 Conference poster session—a showcase of emerging, interdisciplinary research at the intersection of behavior analysis, medicine, education, and allied health. Rather than focusing on the main program, the hosts dive into conversations with student and early-career researchers, offering listeners a glimpse into the innovative projects shaping the future of autism and neurodevelopment research. The tone is collaborative, supportive, and curious, as the hosts and presenters explore quality improvement in healthcare, person-centered planning, transition challenges, accessible technology, neuroscience, and rare disorder research.

Key Discussions & Insights

1. Improving NICU Follow-Up Care (Farrell Landwehr)

[02:07–05:16]

• Project Focus: Enhancing comprehensive follow-up care for infants discharged from the NICU to reduce high “no-show” rates and better support families.
• Key Findings: A 23% no-show rate for NICU follow-up appointments from Jan 2023–Dec 2024. Major risk factors: young maternal age, substance use, limited awareness, and social determinants like food/housing insecurity.
• Proposed Solutions:
  • Integrating multi-disciplinary care (PT, OT, genetics, nutrition) into a single “round table” visit.
  • Active patient/family education before hospital discharge.
  • Employing care coordinators to streamline services and education.
• Memorable Quote:

  “All these visits and everything can be over the patient’s or the parents’ heads and it’s just very overwhelming.” (Farrell Landwehr, 04:39)

2. Caregiver-Informed Inpatient Behavior Care Plans (Ellie Random)

[05:41–08:17]

• Project Focus: Designing simple, actionable behavior care plans for children with behavioral concerns during hospital stays, guided by caregivers.
• Method: Surveys completed by families inform a one-page plan covering communication, triggers, coping strategies, and supports, aimed at bedside nurses and therapists.
• Status: In early stages, seeking staff feedback before piloting at University of Missouri, Columbia.
• Host Praise: The hosts highlight patient-focused, person-first language and the plan’s real-world utility.
• Memorable Quote:

  “We put that into a one-page behavior care plan that is meant to be simple and actionable for our bedside nurses and therapists.” (Ellie Random, 06:09)

3. Autistic Students’ Transition to Adulthood – Voices of Marginalized Communities (Atsiri Arvello Pio)

[08:18–15:39]

• Project Focus: A qualitative study exploring the lived experiences of autistic students (from marginalized, often low-income families) during the transition from high school to adulthood.
• Framework: Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, highlighting how policy-level changes (like funding cuts) indirectly—but meaningfully—affect individual outcomes.
• Methods:
  • 10–15 verbally communicative autistic young adults recently out of high school, self-identifying as marginalized and/or below income thresholds.
  • Snowball sampling through advocacy and educational programs.
  • Thematic analysis with participant “member checks” for accuracy.
• Inclusion & Empowerment: Participants guide and validate the research, moving beyond extraction to partnership.
• Notable Reflections:

  “I am using my voice to help them share their stories. It’s not just for me but it’s setting those steps for them to come behind me.” (Atsiri Arvello Pio, 14:19)

• Host Reaction: Hosts applaud participatory methods and express curiosity about IRB challenges and future results.

4. Adaptive Gaming – Making Play Accessible for All (OT Student, pseudonym)

[16:00–25:40]

• Project Focus: Enhancing gaming accessibility for individuals with physical and developmental disabilities through OT intervention and customized hardware.
• Background: Despite accessible controllers and university gaming lounges, participant recruitment is challenging—suggesting stigma, self-sufficiency, or age-related barriers.
• Strategies for Improvement:
  • Shift toward pediatric/early intervention settings.
  • Education for OTs and families on available technology (“knowing what your potential can be and knowing your limitations are two very different things,” 21:29).
  • User-centered guidance to prevent wasted time and costs on unsuitable tech.
  • Importance of “gaming as social lubricant” for inclusion and mental health.
• Memorable Exchange:
  • Host 2: “With unlimited money I’m sure we’ll be able to provide—but that’s so important, like, what a key… Easy—I don’t want to say easy, but video games as an easy social lubricant.” (24:41)
  • OT Student: “Yes.” (24:47)
• Favorite Game Sidebar:
  • Hands-down favorite: Skyrim.
  • Looking forward to upcoming Skate release.

5. The Amygdala, Propranolol, and Anxiety in Autism (Nanan Narayani)

[25:40–30:50]

• Project Focus: Investigating whether amygdala connectivity/volume can predict response to propranolol (a beta blocker) for anxiety in autistic young adults.
• Methodology: 16 participants (aged 16–23) assessed by clinicians for anxiety response (using clinical global impression scales) and underwent neural imaging.
• Key Results:
  • Contrary to initial hypothesis, weaker amygdala–occipital lobe connectivity correlated with better propranolol response.
  • Suggests alternative neural pathways (visual–sensory–emotional) might be more relevant than previously thought.
• Future Directions: Larger sample sizes and expanded brain region focus.
• Memorable Quote:

  “Compared to our hypothesis, the one who are responds best for this drug is the one who has weaker connectivity between amygdala and occipital lobe.” (Nanan Narayani, 28:52)

• Host Reflection: “Getting weird results… that’s part of the process. That’s why it’s science, and not just made up business gobbledygook.” (Host 2, 30:31)

6. Translational Pipeline for Rare Neurogenetic/Neurodevelopmental Disorders (Sophia Marchetti)

[30:52–36:24]

• Project Focus: Building a “bench to bedside” translational pipeline for rare disorders—moving from genetic identification, through natural history, to animal/human cell models, and ultimately treatment discovery.
• Example Used: SYT1 Baker-Gordon Syndrome, with a comprehensive research arc:
  • Patient recruitment, clinical assessment, animal/cell models, iterative evaluation of potential therapeutics.
• Broader Value:
  • Connects patients/families with support networks and advocacy groups in addition to pursuing medical solutions.
  • Enhances sense of community and support for patients facing rare, often isolating conditions.
• Memorable Quote:

  “For a person with a rare genetic disorder… it would give them the security—no, not security, but knowledge of knowing that someone’s trying to find a treatment option for them.” (Sophia Marchetti, 34:32)

• Host Insight: Host recognizes the importance of psychosocial support, not just “the textbook example,” for rare disorder families.

Notable Quotes & Moments

On Care Coordination and Patient Overwhelm

“All these visits… can be over the patient’s or the parents’ heads and it’s just very overwhelming.”
— Farrell Landwehr, 04:39

On Person-First Planning

“We put that into a one-page behavior care plan that is meant to be simple and actionable…”
— Ellie Random, 06:09

On Centering Lived Experience

“It’s not just for me, but it’s setting those steps for them to come behind me.”
— Atsiri Arvello Pio, 14:19

On the Role of OT in Gaming

“Knowing what your potential can be and knowing like your limitations are two very different things. Sure.”
— OT Student, 21:29

On Surprising Neuroscience Results

“Compared to our hypothesis, the one who are responds best for this drug is the one who has weaker connectivity between amygdala and occipital lobe.”
— Nanan Narayani, 28:52

On the Broader Impact of Translational Research

“…for a person with a rare genetic disorder, it would give them… knowledge of knowing that someone’s trying to find a treatment option for them.”
— Sophia Marchetti, 34:32

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Conference Reflection & Format: [00:13–01:58]
• NICU Follow-up Care: [01:58–05:16]
• Caregiver-Informed Behavior Plans: [05:41–08:17]
• Transition to Adulthood (Autistic Youth): [08:18–15:39]
• Adaptive Gaming/OT & Technology: [16:00–25:40]
• Amygdala & Propranolol/Anxiety in Autism: [25:40–30:50]
• Translational Research for Rare Disorders: [30:52–36:24]

Conclusion

The Thompson Center’s 2025 poster session reveals the rich, interdisciplinary work shaping the next decade of research and care in autism and neurodevelopment. Each project dives deep into “unsung” or emerging aspects of support—holistic care, lived experience, technological innovation, precision medicine, and community connection. The presenters’ passion and the hosts’ honest curiosity create a lively, hopeful exploration of what’s possible when diverse disciplines and voices contribute to ABA and autism research.

Listeners walk away with an appreciation for both the scientific “process” and the deeply human experiences at the heart of these efforts.