PEP Talk for Parents: Helping Young Children With Autism Access Early Education and School Services
Official title: Pediatricians Empowering Parents (PEP) Talk: Creating A Ripple Effect in Primary Care to Facilitate Access to Early Intervention and School-Based Services for Children with Autism
Funded at Baylor College of Medicine · NIH-11285977 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A program helps pediatricians talk with families of very young children with autism to speed up access to early intervention and school-based services.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Baylor College of Medicine NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Houston, United States) |
| Project start | August 24, 2026 |
| Project end | April 30, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $406,445 |
| NIH project number | 1R01MH142548-01 |
| Project ID | NIH-11285977 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Families of children aged 0-11 (and suspected ASD) who interact with pediatric primary care and are navigating early intervention and school-based services.
✕Less likely to help
Families in areas where services are readily accessible or where PCPs already use effective communication tools may see limited additional benefit.
What this research studies
If your child has or might have autism, this project supports your pediatrician in giving clear, timely information about early intervention and school services. It includes a 1-hour CME training for doctors and nurses, plus electronic health record tools to share guidance with families during visits. The goal is to reduce miscommunications that delay start of services and to shorten the time before your child can begin ECI and SBS. The approach focuses on standardizing conversations and providing practical steps within routine care to benefit families and children.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, families could experience faster access to essential early and school-based services for children with autism, improving long-term outcomes.
How similar studies have gone: Previous efforts to improve doctor-family communication in pediatrics show promise; this study tests a targeted, EHR-integrated approach for ASD-related referrals.
Where this research is happening
-
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Kochel, Robin P. — Baylor College of Medicine
- Study coordinator: Kochel, Robin P.
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Psychosocial effects of newborn autism genetic risk on families
This grant tests how telling parents that their newborn has a genetic risk for autism affects their feelings, relationships, and plans over the first two years.
-
Early autism screening in primary care to help kids get diagnosed sooner
This grant tests how to reliably screen for autism during routine pediatric check-ups to help children get diagnosed earlier and access intervention sooner.
-
Optimizing autism diagnosis training for primary care
Aiming to help primary care providers diagnose autism more accurately and quickly so more children get support without long waits.
-
Earlier autism detection during 18- and 24-month pediatric check-ups
This project tests ways to make autism screening at 18- and 24-month pediatric visits find signs earlier so toddlers can get help sooner.
-
How learning a newborn's genetic risk for autism affects parents
This project looks at how parents feel, think, and act when they are told their newborn has an increased genetic chance of developing autism.
-
Improving parenting support to prevent behavioral health issues in children
This study is all about helping parents get better support for raising their kids by training doctors to talk more easily about behavioral health and connect families to helpful online parenting programs, making it simpler for everyone to join in and prevent problems like depression and behavior issues in children.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.