Project ECHO Autism Diagnosis and Integrated care Opportunities (ECHO AuDIO)

Summary:

This study aims to improve the healthy futures of autistic children by helping their community health care providers (HCPs) provide them with integrated, community-based care. During the first phase of the study, we will conduct focus groups with HCPs about their experiences with performing diagnostic assessments for autism and providing ongoing integrated care for their autistic patients. The information that we gather will be used to create resources (such as toolkits) and ECHO Autism content for both autism diagnosis and ongoing integrated care that we can share across Canada.

Researchers:

Deadline:

December 2028

Research contact:

Lisa Kanigsberg – lkanigsberg@hollandbloorview.ca

Funding Agency:

Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Conflict of interest:

There are no conflicts of interest related to this study.

Meet the team

Dr. Melanie Penner: Dr. Melanie Penner is a developmental paediatrician at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, a clinician investigator at the autism research centre in the Bloorview Research Institute, an assistant professor in the department of paediatrics at the University of Toronto, and an assistant professor in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. Dr. Penner is the lead of the CIHR funded study, ECHO AuDIO.

Dr. Julie Scorah: Dr. Julie Scorah, PhD, is a licensed neuropsychologist and an Assistant Professor in the department of neurology and neurosurgery in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at McGill University. Dr. Scorah is the Quebec site lead for ECHO AuDIO.

Dr. Anna Kubow: Dr. Anna Kubow is a Developmental Paediatrician at IWK Health in Halifax, Nova Scotia and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Dalhousie University. Dr. Kubow is the co-site lead of the Nova Scotia ECHO AuDIO site.

Dr. Isabel Smith: Dr. Isabel Smith, PhD, is a Clinical-Developmental Psychologist, and is the Joan and Jack Craig Chair in Autism Research at Dalhousie University and the IWK Health Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Dr. Smith is the co-site lead of the Nova Scotia ECHO AuDIO site.

Dr. Lonnie Zwaigenbaum: Dr. Lonnie Zwaigenbaum, a developmental paediatrician, is Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Alberta, and the co-director of the Autism Research Centre based at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital. He is also the Vice-President of the International Society for Autism Research. Dr. Zwaigenbaum is the site lead of the Alberta ECHO AuDIO site.

Dr. Ghita Wiebe: Dr. Ghita Wiebe is a developmental paediatrician at the Alvin Buckwold Child Development Program in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and is currently the Division Director for Developmental Pediatrics in Saskatchewan. She is also an assistant professor in Developmental Pediatrics at the University of Saskatchewan. Dr. Wiebe is the site lead of the Saskatchewan ECHO AuDIO site.

Dr. Angie Ip: Dr. Angie Ip is a developmental paediatrician at Sunny Hill at BC Children's Hospital, clinician investigator at the BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, and clinical associate professor with the Division of Developmental Pediatrics at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Ip is also the medical lead of the BC Autism Assessment Network, based at BC Children's Hospital. Dr. Ip is a Co-PI of ECHO AuDIO and the ECHO AuDIO site lead in British Columbia.

Maddy Dever: Maddy Dever (they/them) is a non-binary, wheelchair user with a spinal cord injury and an Autistic adult and parent of four children who are all also Autistic. Maddy advocates with both provincial and federal governments for inclusion and acceptance of Autistic individuals and for Autistic people and all people with disabilities to have their own voice in policy decisions. Maddy is a hub team member of ECHO Ontario Autism and is the co-chair of the ECHO AuDIO Autistic Advocate Council. Maddy is currently the Interim Chair of the National Autism Network.

Munira Khilji: Munira Khilji, M.B., B.S, is an internationally trained physician and a parent of an autistic child. Currently, Munira is the manager of the Entry to School Programat the South Asian Autism Awareness Centre (SAAAC). Munira is the co-chair the ECHO AuDIO EDI Council.

In the News

Resources

Coming soon

Research activity

Park, S., Kanigsberg, L., Ferguson, G., Penner, M. (2025, April 30 - May 3). Barrier and Facilitator Beliefs about Providing Ongoing, Integrated Care for Autistic Children and Their Families: A Qualitative Exploration of Community Pediatricians’ Perspectives in Ontario [Poster presentation]. International Society of Autism Research 2025 Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, United States

Wakif, Z., Kanigsberg, L., Ferguson, G., Penner, M. (2024, October 30-November 1). Barriers and Facilitators to Pediatric Autism Diagnosis Across Ontario [Poster presentation]. Geneva Centre for Autism Symposium, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Wakif, Z., Kanigsberg, L., Ferguson, G., Penner, M. (2024, November 7-8). Applying an implementation science framework to pediatric autism assessment: Facilitators and barriers in Ontario [Oral presentation]. 2024 Bloorview Research Institute Symposium, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Wakif, Z., Kanigsberg, L., Ferguson, G., Penner, M. (2024, November 27-28). Applying an implementation science framework to understand autism assessment: Facilitators and barriers in Ontario and Alberta [Poster presentation]. Ontario Psychological Association (OPA) Annual Conference 2024, Virtual.

Wakif, Z., Kanigsberg, L., Ferguson, G., Penner, M., Kubow, A., Ip, Angie., Zwaigenbaum, L., Mah, Shannon., Smith, I. (2025, May 29-31). Applying an implementation science framework to understand autism assessment via qualitative analysis: Facilitators and barriers in Canadian provinces [Poster presentation]. Canadian Paediatric Society, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.

Partner organizations