INDIANAPOLIS — A new initiative led by Indiana University School of Medicine researchers aims to address the growing need for accessible pediatric autism evaluations by bringing high-quality diagnostic training directly to primary care settings.
Autism prevalence has increased by 400% over the past two decades, but there is a significant gap between the number of children waiting for evaluations and the specialists trained to diagnose them, especially in rural and under-resourced areas.
Backed by a new five-year, $7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, the project will be the largest study to date on training primary care clinicians to diagnose autism. Directed by Rebecca McNally Keehn, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics at the IU School of Medicine, the study will enroll nearly 200 clinicians across Indiana, Massachusetts and Tennessee and test different combinations of training strategies, including online learning modules, case-based observation and expert coaching.
“Families in rural, underserved and historically marginalized communities often experience the greatest barriers to accessing timely autism diagnosis,” McNally said. “A major goal of this work is ensuring that geography, income or availability of specialists does not determine whether a child can access an evaluation.”
Working alongside partners at IU, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and UMass Chan Medical School, the researchers will create a training roadmap so more pediatricians, family medicine doctors and nurse practitioners are equipped to evaluate children closer to home.
McNally and her team at IU will leverage the success of Indiana's Early Autism Evaluation (EAE) Hub for the project. The EAE Hub system is an established network of primary care clinicians trained to provide streamlined diagnostic evaluations for young children at increased likelihood for autism. Through the system, the team has already demonstrated that wait times for a diagnosis can be improved by empowering community healthcare clinicians with skills and support.
The new training project will enable the researchers to scale their system nationally and even globally.
“If successful, the study will produce an optimized training package and implementation blueprint that healthcare systems across the country can adopt because earlier diagnosis can help children access needed supports sooner, reduce stress for families and improve long-term outcomes,” McNally said. “Our vision is that families should not have to travel long distances or spend months on waiting lists to access an autism evaluation.”
For families with immediate developmental concerns, McNally encourages caregivers to talk with their child’s primary care clinician as early as possible, request an evaluation through their state’s early intervention program (for children under 3), explore services through their local school district or connect with local autism advocacy and community support groups.
“Families do not need to wait for a formal autism diagnosis to begin seeking support,” she said.
Individuals interested in learning more may contact the Health Equity through Autism Research Translation Laboratory at iusomasd@iu.edu.
About the Indiana University School of Medicine
The IU School of Medicine is the largest medical school in the U.S. and is annually ranked among the top medical schools in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. The school offers high-quality medical education, access to leading medical research and rich campus life in nine Indiana cities, including rural and urban locations consistently recognized for livability. According to the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research, the IU School of Medicine ranks No. 15 in 2025 National Institutes of Health funding among all public medical schools in the country.
Writer: Jackie Maupin, jacmaup@iu.edu
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