By Jessica Gregg
Earlier this year, Kennedy Krieger Institute announced a new name for its innovative and internationally renowned autism center: the Center for Autism Services, Science and Innovation, or CASSI™. This name reflects the achievements of the center, which opened in 1995, as well as advancements in the care, research and community understanding of autistic people since the center’s founding.
“As the first interdisciplinary autism center, we started with a mission of providing crucial services to our patients and students,” says Institute Vice President Dr. Rebecca Landa, the center’s founder and executive director. “Our new name more clearly reflects the scope of our work, yet also emphasizes that our primary mission has not changed—we are here to serve our patients and their families with excellence and the most scientifically supported approaches.”
Formerly known as the Center for Autism and Related Disorders, or CARD, CASSI provides clinical services to autistic children and teens, offers training internationally and has a fully fledged research arm. The center’s 225 staff members work across four sites—two in Baltimore; one in Columbia, Maryland; and one in Odenton, Maryland.
CASSI services are extensive and science-based, and they incorporate new innovations developed at Kennedy Krieger and beyond. Young children with autism participate in offerings like CASSI’s Achievements Program, which provides them with social, communication and early education skills for school success. Job training and classes in life and social skills are available for teens with autism. Researchers are exploring ever-better ways to diagnose autism, anxiety and other developmental conditions at an increasingly younger age.
“The greater understanding of autism that exists today is directly related to the work of innovative centers like CASSI,” says Dr. Bradley L. Schlaggar, Kennedy Krieger’s president and CEO. “The new name reflects and includes critical aspects of the center’s work—using science and innovation to identify new and earlier ways to diagnose, support, treat, educate and prepare autistic individuals to pursue all that’s possible in their lives.”
Our new name more clearly reflects the scope of our work, yet also emphasizes that our primary mission has not changed.” – Dr. Rebecca Landa
Services
In 2023, CASSI clinicians:
- Served more than 6,000 different patients
- Completed more than 950 coaching sessions for teachers, parents and child care providers
- Conducted more than 1,500 training sessions for professionals and community members
Science and Innovation
In 2023, CASSI researchers published more than 100 articles on topics including:
- Early autism detection using artificial intelligence
- Early services for autistic children with anxiety
- Understanding autism in girls
- The autism-gut connection
