Dr. Elizabeth McGhee Hassrick and her team are deep in the midst of a project to measure and build supportive networks that bridge home, school and community, for students with autism who are transitioning from pre-K to kindergarten and from middle school to high school — times when the support systems for these children can get disrupted. “We’re using that data to characterize what transition looks like and what types of connections actually bridge the gap, and what connections don’t, as well as determining which kinds of care networks predict successful transitions,” Dr. Hassrick says.

One of the components of the study is an app that can be downloaded to a smartphone to help bridge collaboration gaps among parents and providers during transition. The app helps parents, teachers and other support professionals engage one another and share what works for the child.

“It’s exciting to have a project taking a systematic approach to measuring collaboration and support for families on the spectrum,” Dr. Hassrick says. “This could be a real missing ingredient to managing these challenging times of transition.”