How to Apply for Autism Grants

Grants on Autism Spectrum Disorder can be geared towards specific areas of interest. There are many ways to help. You can apply for grants that provide modifications in instruction, upgrades in technology and human resources. Other areas that need funding are the campus-based instruction and off-campus based instruction that applies hands-on working experience for the student and post-professional development that helps the student after high school. Providing a focus on one of these areas can get you started.

Difficulty:

Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Letter of Intent

1. Research grants on the Autism Speaks website that have been funded before. This can increase your chances of having your grant approved when you appeal to their specific contributions and objectives. If the Autism Speaks website is not issuing grants at the time, sign up for their newsletter and be attentive to their submission deadlines.

2. Submit a two-page typed letter of intent that has the following descriptors: name and description of the organization, co-signatures from the organization that wishes to endorse the project and a written proposal of particular objectives, procedures and expected outcomes. Identify the importance of your proposal if you and the organization are researching the symptoms, origins or remedies for Autism Spectral Disorder.

3. Note any research awards obtained in the application process. The Autism Speaks website has a grant application sample.

Grant proposal

1. Write a grant proposal if your letter of intent was accepted. The Autism Speaks administration that accepts your proposal will send you a specific login. Once you create a username and password, the grant proposal template appears.

2. Provide your responsible official's e-mail address, so that she can later approve the budget you request and any other changes you make in the proposal. After you have provided the RO e-mail address, a link becomes available on the left side of the grant proposal template, so you can conveniently receive the budget approval from her when you are required to do so later. She is the one that is endorsing and financing the project.

3. Describe your proposal in a brief abstract that relates to the study of Autism Spectral Disorder. Assume the reader is a non-health professional, so you want to avoid any scientific or technical jargon. Provide a clear message of how and why the proposal is important. The maximum word count is 250.

4. Create a science abstract, if applicable to the grant, that describes the science of how and why the project is important. Again, assume the reader is a non-health professional.

5. Relate your proposal to what has already been researched in the field of autism.

6. Abide by the Research for Application Announcement guideline specifics on page limits with respect to proposal objectives, the importance of your project as it relates to current research, date and procedures. No punctuation or symbols are allowed in the file name fields.

7. Cite your references in a bibliography and provide the numerical value needed in the budget field of the template. After you fill in the numerical value, e-mail your responsible official for approval of the requested budget. You cannot submit the application until you receive an approval confirmation from your RO. Describe the workplace environment. You may also need to attach additional files such as resumes, curriculum vitae, publications, consent forms and consultants who are collaborating on the project. Review your application for any missing files or approvals and then submit.

References

• DisabilityGov
• Autism Speaks
• Autism Speaks: Review Project Info-LOI