DENTON (UNT), Texas – In advance of World Autism Awareness Day on Saturday, April 2, and National Autism Awareness Month this April, Kevin Callahan, executive director of the Kristin Farmer Autism Center at the University of North Texas, is available to discuss a variety of autism-related topics, including the importance of early identification and early intervention, the current state of autism research, new trends in autism treatment and more. He can also talk about services provided by the UNT Kristin Farmer Autism Center, which opened in 2012.

Callahan can be reached at 940-369-5373 or by email at Callahan@unt.edu.

Callahan says the autism center is a national leader in social validation research, which helps improve autism treatment by determining if the consumers of the treatment are satisfied with the goals, methods and outcomes.

"Social validation research helps parents, therapists and teachers all around the country identify what they should be doing with their clients, students and children," said Callahan. "We work to find out what parents want you to be doing and combine that information with what research says is the most effective treatment. It doesn't matter how good the science is about the effectiveness of the treatment --if the parent doesn't support its goals, methods and outcomes, it won't be implemented with as much success."