Neurodivergent kids face special mental health risks. New initiative seeks ways to protect them
Like many young people diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, Jacob Schreiber was creative, empathetic, and endlessly curious. He found deep satisfaction in composing music and studying the stars. He found solace in understanding how and why the world works the way it does.
His death by suicide at the age of 19 in 2024 left his loved ones in mourning. In grief, Schreiber’s family turned to the questions Jake had grappled with throughout his life.
“He was always looking for answers,” said his mother, Lori Schreiber. “Why am I different from my sisters? Why do I feel different in my brain?”
Jake Collective, a nonprofit foundation founded in Schreiber’s honor, is partnering with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention on a five-year, $5 million research initiative addressing the mental health needs of children and adolescents with neurodivergence.
Brown University student Jacob Schreiber died by suicide in 2024 at the age of 19.
(Courtesy of the Schreiber Family)
“Neurodivergence” is an umbrella term for a variety of conditions that affect the way a person thinks or processes information, such as autism, ADHD, or dyslexia.
Although each of these conditions manifests in different ways, research has identified a troubling pattern: Children diagnosed with autism or ADHD are generally more likely to experience depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions than their neurotypical peers, and to consider suicide and die.
But to date, there is little evidence-based guidance on effective interventions for children whose brains work differently. Far less of this information has reached adults who are best positioned to support them in a crisis, such as parents, pediatricians, and community therapists.
Neurodevelopmental pediatrician Dr. D. of the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, who collaborated on the project. “Suicide in the autistic population is a serious concern, but we know little,” said Paul Lipkin. “I think people are realizing that this deserves more attention and understanding.”
Melissa Floren Filippone, CEO of Jake Collective, said the startup has already begun recruiting expert panels consisting of psychiatrists, pediatricians, neurobiologists and other researchers, as well as people with firsthand experience living with neurodevelopmental conditions and mental health issues.
Their first publication, expected by the end of this year, will include a summary of the strongest research on the subject to date, as well as the most important questions that still need to be answered.
It will then fund relevant research projects and develop educational programs for parents and teachers, he said. American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Jessica Schwartzman, director of the Education and Research Laboratory for Strengthening Neurodiversity at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, said the project is “an exciting opportunity to begin closing the research-practice gap.”
Schwartzman, who studies depression and anxiety disorders in neurodivergent youth and was not directly involved in the project, identified a number of important questions the field still needs to answer: What do the signs of impending crisis look like in neurodivergent children, and do they differ from those of neurotypical children? Which therapies are most helpful? How can providers get the information they need to understand their neurodiverse patients’ experiences and provide them with the right care?
“I’m really pleased to see organizations closing this gap on a national level,” said Samara Tricarico, co-founder of Endurant Movement, a nonprofit that works with neurodivergent youth. Tricarico’s son Anthony He died by suicide in 2024 at the age of 16.
“He was autistic. He was loved. And we still didn’t have what we needed to get to him in time,” he said. “This is a glaring deficiency in our nation’s mental health landscape, and I am grateful that some larger, more established organizations are confronting this issue head on with this initiative.”
Samia McCall, whose 14-year-old daughter Maisa died by suicide in 2024, expressed hope that the initiative will focus on efforts to help communities embrace and accommodate children who often experience extreme pressure to camouflage and fit in.
“We need to adjust environments and teach children early in life how their unique brains work, how to defend themselves, and how to adapt and support their own nervous systems. This is largely accomplished by educating the adults around them to understand them better,” he said. “Just as ramps and elevators help everyone, neurodiversity-affirming adjustments make the world more accessible to us all.”
