0:00
/
Illustration by Mark Harris / Source: Tempest McDonald
Add us as a Preferred Source on Google
Set us as a Preferred Source to see The Transmitter more prominently in your Google Search results.
When autistic kids grow up, Chapter 4: How did things unfold?
Tempest McDonald sues Vanderbilt University through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Her published NIH paper finds allies.
By
Brady Huggett
25 June 2026 | 1 min read
In Chapter 4 of “When autistic kids grow up,” Tempest McDonald’s time at Vanderbilt comes to its end, and an investigation into the autism research funding landscape shows her paper was pointing toward something true.
Read the transcript. Listen to Chapters 1, 2 and 3.
Two-author paper: Tempest McDonald and Audrey Scudder (right) standing in front of their “NIH funding gap” poster during a Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Science Day in 2023.
All images courtesy of Tempest McDonald
Home city: McDonald visits a friend’s house in East Nashville, Tennessee, in 2022.
Explore more from The Transmitter
NeuroDev study maps previously unseen genetic variation in Africa
By
Brianna Abbott
25 June 2026 | 5 min read
Cooperating marmosets extend decision-making model of the brain
By
Calli McMurray
24 June 2026 | 1 min watch
Designer synapses edit brain circuits in living animals
By
Simon Makin
23 June 2026 | 5 min read
Cite this article: