BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — An assistant professor at Indiana University is leading a four-year project aimed at improving autistic toddlers’ ability to communicate.

The U.S. Department of Education has awarded a nearly $3.5 million grant to IU special education specialist Hannah Schertz and two colleague at other universities to test the effectiveness of an approach that targets pre-verbal social communication between toddlers younger than age 2 1/2 and their parents.