Research

I currently serve as an undergraduate research assistant in the Human Life and Daily Development Lab at Louisiana State University's School of Kinesiology. Our lab focuses on visuomotor developmental differences between autistic and neurotypical individuals with the goal of identifying areas of interest for clinical intervention. The prevalence of motor difficulties is often observed  in autistic children, and although some deficits are acknowledged in the DSM-V as associated features, it has not received as much research focus.

 

My interest in Autism research and neurodevelopment began with my experiences working with autistic children as a behavioral technician in an Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) clinic. Through the lab, I've engaged with families of autistic children and self-advocates, listening to their stories and experiences, which has kept my research rooted in humanity. I also presented a poster as the second author at LSU's annual undergraduate research conference, Discover Day, during the Spring of 2024.

 

I've begun writing my honors thesis on Motor Planning and Execution in Autistic Children During Feeding Activities. In this study, we evaluated kinematic characteristics of reaching and grasping movements in feeding trials with autistic and neurotypical children. We used marker-based motion capture to assess spatial efficiency, movement smoothness, and reaction time. We'd like to identify which portions of the movements children are struggling with, so clinicians in the clinic know where to focus.