Speaker
Professor Julie Lounds Taylor
Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences; Co-Director, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities
Biography
The goal of Dr. Taylor’s research program is to understand how to promote positive outcomes in adulthood for individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities and their families. Much of her current work focuses on the transition to adulthood for youth on the autism spectrum. Current projects include: (a) developing and testing a parent advocacy training to improve service access and post-school outcomes as youth on the autism spectrum transition from school-based to adult services: (b) understanding the implications of employment and other day-to-day experiences for mental health and quality of life; (c) examining unique vulnerabilities of women on the autism spectrum, as well as vulnerabilities common across sex/gender; and (d) investigating the role of language development during the transition to adulthood for youth with fragile X syndrome.