NFAR PARENT'S GROUP
The group meets the 3rd Wednesday of the month, with a combination of Zoom and in-person meetings. It's an opportunity to learn from guest speakers, share resources, and enjoy connecting with other parents raising a child on the autism spectrum or related special needs. All parents welcome!
Schedule for Wed., April 19
6:30 - 7:00 PM: visit and eat pizza - complimentary
7:00 - 8:00 PM: Guest Speaker presentation
Location: 9825 Businesspark Ave, San Diego, CA 92131.
TOPIC: Latest Trends in Autism Research
Dr. Pierce will discuss the latest trends in autism research that relates to new innovations in screening, early detection and brain imaging.
She will also highlight findings from SPARK, the largest genetics study of autism in the world, that includes over 40,000 individuals with autism. Pierce was drawn to SPARK because its large size makes it possible to study autism’s diversity. “People with autism are so wildly different ,” she says. “The idea that the same treatment will work in the same way for all children with ASD is not realistic.”
Dr. Pierce would also like to hear from parents regarding the impact COVID has had on their child’s development and progress.
GUEST SPEAKER: Karen Pierce, PhD - Professor in the Department of Neurosciences and Co-Director of the UCSD Autism Center of Excellence
Dr. Pierce is a professor in the Department of Neurosciences and the Co-Director of the UCSD Autism Center of Excellence. She has been studying autism spectrum disorder (ASD) for the past 25 years and is a leading expert on the clinical and neural profiles that make children on the spectrum unique. Her research spans a range of topics from early screening and detection to eye tracking and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
Dr. Pierce's first exposure to autism was as an undergrad at Stonybrook University in New York in a research lab whose focus was aggressive adolescents with autism. Most of the kids had very little language, and reacted out of frustration. This experience inspired Pierce to pursue a degree in experimental psychology after college. “I was interested in helping kids improve their social communication so that they could feel happier and less frustrated,” she says.
As a graduate student at the University of California, San Diego, Pierce developed a program to teach typically developing students how to have a positive relationship with students with autism. Now, two decades later, Dr Pierce is still working on ways to positively impact those with an autism diagnosis.
Dr. Pierce has been invited as a keynote speaker on the topic of autism at both national and international conferences. She has published over 85 papers on autism, including in high-impact journals such as JAMA Pediatrics and Nature Human Behavior and has been highlighted in the public media including CNN, The Wall Street Journal, and Time Magazine. Her research is funded by the National Institute of Health and the Centers for Disease Control as well as private organizations such as the Simons Foundation. She has been honored by several awards and recognitions including US Department of Health and Human Services IACC Top 20 Research Paper, Autism Speaks Top 10 Research Paper, and the San Diego Health Hero Award.
TO RSVP