Jill Locke, PhD is an assistant professor at the Center for Mental Health Policy and Services Research at the University of Pennsylvania. She completed her doctorate degree in educational psychology at UCLA. Dr. Locke's research interests are in developing and implementing interventions designed to address social ability in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in school settings as well as exploring the ways in which treatment gains in intervention programs are generalized and sustained over time. She has coordinated multiple treatment trials that examined the effects of targeted interventions on the social inclusion of elementary-aged children with ASD in public school settings. Dr. Locke received a 2011-2012 Autism Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship award to modify a proven-efficacious intervention designed to address socialization in children with autism, so that it can be used by school personnel to facilitate engagement and play between children with autism and their peers during recess periods. She piloted the newly-manualized program in the School District of Philadelphia with one-on-one autism instructional aides in hopes of providing schools with a built-in mechanism to continue to support children with autism after external support is withdrawn. This work has led to an early career award examining the implementation of an evidence-based, adult and peer-mediated social engagement intervention for elementary school children with autism through the Autism Science Foundation and the FARFund.

Susan Williams White, PhD is a clinical psychologist with specialization in psychosocial and other non-pharmaceutical interventions for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). She directs the Child Assessment Clinic and co-directs the Autism Clinic at Virginia Tech, where she is an Associate Professor of Psychology. Dr. White graduated from Florida State University and completed her post-doctoral fellowship at Yale University. She received an early career award to develop and test a novel treatment program for adolescents with ASD with comorbid anxiety disorders. Dr. White has published numerous empirical and review articles, chapters, and books on ASD, psychiatric comorbidity, and evidence-based treatment. Her current research involves use of novel computerized approaches, alongside more traditional interventions, to target mechanisms that may underlie social dysfunction in ASD.

Lecture Summary: Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) experience significant problems at school and in the community because of the social aspects of ASD. This presentation will cover questions such as, what is the nature of social disability in ASD? How does social disability express itself both in the school setting and throughout the life span? What kinds of interventions do clinicians use to target social impairments? What are the challenges associated with different approaches? How can we translate research into everyday practice? This presentation will orient the audience to these questions and will include a discussion of research underway at CAR, the University of Pennsylvania, and beyond to help understand this critical topic.

This lecture is intended for families of individuals with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and for professionals supporting individuals on the spectrum. We also invite anyone who is interested in learning more about ASD.

 Upon completion of this lecture, participants will be able to:

1. Describe how social impairments in ASD may express themselves in different settings
2. Explain different intervention approaches and the challenges associated with each
3. Discuss social intervention research studies and how their findings can translate into practice for individuals diagnosed with ASD