Date: Wednesday, April 8, 2026
Location: 46-3002 (Singleton Auditorium)

Speaker: Catherine Lord, Ph.D.
Affiliation: Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Education, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles

Host: Dr. Mriganka Sur

Talk title: Trajectories in Autism from 2 to 34; What can we learn from them?

Abstract: For more than 30 years, our group has followed individuals first referred for possible autism under age 3 into adulthood in a longitudinal, observational study of developmental trajectories in autism. I will describe findings on stability and change in autism symptoms, language and cognitive development, and adaptive functioning, with particular attention to early language trajectories and the marked heterogeneity in adult outcomes. The goal is to highlight how these long-term trajectories can inform our understanding of neurobiological heterogeneity and clarify potential pathways to change across the lifespan.