Dr. Laura Grofer Klinger The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA

Dr. Klinger is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the School of Medicine, University of North Carolina. She received her BA in Human Biology from Stanford University and PhD in Clinical Child Psychology and Developmental Psychology, University of Washington at Seattle. Dr. Klinger has a longstanding interest... read morein identifying learning differences (e.g., attention, executive function, implicit learning) in ASD and how these learning differences predict outcomes across the lifespan. Her research in this area has focused on (1) describing service needs for adults with ASD particularly identifying needs associated with the more than 50% of adults with ASD living at home with caregivers; (2) identifying predictors of adult outcomes including a focus on the role that daily living skills (adaptive behavior) plays in predicting employment and quality of life outcomes; (3) developing targeted interventions for adolescents and young adults with ASD that target learning and emotion regulation challenges including conducting a randomized clinical trial across North Carolina community colleges; and (4) describing the needs of older adults with ASD including concerns about possible early onset dementia/cognitive decline. As the Executive Director of the UNC TEACCH Autism Program, Dr. Klinger is also committed to community-based care and methods to support the implementation of evidence-based practices in rural settings including dissemination to rural mental health and rural medical providers.