Dr. Catherine Lord: The Evolution of Autism Assessment, Challenges with Understanding the Spectrum of Autism, and Barriers in the Medical and Education Systems for Autism

In this episode, we discuss Autism with Dr. Catherine Lord. Dr. Lord is a Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Education at UCLA and one of the foremost researchers in Autism. Dr. Lord provides tremendous insights into her roles in Autism and Autism Assessment.

Dr. Lord discusses her journey into Autism, the evolution of the Assessment including the ADOS growing from her basement and being overran by demand to the Gold Standard, the Challenges with understanding the Spectrum, updates on the Lancet Commission and Profound Autism, and Barriers in the Medical and Educational Systems.

Dr. Catherine Lord:

https://www.semel.ucla.edu/autism/team/catherine-lord-phd

https://childmind.org/bio/catherine-lord-phd/

https://labs.dgsom.ucla.edu/lord/pages/our_team

The Lancet Commission https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)01541-5/abstract

The Lancet https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30078460/

Nature Reviews Disease Primers https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31949163/

Autism and Education https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/from-the-spectrum-finding-superpowers-with-autism/id1737499562?i=1000656055638

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/d948fecc-8cfa-4203-8493-a12d2c9c92ed/episodes/bf7ce843-0dd2-4fe8-b800-82ea9cace96d/from-the-spectrum-finding-superpowers-with-autism-autism-and-education

The mention of a recent article on Predicting Profound Autism and Cell Biology and me shying away from saying "Organoids" in real-time https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11127428/

(0:00) Intro

(3:22) Dr. Lord's journey into Autism and Recognizing a Spectrum

(11:25) The Evolution of Autism Assessment and Discussion on the ADI and ADOS- from making the ADOS in her Basement and being Overran by Demand to the Gold Standard; Revisions of Assessment Instruments

(16:36) Gaps in the Autism Assessment

(23:15) The Challenges with Understanding the Spectrum of Autism

(29:32) Updates on the Lancet Commission and Profound Autism

(35:19) Barriers with Autism and the Medical Field

(39:29) Barriers with Autism and Education- Four Strikes against the Autistic Phenotype: Sensory-Processing, Speech and Language, Social Communication/Interaction, and Subject Switching (understand B3: Fixated Interests)

(44:25) The Future of Autism and Helping Autistics Across the Life Span

(51:03) Reviews/Ratings and Contact Info

email: [email protected]