ATRP Community Scholar Program
About the Program
Building capacity with community members to support racially and ethnically minoritized autistic adults
About the Project
The project will collaborate with community members to explore the experiences of minoritized autistic adults who differ in gender, life paths, and cultural backgrounds after leaving high school.
Goals
The project has three primary goals. First, it seeks to understand what autistic adults and community members identify as important for accessing supports. Second, it aims to examine how environmental factors, such as public knowledge of autism, affect autistic adults. Third, the project intends to share its findings with the community, focusing on supports and the impact of the environment. These goals will contribute to a better understanding of how to support autistic adults on their own terms.
The interdisciplinary team conducting the researcher possesses lived, familial, and personal experiences with autism and neurodivergence, reflective of the communities they will engage in through research.
Meet the team
Teresa Girolamo (She/her)
Assistant Professor, SDU
Teresa is a former special education teacher and Assistant Professor in Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences at San Diego State University.
David Rivera (He/Him)
President, Mentoring Autistic Minds
David is an undergraduate student in Political Science at UC Berkeley, and leader of an advocacy organization.
Kyle Greene-Pendelton (He/Him)
Speech-language pathologist
Kyle is a school-based speech-language pathologist, and leader of parent-professional and community organizations.
Taylor Hye (She/Her)
Clinical supervisor & Undergraduate advisor, SDU
Taylor is a clinical supervisor at San Diego State University and the director of San Diego Best Buddies.
Natalie Raviv (She/her)
BA Student, SDU
Natalie is a third-year bilingual undergraduate in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at San Diego State University, with minors in Counseling and Child Family Development.
Makenna Bailey (She/Her)
BA Student, SDU
Makenna is a third-year undergraduate in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at San Diego State University.
Minnie Stanford (She/Her)
BA Student, TU
Minnie is a fourth-year undergraduate in Psychology and Public Health at Tulane University.
Ainsley Perez (She/Her)
BA Student, SDU
Ainsley is a bilingual, fourth-year transfer student in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at San Diego State University.
Quinn Di Cristina (She/Her)
BA Student, SDU
Quinn is a bilingual, third-year undergraduate in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at San Diego State University.
Kelsey Lam (She/Her)
BA Student, SDU
Kelsey is a third-year undergraduate in Psychology and Linguistics at San Diego State University.
Emily Zhang (She/Her)
BA Student, SDU
Emily is a bilingual second-year undergraduate in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at San Diego State University.