Research

My research focuses on studying the very specific and atypical spoken language profiles of autistic individuals who have low or minimal verbal skills. To approach this issue, I combine developmental psycholinguistics and neuroimaging methods, such as fNIRS, eye tracking, and natural language sampling. I am highly motivated in conducting research in the most naturalistic way in order to develop studies that are more similar to real-life experiences and open research to individuals for whom rigid research protocols are not appropriate. As a result, I am always looking for ways to make research more naturalistic and accessible, by adapting research protocols so that they can take place in participants' homes, and by utilizing techniques that are portable, wearable or that can be used in a mobile lab.

Through collaborations, I was able to expand my research interest beyond that described above. Being multilingual and evolving in environments where monolingualism is not the norm, I developed a strong research interest for Spanish-English bilingual exposition and its impact on the language profiles of young children on the autism spectrum. Finally, I am fascinated by the evolving and heterogeneous early manifestations of autism and cognitive or language delays of infants who are at an elevated likelihood of developing autism (also known as baby siblings).