Discover SPARK

Webinar: Emotional Health in Autistic Adults and Building Better Supports

Date Published: November 16, 2022

In this recorded webinar, Dr. Gotham shares updates from her research on factors that contribute to depression in autistic adults. She also talks about patterns of thought and behavior that may be related to positive mental health in this community. Some of the findings that she discusses were made possible by SPARK participants.

Gotham’s research focuses on understanding pathways by which autistic people become depressed, in the hope that they can help us improve effectiveness of and access to treatments for depression in the autistic community.

Who is Katherine Gotham?

Katherine Gotham, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Rowan University Psychology Department (New Jersey) where she directs the Social, Emotional, and Affective Health Lab (SEAHL). The SEAHL team studies cognitive and social behaviors associated with depressed mood in autistic adults. Their goal is to translate mechanistic findings to build better interventions and to promote emotional health in the autistic community. Gotham also trains health professionals on autism assessment as a co-developer of a commonly used autism diagnostic tool, the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS-2).

Webinar Resources