Julienne Chaqour '23 is a dual concentrator in anthropology and cell and molecular biology. Her interests lie in maternal and child health, medical anthropology, and engaged scholarship. Julienne is a Community-Based Learning and Research (CBLR) Fellow in the anthropology department, and a recipient of the Karen T. Romer Teaching and Research Award (UTRA) for her research on fertility. She hopes that her project will shed light on the long-term implications of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) and how this developmental disability affects family dynamics, motivations, and decisions.

Project:

Parental involvement is essential for supporting positive student educational outcomes and has unique implications for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Since parents of children with ASD face many challenges in accessing educational interventions and implementing round-the-clock learning strategies for their children, it is critical to examine family educational involvement and parent-teacher relationships to understand how to best support their educational goals. The aim of this project is to conduct an ethnographic study that synthesizes the narratives of parents of children with ASD to provide a humanistic and holistic perspective on how ASD has affected educational motivations and decisions for their children.

Mentor: Yoko Yamamoto