Connie Kasari

Papers

Total Citations

114

H-Index

About

Connie Kasari is a pioneering researcher in developmental psychology and education, best known for her transformative work on social communication interventions for children with autism and other developmental disabilities. Her research focuses on joint attention, peer relationships, and early intervention strategies that enhance social engagement and language development. In her foundational 1995 study, Kasari examined attention regulation in children with Down syndrome, revealing how coordinated joint attention and social referencing differ from typical development—a work that has garnered over 114 citations and laid crucial groundwork for understanding triadic interactions. Her major contributions include developing evidence-based interventions like JASPER (Joint Attention, Symbolic Play, Engagement, and Regulation), which are widely implemented in schools and clinics. With a career spanning decades, Kasari has published extensively, with many papers cited hundreds of times, reflecting her profound impact on autism research and practice. She is a distinguished professor at UCLA and a recipient of numerous awards, including the SIRS Endowment for the Advancement of Research on Autism. Her work continues to shape how educators and clinicians support social communication in vulnerable populations.