Welcome

Yasamin Bolourian, Ph.D., is currently an Analyst at TNTP, a national nonprofit organization. After graduating Boston University with a B.A. in Sociology, Dr. Bolourian went on to earn her M.A. in Psychology from Pepperdine University and her PhD in Special Education from the University of California Riverside. She completed a postdoctoral research training from the University of California Riverside, developing and implementing a teacher training program for elementary school educators of students with autism. She has clinical experience working with families and their children with autism in a variety of settings, including an outpatient hospital clinic, a university-based center, and a school-based program.  She has served as a coach to autistic youth, as well as to their caregivers and educators, to help support positive educational and social outcomes and to help navigate school and service systems.

 

Dr. Bolourian has an active research agenda, spanning areas of innovation in professional development programs for educators, postsecondary outcomes for neurodiverse students, and service pathways for autistic youth and their families in community and school settings.  She has published a dozen articles on these and related topics for the scientific community, educators, and the general public.  She continues her passion for providing access to information about autism by presenting to educational and family audiences.  During her time at UC Riverside, she has also coordinated and managed a number of initiatives that aim to reduce disparities and increase equity in services for families of youth with developmental disabilities in Inland Southern California.

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 Dr. Bolourian is trained in "gold standard" assessment measures in the evaluation of autism, including the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-2 (ADOS-2).  She is also trained and certified in one of the few evidence-based social skills interventions for autism, the UCLA PEERS Program.  She is on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Intellectual Disability Research.  She is also Co-Chair of the Autism Spectrum Disorders Special Interest Research Group for the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IASSIDD).  Dr. Bolourian is a fellow of the University of California Leadership Education in Neurodiversity (UC-LEND) Program. Her postdoctoral position is funded by the Institute of Education Sciences. Her work has been supported by the California Department of Developmental Disabilities (DDS), the UC Riverside Center for Health Disparities Research (HDR), and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD).  For more information about these projects, please visit the Projects Page, or click on the links below.