Dena Gohari

Dena Gohari, B.A., is a first year PhD student and has been working with children and young people on the autism spectrum since she was a junior in high school. She received her bachelor's degree in Intensive Psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz and during her gap year worked full-time as an applied behavioral interventionist at The Bay School Santa Cruz, a branch of The May Institute. Dena holds a range of experiences managing challenging behavior in clinical settings for nonverbal children on the spectrum. Dena's research interests primarily include intersectional identities within the autism spectrum, particularly the perspectives of individuals with co-occurring gender dysphoria and autism spectrum disorder. Alongside tackling her first year courseload, Dena currently juggles a number of tasks in Lord Lab, ranging from coding longitudinal data to administering play-based assessments for young children.