Katharine O’Brien

Katharine ‘KOB’ O’Brien, Ed.M. (she/they) is a second-year doctoral student in Special Education at UCR under the mentorship of Dr. Jan Blacher and Dr. Katherine Meltzoff at the SEARCH Clinic. After teaching in middle and high schools, notably a therapeutic special education day school for students with autism and related special education needs, KOB returned to graduate school to study areas of high need for their students. Their research interests include student-teacher relationships, LGTBQIA2S identities and their high frequency in neurodivergent individuals, and positive identity development for the transition out of school. KOB holds a master’s degree in teaching from Harvard Graduate School of Education, and her undergraduate background is in Biochemistry and Eurasian Studies from Bowdoin College, including research in microbiology! As a neurodivergent advocate, KOB is proud to highlight the accomplishments of other autistic students as the host of the podcast Autism Goes to College.