I am a currently a graduate student in the department of Psychology at Boston University. Before coming to Boston, I received my B.S. in Psychology from UC Davis, where I worked on several research projects related to autism, including one studying the early development of infants at risk for the disorder. I am particularly interested in the ways in which infants learn – through both their own experiences and their interactions with others. Currently, I am examining the impact of maternal and early child gesture use on subsequent language development with the goal of understanding how these factors might operate differently in infants at risk for autism