Laugeson, Elizabeth
Dr. Elizabeth Laugeson is a licensed clinical psychologist and Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. Dr. Laugeson is the Founder and Director of the UCLA PEERS Clinic, which is an outpatient hospital-based program providing parent-assisted social skills training for adolescents and young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder and other social impairments. She is also the Director of The Help Group – UCLA Autism Research Alliance, which is a collaborative research initiative between The Help Group and the UCLA Semel Institute, dedicated to developing and expanding applied clinical research in the treatment of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder.
She is the co-developer of the internationally renowned PEERS® program, which is an evidence-based social skills intervention for teens and young adults with autism spectrum disorder. The PEERS program has been translated into six languages, is currently offered in over a dozen countries, and is the only available empirically-supported social skills program for teens and adults with autism. She is author of three books on the subject of evidence-based social skills training including, The Science of Making Friends, The PEERS® Curriculum for School-Based Professionals, and Social Skills for Teenagers with Developmental and Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Dr. Laugeson has been a principal investigator and collaborator on a number of studies funded by the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigating social skills training for youth with developmental disabilities from preschool to early adulthood. She was the two-time recipient of the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the NIH from 2004-2007, recipient of the Semel Scholar Award for Junior Faculty Career Development in 2008, and received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Pepperdine University in 2010.
Dr. Laugeson is considered one of the world’s leading experts in social skills research and has presented her work at international conferences throughout the world including the U.S., Canada, England, Italy, Australia, Finland, and China. Her groundbreaking research has been featured on national and international media outlets such as People Magazine, USA Today, the LA Times, New York Times, Washington Post, CBS, NBC, and Channel 4 in the United Kingdom.