Dr. Liz Laugeson is a licensed clinical psychologist and a Clinical Instructor in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the UCLA Semel Institute. She is the Director of The Help Group - UCLA Autism Research Alliance and Director of the UCLA Early Childhood Clubhouse Program. Dr. Laugeson is also the Associate Director for the UCLA Children's Friendship and Parenting Program and is the co-developer of PEERS, a parent-assisted social skills intervention for teens with developmental disabilities. Her current clinical and research interests are in social skills training for children and adolescents with developmental disabilities. Dr. Laugeson has been a Principal Investigator and a collaborator on a number of NIH and CDC-funded studies investigating the effectiveness of social skills training for children with autism spectrum disorders and other developmental disabilities. She received her doctorate from Pepperdine University in 2004 and completed a clinical internship in developmental disabilities at UCLA in 2004. Dr. Laugeson was a two-time recipient of the Ruth L. Kirschstein postdoctoral research fellowship at the UCLA Semel Institute from 2004-2007. She joined the UCLA faculty in 2007.