How can we fully integrate individuals with autism into society and prevent exclusion and stigmatization?
Dr. Myra Beth Bundy will attempt to answer that question in her Chautauqua lecture on Thursday, Oct. 22, at Eastern Kentucky University. A professor of psychology at EKU, she will present “Autism: The Metamorphosis of a Diagnosis” at 7:30 p.m. in O’Donnell Hall of the Whitlock Building. Her talk, free and open to the public, also serves as the keynote address for National Disability Employment Awareness Month.
Bundy earned her doctoral degree in clinical psychology from the University of South Carolina with a focus on developmental disabilities. Her decision to specialize in autism and other developmental disorders was cemented through an internship at the University of North Carolina’s TEACCH Autism Program, a pioneering program in autism intervention.
Her professional areas of interest also include a focus on the idea of “neurodiversity” in the area of community psychology as a means of moving beyond outdated paradigms of attacking and stigmatization.
Bundy is a licensed psychologist and an autism and developmental disabilities intervention specialist. She serves as an ASD “Strategies in Action” Blue Ribbon Panel Member and is coordinator of the EKU Developmental Disabilities Specialty Clinic, which provides opportunities for EKU graduate students to work with children, adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorders and other developmental disabilities.
Bundy also collaborates with EKU faculty from the occupational therapy, communication disorders and special education programs to direct the Autism Spectrum Disorder Certificate Program, and she works with EKU students to conduct research regarding autism.
In 2013, Bundy was selected as a Critical Thinking Teacher of the Year.
Bundy’s lecture is sponsored by the Department of Psychology, Americans with Disabilities Act Awareness Committee and the Honors Program.
For more information, visit www.chautauqua.eku.eduor contact Chautauqua Lecture Coordinator Dr. Erik Liddell at erik.liddell@eku.edu.