Jean A. Frazier, MD, director of UMass Medical School’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center and a leader in child and adolescent psychiatry, will speak at the 2nd Annual Central Massachusetts Autism Summit, which will be hosted by HMEA Inc. Sept. 22 at Assumption College.
The summit will focus on how employers can support employees who are parents of children with autism. An increasing number of children are being diagnosed with autism, which is causing emotional and financial stress for more working parents, according to HMEA. A lack of support for these employees can result in a decline in productivity and increased absences in the workplace, HMEA said.
Kristine Biagiotti, president of EMC’s Disability Employee Resource Group, is the keynote speaker.
Dr. Frazier, an expert in child psychopharmacology and child and adolescent neuropsychiatry, is the Robert M. and Shirley S. Siff Chair in Autism, professor of psychiatry and pediatrics and vice chair and director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at UMass Medical School. Frazier and her research team have been involved in clinical studies on the underlying causes of developmental, emotional and behavioral disorders in youths.