The diagnostic characteristics of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) includes challenges in social communication skills. Among different components of social communication, language, particularly vocabulary, must be supported early in children's development as language is shown to be associated with academic, social, cognitive, and adaptive skills and…

An extensive literature documents the instrumental role of early childhood in improving individuals' life chances. This dissertation consists of three connected chapters that study the effects of early childhood circumstances on human capital formation and its economic consequences. The first chapter examines the impact of family size on…

The increase in the prevalence of autism to 1 in 44 children born in the U.S. (Maenner et al., 2021) coupled with the nation's growing immigrant population led to this study's investigation of the influence of homeland culture on lived experiences of five first-generation immigrant parents caring for children with autism. This empirical…