Autism research

Meet Our Team

Karen Goldrich Eskow, Ph.D., LCPC, OTR/L Professor and Chairperson Department of Family Studies and Community Development Towson University Autism Research Role: Principal Investigator Office:   College of Liberal Arts Room 2210 8000 York Road Towson, MD 21252 Phone:   410-704-5851 Fax:   410-704-3612 E-mail:   keskow@towson.edu Education: Ph.D.: Social Work, University of Maryland M.A.: Clinical Psychology, Towson University B.S.: Occupational Therapy, University of Pennsylvania

Karen Goldrich Eskow, Ph.D., LCPC, OTR/L, CFLE is the Principal Investigator (PI) for this project. She has served as chairperson for the Department of Family Studies and Community Development and Graduate Program Director for the Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Family Professional Collaboration since 2005.

She has been engaged in research related to family quality of life and family-professional relationships since 1994. Her focus has been on understanding the day to day living of families who have children/youth with complex neurodevelopment disabilities. Research related to autism has been the focus of her work for the past 15 years, with a recent emphasis on periods of transition including when youths leave the school setting at age 21. The current grant award from NIDRR is Dr. Eskow’s fourth externally funded project. She served as PI for three funded projects in collaboration with the Maryland State Department of Education including two related to the impact of the HCBS Autism Waiver program on child and family outcomes such as quality of family life and one that prepared school professionals to collaborate with and build programs to enhance family engagement in the public school setting.

Dr. Eskow received her Ph.D. from the University of Maryland School of Social Work, her M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Towson University and her B.S. in Occupational Therapy from the University of Pennsylvania. She has maintained clinical licensure in counseling and occupational therapy and maintained a small private practice with a focus on adolescents and young adults through 2005 when she assumed the role of chairperson. Dr. Eskow, while currently in the College of Liberal Arts, spent 18 of her 25 years as a faculty member in the Department of Occupational Therapy and Occupational Science, College of Health Professions.

• View Dr. Eskow's CV (PDF)