“My role as a mother and my role as a PhD student and future researcher are both critically important to me. Both of these roles inform one another and make me a better caregiver to my children as well as a passionate student and researcher.”

Kari Sherwood, MS, MEd, MSW, a single mother to three autistic and neurodivergent children, is earning a joint PhD in Social Work and Development Psychology. As a first-generation student, Kari’s path to graduate school has not been easy, but she has met every challenge as an opportunity to deepen her commitment to disability justice and her advocacy for her children and other families.

Kari most recently left her corporate job to pursue her doctoral studies at U-M and work to inform autism research and practice. Throughout her program, she has worked with Dr. Matthew Smith and the Level Up Employment Skills Simulation Lab to help develop and evaluate two interventions for autistic transition-age youth. These interventions assist autistic youth with job interview skills and social conversations in the workplace. Her dissertation focuses on the feasibility of the remote delivery of the latter intervention. Kari is also exploring the prevalence of autistic microaggressions in the workplace as a part of this study.

Going forward in her career, Kari intends to develop employer-targeted interventions that improve employment outcomes and inclusion of autistic individuals in the workplace. Kari says, “My role as a mother and my role as a PhD student and future researcher are both critically important to me. Both of these roles inform one another and make me a better caregiver to my children as well as a passionate student and researcher.”

CEW+ celebrates Kari’s fierce commitment as a scholar, mother, and advocate and names her a Mary Malcomson Raphael Scholar.