Kavitha Murthi has completed her PhD in the Department of Occupational Therapy at NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. Her research investigated how interest-driven and strength-based engineering activities impact the learning and social development of autistic students. Kavitha explored autistic adolescents’ perspectives on problem-solving independently using the Engineering Design Process (EDP). She is also dedicated to amplifying authentic autistic voices in her research by including her participants in the research process using a research process called Photovoice. Kavitha collaborated with her participants in different stages of the research process, namely developing socially valid research questions, data collection, and data analysis. She has also authored several peer-reviewed journal articles; most notably, she co-authored practice guidelines for occupational therapy practitioners working with autistic individuals. She also has presented at several national and international conferences. Kavitha is currently a post-doctoral research associate in the Occupational Therapy department at the University of Utah and is working on a community-based participatory research project that has developed an intervention with autistic collaborators for suicide prevention.
The Higher Education Academy has inducted Kavitha as a Fellow for her deep commitment to developing a culturally sensitive course for undergraduate occupational therapy students. Additionally, she has contributed to various research projects, notably the Global Co-operation on Assistive Technology with the World Health Organization, for which she was nominated by the World Federation of Occupational Therapists in 2019.