By Emily Leclerc | Waisman Science Writer
Each summer, the Waisman Center hosts undergraduate students with lived experience of a disability as a part of its Summer Research Opportunity Program. The chosen undergraduate students spend 10 weeks with a Waisman Center faculty mentor where they have the opportunity to explore their research interests in human development, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and neurodegenerative diseases. The program’s goal is to encourage, promote, and prepare undergraduate students with lived experience of a disability to pursue and thrive in an academic environment. This summer’s student was Liam Gustafson.
Gustafson, a rising junior at Grinnell College, was looking for an internship for the summer at UW-Madison. He wanted something research based that would be an asset in his pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in psychology. “The Waisman Center’s program stood out to me because of their focus on intellectual and developmental disabilities, which is something I am very interested in,” Gustafson says.
Having autism himself, Gustafson thought Waisman’s program was not only a good opportunity to learn more about academic research but also a chance to more specifically look at autism and other developmental disabilities as well. “I am really interested in how having autism affects the way I personally see the world as well as other people like me or with similar conditions,” Gustafson says. “And to learn more about how autism affects outcomes and life experiences.”
Gustafson was placed in the lab of Karla Ausderau, PhD, Waisman investigator and professor of kinesiology, where he worked on several different projects. One project looked at data about how individuals with intellectual disabilities in Wisconsin were affected by COVID-19, particularly the differences in experiences between those in rural parts of the state versus more urban areas. Another was a review project focused on cancer survivorship in adolescence and young adulthood. He also got to sit in on several interviews for a project focused on Down syndrome and cancer survivorship.
“My experience in Ausderau’s lab was probably the best I could have imagined. She is just a wonderful human being and she has created a lab full of other wonderful human beings,” Gustafson says. “Everyone is so motivated. There are so many projects going on and everyone wants to do the work and do it as best as they can. It is exactly the type of lab I want to be working in and the type of lab that I hope to run someday.”
Ausderau was impressed with his contributions to her lab’s projects and is looking forward to collaborating with him in the future. “We really enjoyed having him in our lab this summer and he integrated seamlessly into our research team! His project deepened our understanding of COVID-19 anxiety and community participation among adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Wisconsin were related to rurality and resource availability,” Ausderau says. “It was a pleasure working with him as he brought an eagerness to learn and fresh perspective to our work. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with Liam on the projects that he was a part of this summer.”
Coming in to this experience, Gustafson knew he was interested in research but he wasn’t entirely sure if that was what he wanted to do. After being a part of Waisman’s Summer Research Opportunity Program, he says that he is 100% sure now that becoming a researcher is the path he wants to take. “This really cemented for me that research can be fun and a great learning experience, especially when you are working with great people,” Gustafson says. “It can be really productive, both in terms of projects and your own growth, and that is really important to me.”