Meredith Pecukonis

Meredith Pecukonis joined the psychology department at Smith College in 2025. Professor Pecukonis directs the Autism and Neurodevelopment (AND) Lab, which explores how both neurobiological and environmental factors impact language development in autism. The overarching goal of their research is to better characterize, understand, and appreciate individual differences (or “heterogeneity”) in language skills across people on the autism spectrum.

Currently, Professor Pecukonis is interested in using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to better understand the neural bases of why some autistic people develop spoken language skills that are similar to their neurotypical peers, while others remain minimally verbal or nonspeaking into adulthood. They are also interested in studying how the brains of neurodiverse people function during live social interactions.

Before coming to Smith, Professor Pecukonis received a bachelor's degree in psychology at the University of Maryland, a doctorate in developmental psychology at Boston University, and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

At Smith, Professor Pecukonis teaches courses about autism, neurodiversity, neuropsychological assessment, and introductory psychology.

List of publications on Google scholar