Dr. Casenhiser’s research explores functional (i.e., communicative) and cognitive factors that affect language learning in neurotypical and autistic populations. He has published research investigating the effects of homonymy on lexical acquisition, how the distribution of lexical input affects children’s ability to learn grammatical constructions, and together with colleagues in Canada, Dr. Casenhiser has developed and tested a social-interaction based intervention designed to improve the social-communication abilities of children diagnose with autism spectrum disorders.