Mélina Rivard has been a psychologist and professor-researcher in the Department of Psychology at UQAM since 2012. She previously worked as an institutional researcher in settings specializing in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID), and has been working clinically with young children with developmental disabilities and their parents for nearly 20 years. The needs expressed by families and caregivers motivated her to develop a research program to improve the trajectory of services received by young families, from the first suspicion of a disorder, through specialized early intervention services, to school entry. The program capitalizes on the development of positive supports and capacity-building in practice settings, and focuses on three research axes: 1. Intervening early and effectively: acting on children's development... 2. Supporting the psychological health of children, their families and caregivers. 3: Promoting parents' knowledge and empowerment. Active in several research environments, she is a regular researcher at the Institut universitaire en déficience intellectuelle et en trouble du spectre de l'autisme, at the Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal, co-titular of the Chaire de déficience intellectuelle et troubles de comportement at UQAM and director of the Laboratoire d'Étude des Problématiques comportementales en Autisme et Les Autres Retards du Développement (Épaulard).
