Dr. Gray Atherton received her Ph.D. at the University of Houston, but is working at Edge Hill University in England now.  She is a professor and researcher interested  in many areas related to autism.  One especially interesting topic is anthropomorphism.  A simple explanation of this is when someone implies human characteristics to nonhuman things such as cartoons or animals.  She talks about how to use this idea to teach social skills like understanding what others may be thinking.  She also talks about using individuals passions to teach them skills and consider them as we think about future work for individuals with autism.  Susan and Cissy hope you enjoy this first half of the conversation and come back next week for the rest of it.