After recently receiving approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB), Lendzinski has begun the interview process, which will continue throughout the academic year with additional help from Shafy Jalal, BS ’27, another St. Joe’s biology major and student researcher. 

Next summer, the group will compile the information from their interviews and develop suggestions for changes in practice. 

“Alterations or new standards of critical care would be our ultimate goal,” Lendzinski explains. “Right now, we’re evaluating the barriers, and hopefully by the time we’re done, we’ll be able to make solutions from them.”

Lendzinski also sees potential for expansion in the project through interviewing affected patients in addition to the doctors who treat them. 

According to Lendzinski, her over 500 hours of work with autistic people through the Kinney Center have been valuable learning experiences as she prepares for medical school at Thomas Jefferson University next fall. 

“Approaching patients differently based on their backgrounds is an important skill that I’ve been able to learn,” she says. “I hope it will help me as I try to make these processes easier and improve health outcomes for the autistic population.” 

Lendzinski’s work is a point of pride for those at the Kinney Center.

“We’re still in the early stages of the process, but we’re very excited for this great collaboration with clinical experts at Jefferson and expanding our research focus further into medicine and healthcare here at SJU,” McCleery says.