Education
Ph.D. Clinical Psychology - Incoming Student
University of California
M.A. Psychological Research
California State University, Long Beach
B.A. Psychology, B.A. Spanish Studies
University of California, Santa Cruz
Fellowships & Awards
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(2026) GRAD EDGE Fellow
(2026-2031) Eugene Cota-Robles Fellow
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(2025) Sally Casanova Summer Research Scholar
(2025) Graduate Equity Fellow
(2024-2025) Sally Casanova Scholar
(2024-2025 ) J. Robert Newman Scholar
(2024) Associated Students Inc. Student Travel Grant
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(2020) The Humanities Institute Undergraduate Fellowship
(2020) Building Belonging Fellowship
Publications
Published
Orendain Soto, C., Dueñas, A. D., Castellón, F. A., Valdez Lopez, K., & Rocha, J. (2025). “The structural rigidity of the U.S. is missing in Mexico and the diversity and freedom of Mexico is missing in the U.S.”: Experiences of autism service providers along the U.S.–Mexico Border. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-025-07145-8
Dueñas, A. D., Sole, M., Blasko, A., Valdez Lopez, K., & Cordero, Y. N. (2025). Barriers to access and cultural considerations for caregiver-mediated interventions: Insights from the Ecocultural family interview with Latine families. Journal of Early Intervention, 48(1), 91–109. https://doi.org/10.1177/10538151251353523
Under Review
Valdez Lopez, K., Dueñas, A.D., Caplan, B. (under review). Understanding Service Experiences Among Latinx Transborder (United States-Mexico) Caregivers of Autistic Children.
Ochoa, W., Unadkat, D., Melgarejo, M, Baldonado-Ruiz, M., Valdez Lopez, K., Dueñas, A.D., Gaxiola Serrano, T., Navarro Martell, M. (under review). Comadrazgo as resistance: Women of color navigating higher education through femtorship- the ascent, the drift, and return to community.
Dueñas, A.D., Castellón, F.A., Valdez Lopez, K., Orendain Soto, C., Kuperman, K. (under review) “Agarro lo mejor de dos mundos”: Transfronteriza mothers of autistic children as nepantleras in a rural U.S./Mexico border.
In preparation
Dueñas, A.D., Valdez Lopez, K., (in preparation). What Fidelity Measures and What It Misses: A Mixed Methods Study of Caregiver and Child Strengths in Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions.
Research Presentations
Languages
English
Fluent in speaking, reading, writing
Spanish
Fluent in speaking, reading, writing