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What I'm working on at the moment.....
Project | 01
Social Motivation in Females with ASD: An Eye Tracking Approach
In a series of studies funded by Autism Science Foundation and North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences, we have used validated and novel eye-tracking paradigms to understand social motivation and attention in females with ASD. Our emerging data suggest that males and females with ASD have different attention patterns to social stimuli and indicate potential protective effects in females.
Collaborators: Noah Sasson (UT Dallas), Julia Parish-Morris (CHOP/UPenn)
Students: Desiree Jones, Shuting Zheng, Sallie Nowell
In a series of studies funded by Autism Science Foundation and North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences, we have used validated and novel eye-tracking paradigms to understand social motivation and attention in females with ASD. Our emerging data suggest that males and females with ASD have different attention patterns to social stimuli and indicate potential protective effects in females.
Collaborators: Noah Sasson (UT Dallas), Julia Parish-Morris (CHOP/UPenn)
Students: Desiree Jones, Shuting Zheng, Sallie Nowell
Project | 02
Circumscribed Interests in ASD: The Role of Biological Sex and Gender
Using eye-tracking and parent report data, we have begun to understand how biological sex and gender impact interests in ASD. School-aged females with ASD attend to images more aligned with gender norms and demonstrate less circumscribed attention to images. Our findings have implications for diagnostic and intervention approaches for females as current practice is based on the male phenotype of ASD.
Collaborators: Noah Sasson (UT Dallas), Brian Boyd (KU)
Students: Desiree Jones, Shuting Zheng, Sallie Nowell
Project | 03
Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors in ASD: Measurement and Intervention Approaches
Across a range of studies I have sought to characterize profiles of RRBs in ASD from infants at-risk to minimally verbal samples. I have examined whether social communication interventions yield potential spillover effects to this core domain and how caregivers respond to RRBs within naturalistic play interactions. We are also conducting work to understand how circumscribed interests can be utilized within interventions across the lifespan.
Collaborators: Brian Boyd (KU), Connie Kasari (UCLA), Wendy Shih (UCLA)
Students: Jessica Amsbary
Starting soon.....
Female Specific Electrophysiological Biomarkers in ASD
As part of a UNC KL2 Award, I will be training with Drs. Ayse Belger (UNC) and Kevin Pelphrey (GWU) to identify sex differences in neural signatures of social motivation and attention in ASD. I will use this data, combined with treatment history, to identify distinct bio-behavioral profiles to predict behavioral outcomes.
Collaborators: Aysenil Belger (UNC), Kevin Pelphrey (GWU), Pamela Ventola (Yale), Alana Campbell (UNC), Mark Weaver (UNC)
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