Research has shown that a variety of intervention programs can greatly improve the overall development of children with ASD. However, to date little research has focused on deploying and testing interventions aimed at educating parents about social perspective-taking approaches to nurture these helpful behaviors in parents.
Research Description
Social perspective taking is a set of processes involved in inferring and reasoning about the mental states of others, such as their knowledge, beliefs and intentions. Perspective-taking is critical for making sense of others’ actions and is called upon in virtually every aspect of social interaction. Despite the pervasiveness of perspective-taking it remains remarkably error-prone across development. The difficulties with perspective-taking are even more pervasive for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). One of the most distinguishing characteristics of ASD is a difficulty engaging is social perspective-taking. This difficulty is exacerbated by the fact that children with ASD have difficulties identifying subtle cues to others intentional and emotional states (e.g., nonverbal cues). Fortunately, considerable research has shown that a variety of intervention programs (e.g., Applied Behavior Analysis, mindfulness) can greatly improve the overall development of children with ASD. However, to date little research has focused on deploying and testing interventions aimed at educating parents about social perspective-taking approaches to nurture these helpful behaviors in parents. To address this gap, my research aims to: 1) summarize for a lay audience the key findings for the scienditific literatue on what has (and to a lesser extent, what has not) been effective at fostering social perspective-taking and social-emotional well-being in children; and 2) to work with parents hands-on, in small groups, to demonstrate how to apply those research-backed approaches in their day-to-day lives (e.g., increasing mind-mindedness and mental state discourse around the home).
What does being a Public Scholar mean to you?
Being a Public Scholar means putting the public at the forefront of your research. We must continually strive to foster scholarly work that produces the greatest good for the public and our surrounding communities.
In what ways do you think the PhD experience can be re-imagined with the Public Scholars Initiative?
The Public Scholar Initiative has helped to re-imagine the PhD experience by propelling students to take their research beyond the walls of academia, by fostering an environment that works to target the social and public impacts of our research.
How do you envision connecting your PhD work with broader career possibilities?
My hope is that my PhD work will allow for further opportunities to work with educators, policy makers and the general community to enhance the dialogue between education and research. A stronger dialogue is needed as research suggests that there is currently little integration with models of public health (e.g., education) and research, resulting in barriers to effective information access.
How does your research engage with the larger community and social partners?
Research in this area will allow me the unique opportunity to work with community partners who are zealous to educate and inform a public audience, such as parents and educators, on the possible ways to more effectively enhance social cognition and social-emotional health.
Why did you decide to pursue a graduate degree?
A significant amount of my work related experience has involved working with children between the ages of 3 and 7 years of age who have been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Experience in this field has provided me with valuable insight into development, both typical and atypical, and helped to foster my curiosity to better understand developmental research.
Why did you choose to come to British Columbia and study at UBC?
I have chosen to attend UBC for my graduate degrees because it is a leader in research and scholarship. Being a part of this research program enriches my abilities as an investigator and educator within the field of developmental psychology.
Being a Public Scholar means putting the public at the forefront of your research. We must continually strive to foster scholarly work that produces the greatest good for the public and our surrounding communities.
