Lab Members
From the right to the
left: Dr. Grace Iarocci, Carola Ferrari, Jessica
McLaughlin, Adrienne Rombough, Martin Davidson, Jodi Yager,
and Theo Elfers
Dr.
Grace Iarocci
I am interested in the study of cognitive and social
development among children and adults with autism and other
developmental disabilities. I am a faculty member of the
Autism Research Training Program
(ART), funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health
Research (CIHR), designed to recruit and train
outstanding researchers of autism in disciplines such as
psychology, genetics, imaging, epidemiology, and
neurology.
Adrienne Rombough
Adrienne Rombough is currently a graduate student in the
Clinical Developmental Psychology program at Simon Fraser
University (SFU). She completed her B.A.
in psychology at the University of British Columbia
(UBC) where she was involved in research projects on
adult offenders. Originally from Manitoba, her interest in
autism was sparked by her work there as an Applied
Behavioural Analysis (ABA) therapist and teaching assistant
with a number of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
(ASD) and their families. Her current research is focused
on how children with ASD pay attention to social cues.
Adrienne is a student research fellow and the student
representative of the ART Program.
Jodi Yager
Jodi Yager is a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology
program at SFU. She completed her B.Sc. in Biopsychology at
UBC and her M.A. in Clinical Psychology at the University
of Waterloo. Her research interests are focused on
understanding social competence in children and adolescents
with ASD. Jodi is a student research fellow with the Autism
Research Training Program and is currently funded by the
Social Sciences and Humanities Research
Council (SSHRC) as well as the Michael Smith Foundation for Health
Research (MRSFHR).
Kim Hurd
Kim Hurd is the ADDL coordinator. She completed her
bachelor's degree with honors in Applied Psychology at
Kwantlen University. Her current research focuses on
maternal fear of judgment, and its relation to a child with
autism's abilities, and parent's efficacy, social support,
and stress levels. Kim has been working with children with
autism for several years, previously as an ABA therapist
and childcare worker, and currently as a child care
consultant. She has also held positions on an autism
research study at UBC. Kim is involved in all projects at
the lab.
Lindsey Jespersen
Lindsey Jespersen is the research assistant coordinating
the Learn at Play Program (LAPP), which is designed to
foster social-emotional growth in infants with Down
Syndrome through play. She completed her B.A. at SFU and is
now a graduate student in the Counselling Psychology M.A.
program. Her research interests include the development of
empathy and prosocial behaviour in young children and the
role of early childhood attachments on development.
Samantha Bangayan
Samantha Bangayan is a third year undergraduate student in
the Behavioural Neuroscience program at the University of
British Columbia. She is currently working as a research
assistant at Dr. Jim Enns’ UBC Vision Lab as a Summer
Career Placement student and volunteers at the ADDL once a
week. She has just begun the design and implementation of a
new study on developmental changes of attentional capture,
uniting the two labs. Her main research interests lie in
the field of cognitive science and the study of
high-functioning autistic children and adults. In the
coming school year, she will be leaving to study and
conduct research in Japan as a participant of the Osaka
University Short-Term Student Exchange Program (OUSSEP).
David Butler
David Butler is a
recent graduate of Burnaby Mountain Secondary School. He
has been working in the ADDL since December 2005. David
assists with all projects in the ADDL, and plans to attend
SFU for his Bachelor's of Science in September. David
brings a unique perspective to our work here at the ADDL,
and we value his participation in lab activities.
Theo Elfers
Theo Elfers currently volunteers in our lab and has
finished his Master's equivalent in Berlin, Germany, in
Clinical and Developmental Psychology. For his Master's
thesis he conducted a study on the link between identity
development and motivation in typically developing
adolescents. He has also conducted research on children's
perception of parental responsiveness in childen with ADHD
and Conduct Disorder. Theo is involved in some of our
research projects.
Jessica McLaughlin
Jessica McLaughlin completed her Bachelor of Arts degree at
St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.
Her honours thesis examined the role of the construct
‘Mind-Mindedness’, which is a manifestation of
caregiver sensitivity, as a predictor of attachment
security in preschool aged typically developing children.
Jessica has been involved in all research projects in the
ADDL and is particularly interested in early parent-child
interactions and how they affect social development. She is
part of the Learn At Play Program, an early intervention
program for infants with Down Syndrome and their families.
Jessica has now returned to the East Coast to prepare for
entering graduate school.
Carola Ferrari
Carola Ferrari was a visiting student from Italy. She
completed her graduate studies in Social and Developmental
Psychology at the Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of
Milan. She has extensive clinical experience working with
typically developing children as well as with children with
developmental disabilities in many institutional settings.
She hopes to build on her clinical experience by studying
ASD from a research perspective. Carola has returned to
Italy and we wish her all the best for her future.
Volunteers
Thank you to all of the ADDL volunteers! Kimberly Peabody,
Gabrielle Madigan, Christine Panti, Elyssa Whorley, Heather
(Sam) Ellis-Thicke, Leili Dehghan, Sophia Grewal, Vanessa
Neufeld, and Keith Yee.