Dr. Harrop recently published an article in Autism Research on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on early career researchers (ECRs) in Autism Research. The article describes the findings of a survey, led by Autism Science Foundation. Unsurprisingly, ECRs have struggled with COVID and their level of burnout is high. A high number of ECRs have considered leaving autism research and … Read more

Former PhD Student and Postdoc, Aaron Dallman, had a paper from his dissertation published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. The manuscript, on which Dr. Harrop is a co-author, describes the use of Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) to characterize fluctuations in affect and mood in autistic adolescents. We are excited to keep using these methods in … Read more

The Harrop Lab had three poster abstracts accepted to the 2021 International Society for Autism Research Conference. Jessie will present data from the National Survey of Child Health focused on sex, race and ethnicity differences in diagnosis in ASD. Aaron Dallman (former PhD student and postdoc, now faculty at Towson University) will present data from our COVID-19 project. … Read more

Jessie Goldblum received a Student Travel Award for the 2021 International Society for Autism Research Conference. The award was for her virtual poster “The impact of demographic variables on rates of co-occurring conditions, the timing of ASD diagnosis, and frustration in access to services: Data from a large national survey” and covered registration for the conference. Congratulations … Read more

Developmental Psychology Graduate Student, Jessie, successfully defended her master’s thesis in March. Her thesis, “Hiding in Plain Sight: An Analysis of the ‘Female Camouflage Effect’ in Young Autistic Females”, examined how autistic males and females use joint attention and requesting in discreetly different ways. Congratulations Jessie!

Dr. Harrop, together with Dr. Julie Austen (FPG) were recently awarded an NC TraCS Stakeholder Engagement Award to work with gender and neurodiverse youth and clinicians/community organizations that serve them to work towards a more inclusive model of care. We are excited to get this important project up and running.

Jessie’s Graduate Student Symposium, “Masks, mandates, and mourning: Individuals with Neurodevelopmental and genetic disorders and their families during the time of the COVID-19 global pandemic”, was accepted to the 2021 Gatlinburg Conference. Jessie will lead the symposium, with presentations from two other graduate students, and Dr. Brian Boyd will be the discussant.

Dr. Harrop presented Grand Rounds at the Waisman Center (University of Wisconsin Madison) in January 2021. Her talk discussed sex differences in ASD, the female autism phenotype, and previous and current studies in the Harrop Lab. Thank you to all the faculty for an engaging visit.

Drs. Harrop, Dallman, and Boyd recently published a Letter to the Editor in Autism Research on the problems of online data collection and how to safeguard against these. The Letter outlines steps researchers can take to prevent data fraud.

Dr. Harrop presented at the 2nd UNC Autism Fathers Conference in January and discussed her COVID-19 research. The keynote speaker was Joe Mantegna, so she was in good company!