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Department of Health Sciences

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Abigail Carroll

Education

Abigail Carroll
  • PhD, Occupational Science at UNC-CH, 2019
  • MS in Occupational Therapy at UNC-CH, 2006
  • BA in Physical Education Exercise Sport Science at UNC-CH, 1999
  • BA in Psychology at UNC-CH, 1999

Current Certifications

Registered Occupational Therapist
Licensed Occupational Therapist in NC

Honors and Awards

  • UNC-CH, Postdoctoral training fellowship, Interdisciplinary Leadership in Autism Spectrum Disorders: Optimizing Research-Practice Partnerships for Evidence-Based Outcomes, Fall 2020
  • UNC-CH Graduate School Summer Research Fellowship, Summer 2019
  • UNC-CH Autism Leadership Grant funded by the Department of Education, 2014-2019
  •  LEND Leadership Traineeship for the Center for Development and Learning (CDL, now CIDD), 2015-2016

Presentations

  • Spring 2015 – Presentation with Shuting Zheng for SPHS 897 Autism Research Seminar on ‘Influential Factors on Response to EDP-2 Intervention
  • Carroll, A. (2019, April). Research Considerations for the Development of Occupation Centered Interventions for Target Populations: Single-Case Changing Criterion Designs. American Occupational Therapy Association Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA.
  • Zhang, S., Carroll, A., Watson, L., Baranek, G. & Crais, B. (2016, May). Influential factors on response to Adapted Responsive Teaching intervention. International Meeting for Autism Research, Baltimore, MD
  • Spring 2015 – Presentation for SPHS 897 Autism Research Seminar on ‘One Theoretical Perspective for Autism Spectrum Disorders: Weak Central Coherence Theory’
  • Spring 2015 – Presentation for SPHS 897 Autism Research Seminar on ‘Can Early Symptoms Map to Predict Future Outcomes?’
  • Fall 2015 – Teaching lecture for Biomedical Engineering Students with Ryan LaValley on Fundamentals of Occupational Therapy and Science: Presented basic Occupational Therapy content about disability, functional limitations, and client factors to consider when working with people with developmental or acquired disability to create customized technology functional solutions.
  • Fall 2015 – Interdisciplinary Presentation on ‘Sensitive Periods of Development’ for Psychology 781 Developmental Science Consortium Course. Group members included: Robert Carr, Jessica Bullins, Jonathan Schaefer, and Abigail Carroll
  • Fall 2015 – Presentation with Katie Williams for EDUC 861: “Tiny Homes Community Engagement Project”
  • Fall 2015 – Presentation with Katie Williams for EDUC 861: Bridging the Gap from Efficacy to Community Impact in Occupational Therapy
  • Spring 2016 – Presentation for AHSC 905 Mixed Methods Course on ‘An Embedded Explanatory Mixed Methods Study: How do Patterns of Participation in Daily Occupations
  • Spring 2016 – Teaching Assistant for Grace Baranek in OCCT 727: Perspectives on disability and health: Pediatrics in Spring 2016. A Masters in Occupational Therapy Course at UNC-CH
  • Lead Lecturer on Anxiety Disorders and Developmental Trauma Induced Conditions
  • Spring 2016 – Interdisciplinary presentation for EDUC 862: Teaching and Professional Development on ‘Coaching Models’. Group members included: Thelma Uzonyi, Susan Cobb, Brooke Adkins, and Abigail Carroll

Publications

Boyd, B., Dykstra Steinbrenner, J.R., Reska, S.S., & Carroll, A. (2019) Research in Autism Education: Current Issues and Future Directions in The SAGE Handbook of Autism Education. Rita Jordan, Kara Hume, Jacqueline Roberts (Eds.)

Research Interests

I am interested in the development of occupation centered and contextualized intervention research using changing criterion designs (CCDs). CCDs offer a means to embed social validity steps, such as procedural choice making, into research design to support group deliberation, decision making, motivation, and conscious habit change.

My current focus is on the design of a two-caregiver implemented family occupation centered intervention for families with toddlers with autism spectrum disorders capable of efficaciously matching evidence-based strategies to child and family characteristics to support optimal outcomes. The intervention examines the social learning processes of a family with a toddler with ASD and explores shared engagement in an occupation with certain elements to support positive social change for the group.

Grants

Autism Leadership Grant funded by the Department of Education
Toddlers; Families Together Research Project;
Durham Collaborative Tiny Homes Initiative

Hobbies/Interests:

Reading, playing, and biking with my son, music lover, dancing, writing, yoga, art lover, painting, hiking, frisbee with family, cooking, gardening, and camping.