
Dr. Julie L. Thompson, PhD, BCBA-D
BLINC Lab Director, Principal Investigator, Assistant Professor
She is particularly interested in instructional design, group instructional arrangements, technology-delivered literacy instruction, and gaze-behaviors of children with ASD when engaged with technology-delivered literacy instruction. Currently she is conducting three funded research projects (1) Parent-Directed Comprehensive Language and Literacy Supports (Lsquared) – She is examining an innovative storybook lesson approach to teach parents to model the use of augmentative and alternative communication devices to improve language and to teach both code- and meaning-focused emergent literacy skills to children with ASD who are minimally verbal (MV-ASD). Using an iterative approach, she will collect data on its feasibility, usability, and fidelity of implementation in the home and preschool environment; (2) Emergent Literacy Assessment for Minimally Verbal Children with autism – she is developing a literacy assessment that includes eye-gaze and touch-based responses with standardized behavior protocols to accurately pinpoint strengths and weaknesses in the literacy skills of minimally verbal children with autism. Following reliability and validity development, this assessment will be used to develop strategic interventions matched to learner characteristics and as a distal measure to verify efficacy of current and future interventions used to teach emergent literacy to individuals with MV-ASD. (3) Home literacy environment comparison – in this study she is examining the context and content of story-based reading between parents and their children and examining whether difference exists between reading practices of parents with children with autism spectrum disorder and parents of children without disabilities.
(979) 845-7423
jlthompson@tamu.edu

Claudia Dunn
PhD Graduate Research Assistant
Major: Special Education
Department: Educational Psychology
Research Interests: Interventions for culturally and linguistically diverse children with neurodevelopmental disorders and emotional behavior disorders.
Current Project: Lsquared
Email: claudiamdunn@tamu.edu
I love to make the difference in people’s lives.

Ileana Umaña
PhD Graduate Research Assistant
Major: School Psychology
Department: Educational Psychology
Research Interests: Cultural/ Linguistic modifications to behavioral and academic interventions, Culturally sensitive parent training
Current Project: Lsquared
Email: ileana.umana@tamu.edu
Previous Lab Members
- Angela Kang
- Eun Hye (Grace) Ko

Xin (Cynthia) Dong
PhD Graduate Research Assistant
Hometown: Jilin, China
Major: Special Education
Department: Educational Psychology
Research Interests: Social skills interventions for preschoolers with social deficits
Current Project: Lsquared, ASDELD Technology intervention meta-analysis
Email: fgumpdong@tamu.edu

Jiacheng Lu
PhD Graduate Research Assistant
Major: Human Resource Development (HRD)
Department: Educational Administration and Human Resource Development (EAHR)
Research Interests: employee engagement, change management, loyalty, educational technology
Current Project: Lsquared

Hope Harrod
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Major: Special Education
Department: Educational Psychology
Current Projects: Lsquared; Active Student Responding for Minimally Verbal Children with Autism
Email: hopieh123@tamu.edu

Christina Gushanas
PhD Graduate Research Assistant
Major: Special Education
Department: Educational Psychology
Research Interests: secondary special education, transition from secondary to postsecondary, interventions that promote vocational and employment skills
Current Project: Lsquared, ASDELD Technology Intervention Meta-Analysis, Interventions that Promote Self-Determination Among Students With and At-Risk for Emotional Behavior Disorders Meta-Analysis
Email: cgushanas@tamu.edu

Christopher Prickett
PhD Graduate Research Assistant
Major: School Psychology
Department: Educational Psychology
Research Interests: Assessment, Emotional Intelligence, Literacy
Current Project: ASDELD Technology intervention meta-analysis; Lsquared
Email: cspric@tamu.edu