Dr. Sharp was sitting in on an ADOS-2 a few months ago with a nonverbal little guy. The young boy used a fair amount of sign language, which got Dr. Sharp thinking: do the pragmatic communication problems associated with autism happen in nonverbal or deaf children? After a little Google searching, Dr. Sharp found Dr. Aaron Shield, a linguist out of Miami University, who has specialized in this very niche for much of his academic career. In this interview, they explore the fascinating intersection of deafness and autism. Here are a few topics that they touch on:

• The neuroanatomical similarities and differences between sign and spoken language
• The biggest myths associated with American Sign Language
• Similarities and differences in language acquisition in deaf kids on the spectrum
• Use of the ADOS-2 (and other common assessment tools) with deaf kids.

Note: Aaron did not mention this on the podcast, but he let me know after our interview that it is still clinically appropriate to use the ADI-R in assessing deaf kids with autism.

Target audience:  Psychologists, mental health counselors, marriage and family therapists, social workers, addiction counselors, nurses

Format: Asynchronous, distance learning. Non-interactive. Recorded audio with transcript.

Want to hear the interview? Listen for free using the audio player below.
Interview with Dr. Aaron Sharp

This interview was published in February of 2020.

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Dr. Aaron Shield

A native of Providence, Rhode Island, Aaron Shield received his B.A. from Wesleyan University in Italian Studies in 1999. He holds an M.A. (2004) and Ph.D. (2010) in Linguistics from the University of Texas at Austin, where he wrote his dissertation on the effects of autism spectrum disorder on the acquisition of American Sign Language by deaf children. He then completed postdoctoral training in Psychology at the University of Chicago and Boston University. Since 2015 he has been Assistant Professor of Speech Pathology and Audiology at Miami University of Ohio, where he continues to teach and do research on language development and disorders.

Dr. Shield’s interests include how language develops in typical and atypical children, particularly deaf and hearing children acquiring sign language, and deaf and hearing children on the autism spectrum. He is interested in the relationship between language and other aspects of cognition, particularly how differences in social cognition can impact language development. He is also interested in the role that language modality (i.e. speech vs. sign language) affects language structure. He has published widely on these subjects in journals such as Autism, Cognition, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, Autism Research, Journal of Communication Disorders, Frontiers in Psychology, and Autism & Developmental Language Impairments, where he is an Associate Editor.

Dr. Jeremy Sharp

Dr. Sharp is a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that he founded in 2009 and grew to include 12 licensed clinicians, three clinicians in training, and a full administrative staff. Dr. Sharp earned his undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting his Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, Dr. Sharp specializes in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents.

As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, Dr. Sharp provides private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow psychological testing services in their practices. Dr. Sharp lives in Fort Collins, Colorado with his wife (also a therapist) and two young kids.

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