Celebrating the Lab's First Thesis Proposals and Defense

The end of Spring 2025 was very busy for the ITLS Lab. We’re thrilled to celebrate the achievements of one of our outstanding undergraduate students and two of our graduate students who continue to raise the bar in applied research and advocacy for neurodiverse communities. Their work reflects not only academic excellence but also a deep commitment to socially significant topics that will shape the future of behavior analysis and education.

Maren Muell successfully defended their McNair Scholar’s Thesis, Barriers to Success for Neurodivergent College Students, offering a critical and compassionate analysis of the systemic, academic, and social challenges that impact access and achievement for neurodivergent learners. With a thoughtful eye toward equity and practical solutions, Maren’s work illuminates a path toward more inclusive academic environments. Congratulations, Maren! We’re so proud of your defense and the powerful advocacy behind your research.

Courtney Posey recently proposed her thesis, Effects of Rapport Building on Sociability, which explores whether building rapport can influence autistic children's preference for social interactions. Courtney’s study aims to assess whether rapport-building strategies, commonly used in clinical settings, can shift social interaction from a neutral or aversive experience to a reinforcing one. Her work could help refine how clinicians foster meaningful, socially valid connections. Many thanks to committee members, Drs. Brand and Gonzalez for their feedback.

Chloe Druckrey proposed her thesis, Toward Teaching Ecologically Valid Empathy Skills, which aims first to teach young children to emit complex and conditional empathetic responses across varied emotional contexts. Although there have been multiple behavior analytic studies that have taught young children empathy skills, research has yet to teach conditional empathy (e.g., offering help only when it’s accepted), limiting ecological validity. Chloe’s work helps close a critical gap by building more realistic empathy repertoires and evaluating their social significance. We are thankful to Drs. Miguel and Luczynski for serving on the committee and providing thoughtful feedback.