Linah AlShaalan(she/her)

Faculty Mentor: Mary Lawlor ScD, OTR/L, FAOTA

Research Lab: Sensory Integration Engagement and Family Life (SIEFL)

Year of Entry: 2018

I am a PhD student working in the Sensory Integration Engagement and Family Life lab under the guidance of Dr. Mary Lawlor. Our lab’s current focus is to understand the lived experiences, strengths, and needs of autistic individuals as they transition into adulthood and participate in their communities. My role in the lab involves helping out with organizing the lab’s workflow, coding qualitative data, and contributing to writing grants as a research assistant.

My research interests include neurodiversity, autism, disability, and adapting social network analysis methods to understand the role of social connectivity within neurodiverse groups, specifically autism. For my dissertation project, I am planning on using a mixed methods design that includes both qualitative and social network analysis methods to understand social connectivity of autistic adults in an effort to highlight real life examples of benign neurodiverse differences that may be commonly labeled as deficits through the paradigm of the medical model of disability.

Education

Master of Arts (MA) in Occupational Therapy
2018 | University of Southern California

Bachelor of Science (BS) in Occupational Therapy
2015 | King Saud University

ACOTE accreditation | NBCOT certification

The USC entry-level master's degree program is fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education® (ACOTE). ACOTE c/o Accreditation Department, American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.®, 6116 Executive Boulevard, Suite 200, North Bethesda, MD 20852-4929, (301) 652-6611 x2914, acoteonline.org

Professional program graduates are eligible to apply for certification by National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy, Inc.® (NBCOT), nbcot.org. Program results from the NBCOT can be found online at https://secure.nbcot.org/data/schoolstats.aspx.