Heather Brown, PhD, MEd, BEd, BA

Area of Study / Keywords

Neurodivergent students Autism research Neurodiversity Academic achievement Student wellbeing Neurodivergent health Education Participatory research methods

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About

Heather M. Brown is an associate professor in the faculty of education at the University of Alberta. In her current position, she helps current and future educators understand how to best support neurodivergent students in the classroom. In her AIDAN lab project, she works with many neurodivergent and neurotypical graduate students, undergraduate students and volunteers to uncover strategies to support the academic achievement and overall well-being of autistic children, youth and adults. By doing so, her research is poised to empower autistic individuals to be more self-confident in their neurodiversity and to develop a better understanding of the factors that most support their well-being at home, work and school.

Brown earned a bachelor of arts from the University of Waterloo’s department of psychology in 2001, and received her Ontario Teaching Certificate in 2005. She was a long-term occasional elementary teacher in Ontario between 2005 and 2007. She earned a masters of education and a PhD in health and rehabilitation sciences — focusing on speech and language sciences — from Western University in 2009 and 2013, respectively. 

Brown was a postdoctoral fellow at Western University from 2014 to 2015, then accepted an assistant professor position at the U of A. She held that position until 2021, when she accepted her current position. Throughout her career, she has been part of teams that, collectively, have received nearly $1.5 million in grants, including from several SSHRC grants. 

Jackie Ryan, Heather M Brown, Anne Borden, Christina Devlin, Adam Kedmy, Austin Lee, David B Nicholas, Bethan Kingsley, Sandy Thompson-Hodgetts

Autism. 2024 December; 10.1177/13623613241254432

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Emily C. Coombs, Meredith R. Maroney, Heather M. Brown, Carly A. McMorris

Journal of Femininities. 2024 November; 10.1163/29501229-bja10008

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Emily Hotez, Heather M. Brown, Lindsay L. Shea

Frontiers in Education. 2024 October; 10.3389/feduc.2024.1505361

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T. Connolly, B. Vukovic, H.M. Brown, S. Rahimi, J. Macarios, M. Walker

2024 June; 10.22215/rcgl/24078f

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T. Connolly, B. Vukovic, H.M Brown, S. Rahimi, J. Macarios, M. Walker

2024 June; 10.22215/rcgl/24078e

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Meng-Chuan Lai, Anouck Amestoy, Somer Bishop, Heather M Brown, Morénike Giwa Onaiwu, Alycia Halladay, Clare Harrop, Emily Hotez, Marisela Huerta, Amy Kelly, Dylan Miller, Christine Wu Nordahl, Allison B Ratto, Celine Saulnier, Paige M Siper, Kristin Sohl, Lonnie Zwaigenbaum, Sylvie Goldman

The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health. 2023 December; 10.1016/s2352-4642(23)00221-3

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TC Waisman, Zachary J Williams, Eilidh Cage, Siva Priya Santhanam, Iliana Magiati, Patrick Dwyer, Kayden M Stockwell, Bella Kofner, Heather Brown, Denise Davidson, Jessye Herrell, Stephen M Shore, Dave Caudel, Emine Gurbuz, Kristen Gillespie-Lynch

Autism. 2023 February; 10.1177/13623613221097207

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Brown, H.M., Dwyer, P.S.R., Gassner, D.L., Kapp, S.K., Ne'Eman, A., Ryan, J.G., Waisman, T., Williams, Z.J.,

Pediatrics. 2022 April; 149 (Supplement 4):S1-S4 10.1542/peds.2020-049437f

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Zajic, M.C., Brown, H.M.

Human Development. 2022 March; 66 (2):128–148 10.1159/000524015

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Pediatrics. 2022 January; 10.1542/peds.2020-049437F

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Pediatrics. 2022 January; 10.1542/peds.2020-049437D

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Pediatrics. 2022 January; 10.1542/peds.2020-049437C

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Dwyer, P., Acevedo, S.M., Brown, H.M., Grapel, J., Jones, S.C., Nachman, B.R., Raymaker, D.M., Williams, Z.J.

Autism in Adulthood. 2021 September; 3 (3):209–220 10.1089/aut.2021.29019.rtb

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Brown, H.M., Stahmer, A.C., Dwyer, P., Rivera, S.

Autism. 2021 July; 25 (5):1171–1174 10.1177/13623613211001012

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Jenny Ge, Rachael E. Smyth, Michelle Searle, Lori Kirkpatrick, Rebecca Evans, Alexa Elder, Heather Brown

Brock Education Journal. 2021 March; 10.26522/brocked.v30i1.850

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Cutumisu, M., Labonté, C., Oslie, V., Gange, E., Brown, H. M., & Smith, V. R.

LEARNing Landscapes. 2018 January; 11 (1):87-102 10.36510/learnland.v11i1.925

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Computers in the Schools. 2018 January; 10.1080/07380569.2018.1491771

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European Journal of Neuroscience. 2018 January; 10.1111/ejn.13785

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Kwok, E. Y., Brown, H. M., Smyth, R. E., & Oram Cardy, J.

Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders. 2015 January; 9 (January 2015)

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Heather M. Brown, Andrew M. Johnson, Rachael E. Smyth, Janis Oram Cardy

Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders. 2014 November; 10.1016/j.rasd.2014.07.017

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Educational Research. 2014 January; 10.1080/00131881.2014.934553

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Brown, H. M., Oram Cardy, J., & Johnson, A.

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 2013 January; 43 (4):932-955

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Brown, H. M. & Klein, P. D.

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 2011 January; 41 (11):1464-1474

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