Independent Studies

Unlocking the Potential: Community-Based Services


Project Overview

  • My undergraduate thesis focused on providing insight into caregivers' perspectives of day habilitation services for individuals with developmental disabilities, a widely used yet understudied service.
  • I designed a survey to assess caregivers' experiences with multiple services for their children with developmental disabilities in the community, from in-school to private services.
  • I compared day habilitation's alignment with a family-centered model, focus on recreational and community skills, and accessibility for families of multiple backgrounds, to other services families access in the community.
  • I found that families value day habilitation service's family-centered approach and focus on building recreational skills, providing a unique and high-quality intervention experience.

Publications

Connecting communities through student-led service-learning approaches

Local Development and Society

Zeri, H., Nunan, L., Fawn, O., Gloyeske, N., et al. (2024). Connecting communities through student-led service-learning approaches. Local Development and Society, 5(2), 298–313. https://doi.org/10.1080/26883597.2024.2337701

Presentations

Posters


First Author Projects

Nonverbal and verbal scaffolding by caregivers of infants and toddlers with an elevated likelihood for autism during caregiver-child play

23rd International Society for Autism Research Annual Meeting, Melbourne, Australia

Unlocking the potential of community-based services to promote holistic life outcomes for individuals with autism and developmental disabilities

National Conference on Undergraduate Research, Long Beach, CA

Predictive value of early joint attention for later absolute and relative language abilities in neurogenetic syndromes

2023 Purdue Autism Research Center Annual Conference, West Lafayette, IN

Secondary Author Projects

Neo, W. S., Zeri, H., Estrada, K., Anthony, F., Kelleher, B., & Hamrick, L. (2024, May 15-18). Prolonged object play during toddlerhood: A candidate behavioral marker of increased likelihood for autism spectrum disorder [Poster presentation]. 23rd International Society for Autism Research Annual Meeting, Melbourne, Australia.

Oral Presentations


First Author Projects

Early joint attention and language development in neurogenetic syndromes

33rd Butler Undergraduate Research Conference, Indianapolis, IN

“Students in Action”: College students’ experiences in facilitating middle and high school students’ community projects

Purdue Undergraduate Research Conference, West Lafayette, IN

Secondary Author Projects

Kelleher, B., Estrada, K., Zeri, H. N., Springer-Wheeler, D., Seidl, A., Hamrick, L., Neo, W. S., Harold, R., Galvez, K. O., & Foti, D. (2023, November 3). PANDABox (Parent Administered Neurodevelopmental Assessment) for remote monitoring of high-risk children [Oral presentation]. NIH Remote Neuropsychological Assessments in Research: Present and Future Needs.

Anthony, F. O., Zeri, H. N., Neo, W. S., & Kelleher, B. L. (2022, October 20). Conducting telehealth assessments with PANDABox [Conference demonstration]. ABC's of Remote Assessment: Advances in Biobehavioral and Clinical Health Assessments, West Lafayette, IN, United States.