Associate Research Scientist
Heba Elsayed, MD, is an associate research scientist in the Center for Autism Research at Kessler Foundation. She previously worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the same Center. She is a phoniatrician (the medical specialty dealing with the study and treatment of voice, speech, language, hearing, and swallowing disorders) with expertise in studying the social and communication deficits in individuals with autism.
Dr. Elsayed's research interests are related to assessing social communication in individuals with autism across two most commonly used methods of communication in workplace-specific media: voicemail and email. This research will enable us to identify deficits in social communication such as reduced politeness use, differences in nonverbal behaviors (assessed in voicemails) and grammatical errors (assessed in emails). These studies will aid in designing interventions that target communication deficits within workplace environments, which will subsequently provide better employment outcomes for individuals with autism.
