Kathy Bourque
- Research Professor, Juniper Gardens Children's Project
Contact Info
444 Minnesota Ave
Kansas City, KS 66101-2942
Biography —
Dr. Thiemann-Bourque's research over the past 20 years has focused on developing effective social and peer-mediated interventions for individuals with autism, with implementation in inclusive settings. She has established partnerships with local school districts, and works closely with staff to implement evidence-based practices with high fidelity. Her most recent R01 grant, funded through NIDCD, investigated the effectiveness of a peer-mediated intervention for preschoolers with autism and complex communication needs learning to use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Approaches were developed in two prior pilot studies funded by the Friends of the Life Span Institute at KU, with positive outcomes observed for child-peer communication and interactions using an iPad as a speech-generating device. Dr. Thiemann-Bourque has been an investigator on multiple NIH grants with goals related to assessing communication of children learning to use AAC, preverbal social communication competencies of toddlers with autism, and evaluating home language environments using automated speech recognition technology (LENA). She assisted in development of the Communication Complexity Scale (CCS), a measure of early prelinguistic and linguistic development for individuals with minimal to no verbal skills, and is a co-investigator on a R01 funded to validate this scale. She is interested in addressing the lack of structured assessment tools for identifying peer-related social communication competencies in this population, and has investigated the sensitivity of the CCS to address this need. Her scholarly research program resulted in multiple peer-reviewed publications in highly ranked journals, and she shared outcomes locally, nationally, and internationally. Dr. Thiemann-Bourque has mentored many research assistants completing degrees at KU across different disciplines, served on thesis and dissertation committees, and provided grant writing guidance to early investigators at Juniper Gardens Children's Project.
Education —
Research —
Research Interests
Social communication interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD); augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) for children with complex communication needs; peer-mediated interventions; school-based services and teacher training; assessment of early communication skills.
Professional Service
Member, American Speech-Language Hearing Association, Certificate of Clinical Competence
Editorial Review Committee, Special Interest Group 12, Augmentative and Alternative Communication, ASHA
Autism Topic Committee for the ASHA Annual Conference.
Clinically certified on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Scale (ADOS)
Licensed speech-language pathologist in Kansas and Missouri
Selected Publications —
Selected Presentations —
Bourque, K., & Fleming, K. (2024, March). Gender Differences in Social Communication Outcomes for Minimally Verbal Autistic Preschoolers Following Participation in a Peer-Mediated iPad Intervention. Panel talk, Meeting on Language in Autism, Durham, NC.
Bourque, K., Fleming, K., Johner, S., & Tamura, H. (2023, May). Exploring predictors of response to a peer-mediated communication intervention for autistic preschoolers with limited or no spoken language. Poster presented at the International Society for Autism Research conference, Stockholm, Sweden.
Bourque, K., Fleming, K., Salley, B., & Boyd, B. (2023, April). Exploring predictors of response to a peer-mediated communication intervention for autistic preschoolers with limited or no spoken language. Poster presented at Gatlinburg Annual Conference, Kansas City, MO.
Bourque, K. (2023, January). Peer-mediated interventions for children with autism: Novel AAC approaches that work in naturalistic environments. Invited Presentation, Minimally Verbal/Non-Speaking Individuals with autism: Research Directions for interventions that promote language and communication, National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders, NIH Online Workshop.
Hacker, R*., Bourque, K., & Tamura, H. (2022, November). Increasing social reciprocity of children with autism who use augmentative and alternative communication. Poster presented at the American Speech and Hearing Association Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA.
Bourque, K. (2021, October). Peer-mediated interventions: Practical approaches to improve social communication for students with ASD. Invited Presentation, Willamette Education Service District, Salem, OR.
Bourque, K., (2020, April). Peer-mediated interventions for preschoolers with autism: Evidence-based approaches for young children with limited or no spoken communication. Invited Presentation, Waisman Center, AAC Programs, Madison, WI.
Bourque, K. & Goldstein, H. (2019, May). A speech-generating device intervention with peer partners: Effects on functional communication of preschoolers with ASD. Poster presented at International Society for Autism Research, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Awards & Honors —
Thiemann-Bourque, K. (May, 2017). Investigator of the Year Award, Life Span Institute, University of Kansas.