Kelly L. Coburn, Ph.D.

Selected Publications

• Coburn, K. L., & *Shipley, E. P. (in press). “Do I need anything more specific?”: Experiences of autistic participants in a language-focused research study. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology.

• Coburn, K. L. (2024). Self-diagnosis of autism: What is the speech-language pathologist’s role? Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups. https://doi.org/10.1044/2024_PERSP-24-00110 

• Coburn, K. L., Miller, G. N., Martin, L. A., & Kana, R. K. (2024). A mixed-methods analysis of deception detection by neurodiverse young adults. Topics in Language Disorders, 44(1), 63-79.
• Coburn, K. L., & Williams, D. L. (2023). Thematic analysis of personal narratives by autistic adults of under-represented genders. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, 8(6), 1265-1278.
• Coburn, K. L., & Williams, D. L. Quantitative analysis of narrative discourse by autistic adults of under-represented genders. Autism in Adulthood, 5(2), 154-164.
• Coburn, K. L., Kurtz, M. R., Rivera, D., & Kana, R. K. (2022). Behavioral and neurobiological evidence for the effects of reading interventions on autistic children: A systematic review. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews.
• Sandberg, C. W., Exton, E., Coburn, K. L., Chun, S., & Miller, C. (2022). Event related potential exploration of the organizational structure of abstract versus concrete words in neurologically intact younger adults. Brain & Language, 230, 105138. 
• Coburn, K. L., & Williams, D. L. (2022). Brief report: Visuospatial and spoken language recall in autism: Preliminary results. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 52, 2831-2837.
• Coburn, K. L., Jung, S., Ousley, C. L., Sowers, D. J., Wendelken, M., & Wilkinson, K. (2021). Centering the family in their system: A framework to promote family-centered AAC services. AAC, 37(4), 229-240.
• Coburn, K. L., & Williams, D. L. (2020). Development of neural structure and function in autism spectrum disorder: Implications for learning language. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 29, 1783-1797.

Certification and Licensure

• ASHA CCC-SLP
• Maryland State Licensure in Speech-Language Pathology

Selected Presentations

• *Klansek, M., & Coburn, K. L. (2024, December 7). The relationship between filled pauses and camouflaging autistic traits [Poster presentation]. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Seattle, WA.

• *Shipley, E. P., & Coburn, K. L. (2024, December 7). The experiences of autistic adults participating in narrative language research [Poster presentation]. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Seattle, WA.

• Coburn, K. L., & Gaddy, C. (2024, December 6). Neurodiversity-affirming approaches to narrative assessment and intervention. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Seattle, WA.

• Coburn, K. L., Martin, L. A., Miller, G. N., Trapani, J. A., Levine, T. R., & Kana, R. K. (2022, November). MISLEAD: A Thematic Analysis of How Autistic and Non-Autistic Adults Detect Lies. [Poster presentation]. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, New Orleans, LA.
• Coburn, K. L., Trapani, J. A., O’Kelley, S., & Kana, R. K. (2022, May). Effects of a visualizing intervention on reading comprehension in autistic children [Poster presentation]. International Society for Autism Research, Austin, TX.
• Coburn, K. L., & Williams, D. L. (2021, November). Personal narratives by autistic adults of underrepresented genders [Technical research sessions]. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Washington, D.C.
• Coburn, K. L., & Williams, D. L. (2020, October 22-23). Neurodevelopmental differences in autism spectrum disorder applied to language learning [Virtual poster presentation]. Many Paths to Language, Max Planck Institute, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
• Coburn, K. L., & Williams, D. L. (2019, November 21-23). Verbal encoding and visuospatial recall in autism spectrum disorder [Poster presentation]. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Convention, Orlando, FL, United States.

(*Towson University Student Authors)

Memberships/Affiliations

• American Speech-Language Hearing Association

Professional Services

• Editorial Board Member, American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology
• ASHA Convention Topic Committee: Considerations for Autistic Populations
• Guest editor: Perspectives of the ASHA SIGs (2025); Topics in Language Disorders (2024)
• Ad hoc reviewer: Autism; Autism Research; Scientific Reports; PLOS ONE; Autism in Adulthood; Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools; and others