LinkedIn/ LeilaniForbyI completed a BA in English at the University of Colorado at Boulder. I then took a detour through the film business, but returned to academic life at Pepperdine University in California, where I focused on clinical psychology in their Graduate School of Education and Psychology. I also worked as a social skills behavioral coach and interventionist with children, adolescents, and young adults with autism, ADHD, depression, anxiety, and/or intellectual disabilities. After completing a master’s at Pepperdine, I headed north to UBC.
My main goal is to help people who have social skills deficits. The impact of such deficits begins in childhood and continues into adulthood, affecting academics, relationships, and careers. Like all psychology students, I have a lot of questions about the way we humans operate (and why!), but the ones I keep returning to cluster around autism and social attention: When viewing a dynamic social scene, what is most salient for people with ASD vs neurotypical people? How do we track and process these scenes differently, and why? And most importantly, how can our similarities and differences be used to help improve social skills interventions?
When I’m not applying what I learned at Pepperdine to my current studies, I’m applying it to the love and care of my husband, two lively children, and a feisty cocker spaniel.
Research Interests
Social attention, autism, mind wandering
Works
Forby, L.*, Pazhoohi, F., & Kingstone, A. (2021, June). Autism and masks: Effects on perceived attractiveness and trustworthiness [Conference session]. Understanding Vision: Social, Cognitive, and Clinical Perspectives. Colchester, United Kingdom.
Pazhoohi F., Forby L., Kingstone A. (2021) Facial masks affect emotion recognition in the general population and individuals with autistic traits. PLOS ONE 16(9): e0257740. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0257740
Hole, R.*, Barnes, S., Schnellert, L., Ngieng, N., Stainton, T., Forby, L., & Polushin, S. (2019, August). Transitioning youth with disabilities and employment: The TYDE project. Published abstract at the Congress 2019: International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Glasgow Scotland.
Forby, L.*, Ganel, A., Dahiya, A., Rosen, N., Veytsman, E., & Laugeson, E. (2016, November). Comparing social skills outcomes in adolescents with ASD and adolescents with ADHD following the UCLA PEERS® intervention. Poster presented at both the International Meeting for Autism Research, San Francisco, CA, and the American Psychological Association Convention, Washington, D.C.
Dahiya, A.*, Rosen, N., Ellingsen, R., Forby, L., Veytsman, E., & Laugeson, E. (2016, November). Symptoms of ADHD, depression, and social anxiety as predictors of social skills outcomes among adolescents with ASD following the UCLA PEERS® intervention. Poster presented at both the International Meeting for Autism Research, San Francisco, CA, and the American Psychological Association Convention, Washington, D.C.