About

Kara Hume, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor and Program Coordinator of Applied Developmental Sciences and Special Education at the UNC School of Education. She is also a Faculty Fellow at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute and the Director of the National Clearinghouse on Autism Evidence and Practice. Hume's educational background includes a Ph.D. from Indiana University, Bloomington, earned in 2007, a Master of Education from Arizona State University in 2002, and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Evansville in 1995. Her areas of expertise encompass school, home, and community-based interventions for individuals with developmental disabilities across the age range, with a focus on supporting independence and interdependence, as well as the use of structured teaching strategies with individuals with autism. She has worked and collaborated with autistic children and adults for over 30 years in various capacities, including as a home program therapist, teacher, trainer, consultant, CrossFit coach, and researcher. Hume was a classroom teacher for seven years, primarily working with students with autism, and is a Certified Advanced Consultant with the UNC TEACCH Autism Program. Her research centers on increasing access to high-quality community-based services and interventions for individuals with developmental disabilities, particularly focusing on designing and implementing interventions for autistic youth, their families, and service providers in school and community settings. She has led significant research initiatives, including the Center on Secondary Education for Students with ASD, funded by IES, and has received over $21 million in funding during her tenure at UNC-Chapel Hill. Her work has been recognized by the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, which has nominated her work as a top-20 scientific advance in ASD research multiple times. Additionally, she leads an inclusive fitness class called Power Hour and has recently been awarded an NIH R01 grant to study the impact of inclusive exercise programming on the health and wellbeing of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Research topics

• Developmental psychology
• Psychology
• Clinical psychology
• Psychiatry
• Social psychology
• Gender studies
• Medicine
• Geography

Selected publications

• Ensuring Access to Physical Activity for Students with Motor Differences or Delays

  2026-04-22

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  All students should be included in school and community-based programming related to physical activity; however, engaging in physical activity is more challenging for many students with motor delays and differences, and thus, their participation is often impacted. In this chapter, we will discuss two common barriers that prevent school-aged students (5–18 years old) from engaging in physical activity, as well as the relationship between these barriers: motor differences and lack of engagement in physical activity. Motor differences may present as the delayed development of specific motor skills, such as kicking or throwing a ball, where students have difficulty performing motor skills alongside their peers of the same age. Limited participation in motor activities has negative implications for student health, motor development, adaptive behavior, social development, and mental health. Practitioners can support students with motor delays and differences by teaching motor skills explicitly, adapting motor movements as needed, incorporating evidence-based practices (EBPs) into their instruction and coaching, and fostering a sense of belonging in their learning spaces. Many easy-to-implement strategies and tips are included to support practitioners in their work with students with motor delays and differences.

  PublisherDOI

• Sex Trafficking Prevention for Youth With Disabilities: Network Analysis of Organizational Coordination

  UNC Libraries · 2026-04-16

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Purpose: Despite the elevated risk of youth with disabilities experiencing sex trafficking, little is known regarding coordination among organizations that provide services critical to prevention. Methods: This study utilized social network analysis to explore the association between six organizational sectors and three coordination types (i.e., referrals, information and resource sharing, and trainings). Organizational representatives ( n = 47) were surveyed about their coordination, communication frequency, and trust and reliability toward 190 organizations in a southeastern state. Results: Communication frequency was significantly associated with all coordination types. Among disability and violence prevention organizations, 71.9% of information and resource sharing ties and 12.5% of training ties were present. Violence prevention organizations sent more referrals to disability organizations than the inverse. Discussion: Future research should explore how coalition building among organizations occurs via interpersonal ties (e.g., boundary spanners). Findings can influence cohesive responses to sex trafficking that incorporate service needs of youth with disabilities.

  PublisherDOI

• Postsecondary Landscape for Autistic Young Adults: Special Issue on Autism, Young Adulthood, and Life Post High School

  Remedial and Special Education · 2025-03-12

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  The postsecondary landscape for autistic youth is changing, with increased opportunities in education and employment. However, autistic youth still face higher disengagement rates than other disability groups. The Center on Secondary Education for Students with Autism (CSESA) was a multisite study examining high school programming in 60 schools across three U.S. states, and the CSESA Follow-Up study examined their post high school experiences. This special issue provides a contemporary snapshot of postsecondary life for 200 autistic young adults from the CSESA study, and features five articles, each focusing on various aspects of their lives post high school. The young adults and their caregivers reported on their engagement in education, employment, community involvement, and health, and completed standardized measures related to self-determination and adaptive behavior. This article summarizes the state of the field and CSESA findings, introduces the follow-up study sample and procedures, provides global findings, and introduces each article in the series.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Sex Trafficking Prevention for Youth with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: Service Provider Perspectives

  2025-05-30

  book-chapter

  Given the paucity of research on sex-trafficking prevention education for youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), this qualitative study aimed to determine service providers’ (N = 22) perspectives regarding (a) topics and delivery methods to include in this programming, (b) factors that promote accessibility, and (c) challenges and recommendations associated with implementation. Individual interviews and focus groups were conducted using Zoom. For programming acceptability, participants identified challenges (e.g. misconception that individuals with IDD are asexual) and recommendations (e.g. teaching developmentally appropriate concepts in early childhood). For content and delivery, topics included consent, safety, and context/social rules. Tactical activities for self-care and sensory processing, and non-infantilizing, realistic visuals were recommended to improve accessibility. For systems involvement in disclosures and referrals, participants noted challenges (i.e. confusion about agency responsibility and information sharing) and recommendations (i.e. ensuring a clear and predictable disclosure process for youth). Findings can contribute to policy development, particularly in service provider training for responding to disclosures and clarifying funding allocation for school and community sex trafficking prevention.

  PublisherDOI

• Adaptive Behavior, Self-Determination, and Health in Autistic Young Adults

  Remedial and Special Education · 2025-02-14 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access

  Adaptive behavior, self-determination, and health are important areas of body functions and activities identified by autistic adults as priorities for research. Past research has suggested that autistic adults have high support needs in adaptive behavior and self-determination, and have poor physical and mental health outcomes. This study included 211 autistic young adults 18–25 years old ( M age = 20.93) and their caregivers who completed questionnaires and interviews on adaptive behavior, self-determination, and physical and mental health. Correlations were examined among adaptive behavior, maladaptive behavior, self-determination, and health outcomes controlling for IQ. Adult self-reports of self-determination capacity were associated with maladaptive behavior. Reports of self-determination by caregivers were associated with adaptive behavior and maladaptive behavior. Caregiver reports of maladaptive behaviors were associated with physical health outcomes. Findings provide an initial understanding of activities, participation, body functions, and their interactions among autistic young adults.

  PublisherDOI

• Efficacy of an Online Caregiver Learning Series for Promoting Daily Living Skills of Autistic Adolescents

  Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders · 2025-02-22 · 2 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• TEACCH Fidelity Measure--Spanish Version

  PsycTESTS Dataset · 2025-01-01

  datasetSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Relationship Between Self-Determination and IEP Goal Attainment for Autistic Adolescents

  Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals · 2025-04-22

  articleOpen access

  The Individualized Education Program (IEP) goal attainment is a key indicator of achievement in educational performance for students with disabilities. Yet, little is known of how well autistic high school students are meeting their IEP goals and factors affecting their attainment. This study examined the relationship between self-determination, a positive predictor of goal attainment and post-school success, and IEP goal attainment using secondary data from the center on Secondary Education for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Multilevel modeling was used to account for students nested within schools. Results suggest a positive link between self-determination and IEP goal attainment, while accounting for differences in demographics. However, the strength of this relationship varied across goal types (academic, independence/behavior, social, transition). Further research is needed to explore how self-determination interacts with individual, family, and school-level factors that influence IEP goal attainment, as well as to uncover the mechanisms through which self-determination supports the achievement of these goals.

  PublisherDOI

• Sex Trafficking Prevention for Youth With Disabilities: Network Analysis of Organizational Coordination

  Research on Social Work Practice · 2025-11-25

  articleOpen access

  Purpose: Despite the elevated risk of youth with disabilities experiencing sex trafficking, little is known regarding coordination among organizations that provide services critical to prevention. Methods: This study utilized social network analysis to explore the association between six organizational sectors and three coordination types (i.e., referrals, information and resource sharing, and trainings). Organizational representatives ( n = 47) were surveyed about their coordination, communication frequency, and trust and reliability toward 190 organizations in a southeastern state. Results: Communication frequency was significantly associated with all coordination types. Among disability and violence prevention organizations, 71.9% of information and resource sharing ties and 12.5% of training ties were present. Violence prevention organizations sent more referrals to disability organizations than the inverse. Discussion: Future research should explore how coalition building among organizations occurs via interpersonal ties (e.g., boundary spanners). Findings can influence cohesive responses to sex trafficking that incorporate service needs of youth with disabilities.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Spanish Adaptation of the TEACCH Fidelity Form

  Psicologí a Educativa · 2025-06-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  The growing prevalence of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) poses a challenge for schools, requiring them to implement specific methodologies to respond to the difficulties these students encounter. The TEACCH system is one of the most widely used approaches to address the needs of students with ASD, although few studies have determined the effectiveness of all its components. To systematize research based on this model, a fidelity measure of the application of the methodology is key. Such a measure could provide data on the intensity of application and homogeneity with which the methodology is implemented in classrooms or schools. The aim of this paper is to offer the Spanish adaptation of a fidelity questionnaire, the TEACCH Fidelity Measure (Hume et al., 2011), a fundamental tool for assessing the effectiveness of this methodology in future research.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Christopher J. McDougle

  Massachusetts General Hospital

  126 shared

• Carolyn A. Doyle

  Indiana University School of Medicine

  126 shared

• Winifred Schultz-Krohn

  122 shared

• Brian Reichow

  UConn Health

  67 shared

• Michael D. Powers

  62 shared

• Wouter Staal

  62 shared

• Jeffrey P. Brosco

  61 shared

• Matthew R. Capriotti

  San Jose State University

  61 shared

Labs

• Kara Hume's LabPI

  CSESA is a collaboration among researchers located at seven of the leading research and development centers related to developmental disabilities in the United States, as well as guidance from an advisory board with expertise in autism, secondary education, adolescence, and implementation.

Awards & honors

• Research Award from the Council for Exceptional Children’s D…
• Top-20 yearly scientific advance in ASD research (four times…