Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology

Fieke Vlaeminck

Fieke VlaeminckI am Fieke Vlaeminck and obtained my master’s degree in Clinical Psychology in 2018. I wrote my master thesis on sensory features and temperament of youngchildren at elevated likelihood for developing Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This was such a fascinating experience to me, that I decided to keep working on this subject after my studies, as a doctoral student at the developmental diversity lab. 

More specifically, I started working on the Babystudy, a longitudinal follow-up study in which preterm born children, siblings of children with ASD, and siblings of typically developping children were followed up from 0 to 3 years old. During my doctoral project, I will see all of these children when they are 8 years old. I’m particularly interested in their social-emotional wellbeing (anxiety, depression, self-esteem, emotion regulation, peer relations, …) and the stability of an early ASD diagnosis. I will furthermore map possible early predictors of school-age difficulties. 

Better insight into the school-age functioning of these children at elevated likelihood for ASD could improve clinical guidelines on diagnosis and (subtype-specific and prodromal) interventions. And, according to me, that is what makes the project so valuable.

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