Completed studies
B.Sc. Bachelor's degree in psychology.
Ph.D. Doctorate in Research and Intervention in Clinical Psychology.
University of Montreal
Post-doctorate at McGill University on the development of inclusive methods in autism.
Post-doctorate at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto on mental health in autism.
Research program
Valerie is interested in mental health in autism. Specifically, she is interested in the factors that can promote well-being in this population and the role that interests and strengths can play in promoting mental health. As a clinical psychologist, Valerie is also interested in the practice of psychotherapy with people with autism. She is currently a post-doctoral researcher at CAMH and conducts projects within the CIUSSS-NIM Research.
Distinction, Fellowships and Research Grants
Scholarship
Postdoctoral Fellowship, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Research grants
2022-26 Project Grant ($657,900), Co-Investigator. Creating an Evidence-Informed, Accessible, Clinically Useful and Personalized Virtual Mental Health Support Framework for School-Age Children on the Autism Spectrum: Building from Pandemic e-Support Experiences. Principal Investigator : Dr. Meng-Chuan Lai, Center for Addiciton and Mental Health (CAMH), Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
2021-25 Insight Grant ($218,514), Co-investigator. What about stimulating environments for children with autism? Principal Investigator: Dr. Claudine Jacques, UQO. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)
Publications
Scientific articles
Tesfaye, R*., Courchesne, V*., Mirenda, P., Nicholas, D., Mitchell, W., Singh, I., Zwaigenbaum, L., & Elsabbagh, M. (accepté) Autism Voices: Perspectives of the Needs, Challenges, and Hopes for the Future of Autistic Youth. Autism. 2022. *co-first authors
Girard, D., Courchesne, V., Degré‐Pelletier, J., Letendre, C., & Soulières, I. (2022). Assessing global developmental delay across instruments in minimally verbal preschool autistic children: The importance of a multi‐method and multi‐informant approach. Autism Research, 15(1), 103-116.
Jacques, C., Courchesne, V., Mineau, S., Dawson. M., Mottron, L. (2022) Positive, negative, and other emotions in young autistic children: the importance of interpretation and context. Autism, 1-16.
Courchesne, V., Tesfaye, R., Singh, I., Zwaigenbaum, L., Mirenda, P., Nicolas, D. Mitchell, W., Elsabbagh, M. (2021). Autism Voices: a novel method to access first-person perspective of autistic youth. Autism, 1-14.
Courchesne, V., Bedford, R., Duku, E., Bennett, T., Georgiades, S., Mirenda, P., Smith, I. M., Ungar, W. J., Vaillancourt, T., Waddell, C., Zaidman-Zait, A., Zwaigenbaum, L., Szatmari, P., Elsabbagh, M. (2021). Non-verbal IQ and change in restricted and repetitive behaviors throughout childhood in autism: A longitudinal study using the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised. Molecular autism, 12(1), 1-10.
Gagnon, D., Zeribi, A., Douard, E. Courchesne, V., Rodríguez-Herreros, B., Jacquemont, S., Huguet, G., Loum, M-A., Mottron, L. (2021) Language Regression in Autism does not Affect the Final Communicative Outcome: A Retrospective Study. Molecular autism, 12(1), 1-12.
Courchesne, V., Langlois, V., Gregoire, P., St-Denis, A., Bouvet, L., Ostrolenk, A., Mottron, L. (2020) Autistic interests and strengths, useful but misunderstood: A pragmatic case-study, dans Autism: Innovations and Future Directions in Psychological Research. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 2691.
Beauchamp-Châtel, A., Courchesne, V., Forgeot D’Arc, B., Mottron, L. (2019) Are tantrums in autism distinct from those of other childhood conditions? A comparative prevalence and naturalistic study. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders. Vol. 62, pp.66–74.
Tesfaye, R., Courchesne,V., Yusuf,A., Savion-Lemieux,T., Shikako-Thomas, K., Singh, I., Szatmari, P. and Elsabbagh, M. (2019) Assuming Ability: Synthesis of Methods Capturing First Person Perspectives of Children and Youth with Disabilities. Autism, 23(8), 1882-1896.
Jacques, C., Courchesne, V., S.Meilleur, A-A., Mineau, S., Ferguson, S., Cousineau, D., Labbé, A., Mottron, L., Dawson, M. (2018) What interests young autistic children? Assessing object exploration and repetitive behavior in a stimulating play situation. PloS one, 13(12), e0209251
Courchesne, V., Girard, D., Jacques, C., Soulières, I. (2018). Assessing intelligence at autism diagnosis: mission impossible? Testability and cognitive profile of autistic preschoolers. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Vol. 49 (3), 845-856.
Courchesne, V., Nader, A-M., Girard, D., Bouchard, V., Danis, E., Soulières, I. (2016). Le profil cognitif au service des apprentissages : optimiser le potentiel des enfants sur le spectre de l'autisme. Numéro thématique sur les troubles neurodéveloppementaux, Revue québécoise de psychologie. Vol 37 (2), 141-173.
Courchesne, V., Dawson, M., S. Meilleur, A-A., Poulin-Lord, M-P., Soulières, I. (2015) Autistic children at risk of being underestimated: school-based pilot study of a strength-informed assessment. Molecular Autism. Vol. 6(1): 12.
Nader, A.M., Courchesne, V., Dawson, M., Soulières, I. (2014). Does WISC-IV underestimate the intelligence of autistic children? Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Vol.46(5), 1582-1589.
Galle, S. A., Courchesne, V., Mottron, L., & Frasnelli, J. (2013). Olfaction in the autism spectrum. Perception, 42(3), 341-355.
Courchesne, V., (2011). Le diagnostic comme attribution causale claire pour augmenter le bien-être. Journal sur l’Identité, les relations interpersonnelles et les relations intergroupes. Vol 4, 2011.
Popular articles
Founder and editor-in-chief of the popular magazine On the Spectrum
http://www.autismresearchgroupmontreal.ca/Magazine.aspx
The mental load
https://www.stromspa.com/en/magazine/lifestyle/la-charge-mentale/
The outside world and compassion for yourself
https://www.stromspa.com/en/magazine/holistic-health/the-outside-world-and-compassion-for-yourself/
Learning to grieve
https://www.stromspa.com/en/magazine/holistic-health/learning-to-grieve/
Understanding our collective feelings by exploring the stages of grief
https://www.stromspa.com/en/magazine/strom-news/testimony-wave-of-sharing-01/
Emotional literacy and early childhood: recognizing one’s emotions to live better together
https://www.stromspa.com/en/magazine/holistic-health/emotional-literacy-and-early-childhood-recognizing-ones-emotions-to-live-better-together/
Live fully through the principles of acceptance and engagement therapy
https://www.stromspa.com/en/magazine/holistic-health/live-fully-through-the-principles-of-acceptance-and-engagement-therapy/
