Brittany St. John, PhD, MPH, OTR/L | Morse Alumni
Morse Scholar Alumni 2017–2020
Current Position
Assistant Professor, Occupational Therapy
UW Department of Rehabilitation Medicine
University of Washington
Contact
About
Dr. St. John’s research is focused on promoting the health and wellbeing of families, and their communities. Her current research is focused on understanding and addressing selective eating in autistic children, theoretical and contextual factors impacting family mealtime, and promoting the health and wellbeing for individuals with intellectual and developmental disability.
Education
| 2010 | BA | Pscyhology | Seattle Pacific University |
| 2016 | MSOT | Occupational Therapy | University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| 2016 | PhD | Kinesiology Occupational Therapy | University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| 2017–2020 | Morse Scholar | Major Professor: Karla Ausderau, PhD | Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison |
In the News
Selected Publications
Hladik, L., St John, B. M., Korbel, A., Nelson, N., Umana, M., Kant, S., & Ausderau, K. K. (2025). “Giving Me the Self-Confidence to Tackle It”: Mothers’ Experiences Participating In The Engaged Eaters Program, A Caregiver-Mediated Feeding Intervention. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 55(3), 1045–1056. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-024-06250-4
St John, B. M., & Ausderau, K. K. (2024). The characterization of feeding challenges in autistic children. Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 28(9), 2381–2393. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613241227518
St John, B. M., & Ausderau, K. K. (2024). Changes in Caregiver Outcomes After Participation in the Engaged Eaters Program: A Caregiver-Mediated Feeding Intervention for Autistic Children and Their Families. The American journal of occupational therapy : official publication of the American Occupational Therapy Association, 78(3), 7803205040. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2024.050444
Hladik, L., St John, B., Carbery, M., Gray, M., Drew, J. R., Jr, & Ausderau, K. K. (2023). Benefits and Challenges of a Telehealth Eating and Mealtime Intervention for Autistic Children: Occupational Therapy Practitioners’ Perspectives. OTJR : occupation, participation and health, 43(3), 540–548. https://doi.org/10.1177/15394492231175069
St John, B. M., Hickey, E., Kastern, E., Russell, C., Russell, T., Mathy, A., Peterson, B., Wigington, D., Pellien, C., Caudill, A., Hladik, L., & Ausderau, K. K. (2022). Opening the door to university health research: recommendations for increasing accessibility for individuals with intellectual disability. International journal for equity in health, 21(1), 130. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-022-01730-4
St John, B., & Ausderau, K. (2021). Relationships Between Household Income and Functional Independent Behavior for Children With Autism. OTJR : occupation, participation and health, 41(4), 243–250. https://doi.org/10.1177/15394492211012654
St John, B., Gray, M., Malzacher, A., Hladik, L., Lurie, S., & Ausderau, K. (2021). Using photovoice with people with intellectual disability to illuminate definitions of health and factors influencing participation in health promotion. Journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities : JARID, 34(3), 866–876. https://doi.org/10.1111/jar.12868
St John B, Mihaila I, Dorrance K, DaWalt LS, Ausderau KK. (2018). Reflections From Co-Researchers With Intellectual Disability: Benefits to Inclusion in a Research Study Team. Intellectual & Developmental Disabilies, 56(4):251-262. doi: 10.1352/1934-9556-56.5.251.