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Leslie Neely, Ph.D.

Assistant Dean for Transdisciplinary Research Development, Professor, Director of Child and Adolescent Policy Research Institute, Associate Director of Brain Health Consortium, Educational Psychology

Leslie Neely, Ph.D.

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Bio

Dr. Leslie Neely is a Professor of Educational Psychology in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She also holds a dual appointment as a Professor of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology in the College of Science. Her research and clinical expertise centers on progressing the treatment of severe behavior for persons with autism and developmental disabilities with the science of applied behavior analysis (ABA). Severe behavior (e.g., aggression, self-injury, and property destruction) limits an individuals' access to learning, social, and communication opportunities and can be particularly concerning due to the serious potential health side effects (e.g., concussion from head banging) and long-term harmful outcomes (e.g., increased risk of institutionalization). Therapy based on the science of ABA is based on the principles of reinforcement learning and focuses on identifying the function (or purpose) of a behavior and arranging environmental contingencies to favor functional communication over severe behavior. For the past couple of years, Dr. Neely has partnered with colleagues in computer science, engineering, cyber security, education, health, and kinesiology, to establish an innovative lab focused on integrating advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence, augmented reality and virtual reality, into the therapy and education of individuals with autism and developmental disabilities. Dr. Neely holds multiple leadership positions including Associate Editor of the Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Associate Director of the Brain Health Consortium, and Program Director of the Behavior Analysis Program.

 

Teaching

  • Behavior assessment
  • Single-case research methodology
  • Advanced Behavior Analysis
  • Advanced Single-case research methodology

 

Research Interests

  • Behavior analysis
  • Severe behavior
  • Autism
  • Intellectual and developmental disabilities
  • Artificial intelligence
  • Machine learning
  • Interventions to improve quality of life

 

Degrees

  • Ph.D., Educational Psychology, Texas A&M University, 2015
  • M.Ed., Applied Behavior Analysis and Special Education, Texas A&M University, 2012
  • B.S., Civil Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 2006

 

Recent Media and Clips

Honors and Awards

  • Lutcher Brown Endowed Fellowship - University of Texas at San Antonio

  • University of Texas at San Antonio Innovation Award

  • University of Texas at San Antonio, Outstanding Graduate Advisor of Record

  • Cloud Technology Endowed Fellowship
    • Year Awarded: 2021-2022
  • Presidential Teaching Award – Tenure Track
    • Year Awarded: 2020
  • Presidential Research Award
    • Year Awarded: 2017

Presentations

National Conference Presentations – Refereed

  • Crone-Todd, D., Reeve, K., & Neely, L. (2025, May 25). ABAI accreditation: Program coordinators’ experiences with applying and obtaining accreditation. Panel presentation at the 51st Annual Association for Behavior Analysis International Conference. Washington, DC.

  • Perez, S., Neely, L., Kirkpatrick, M., Labay, A., & Tapia, H. (2025, May 26). Training teachers to use non-physical de-escalation procedures using behavioral skills training. Poster presented at the 51st Annual Association for Behavior Analysis International Conference. Washington, DC.

  • Conant, M., & Neely, L. (2025, May 25). Immediate effects of behavioral skills training on pairing implementation by novel therapists. Poster presented at the 51st Annual Association for Behavior Analysis International Conference. Washington, DC.

  • Cantero, K., MacNaul, H., Neely, L. (2025, May 24). Investigating the effectiveness of single-presentation paired stimulus preference assessment in identifying reinforcers and preferences: A comparison with double-presentation paired stimulus preference. Poster presented at the 51st Annual Association for Behavior Analysis International Conference. Washington, DC.

  • Neely., L. (2025, May 24). Advances in Artificial Intelligence, Wearable Technologies, and Applied Behavior Analysis. Chair of Symposium presented at the 51st Annual Association for Behavior Analysis International Conference. Washington, DC.

  • Cantu-Davis, K., Neely, L., Holloway, K., Svoboda, M., Graber, J., Wimberley, J., & Oyama, S. (2025, May 24). An exploratory study of the use of wearable technology to supplement measurement of self-injurious behavior. Symposium presented at the 51st Annual Association for Behavior Analysis International Conference. Washington, DC.

  • Perez, S., Neely, L., Holloway, K., Cantero, K., & Oyama, S. (2025, May 24). Wearable technology to measure the occurrence of self-injury during a functional analysis. Symposium presented at the 51st Annual Association for Behavior Analysis International Conference. Washington, DC. 

  • Holloway, K., Neely, L., Alaeddini, A., Kausch, T., Carnett, A., & Lang, R. (2025, May 24). Comparison of advanced neural network approaches to identification of indices of happiness in autistic children. Symposium presented at the 51st Annual Association for Behavior Analysis International Conference. Washington, DC. 

  • Holloway, K., Sullivan, J., Kirkpatrick, M., Neely, L., & MacNaul, H. (2025, February 18-21). Factor structure of the Autism Parenting Stress Index (APSI) [poster presentation]. National Association of School Psychologists Annual Convention, Seattle, WA, United States.

Invited Presentations

  • Texas Association for Behavior Analysis (2025, April 26). Introduction to artificial intelligence or AI in applied behavior analysis. Ethical considerations and practical implications. Presented at 4oth annual conference in Dallas, Texas.

  • Texas Association for Behavior Analysis (2025, April 25). Advances in artificial intelligence, wearable technologies, and applied behavior analysis. Presented at 4oth annual conference in Dallas, Texas.

Grants, Patents and Clinical Trials

Department of Education: Disability Innovation Fund
  • Neuro-Development Workforce Development (NDWD) – Employment Grant
    • Role: co-PI
    • Budget: $ 9,012,187
    • Duration: 10/01/2024-09/30/2029
University of Texas at San Antonio
  • Using Machine Learning and Data Analytics Frameworks to Estimate Medication Use for Managing Challenging Behavior in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders in Texas
    • Role: co-PI
    • Budget: $ 25,000
    • Duration: 10/7/2024 – 3/31/2026
National Science Foundation
  • SCC-PG: Securing Safety: Leveraging Advanced IoT-Enabled AI Technologies for Coordinated Response and Enhanced De-escalation Support of Autistic Individuals
    • Role: co-PI
    • Total Amount: $149,999
    • Duration: 10/01/2024-09/30/2025
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board: Autism Grant Program – Innovative Treatment Model
  • Behavior Buddy: Sustaining telehealth intervention effects for children with autism
    • Role: PI
    • Total Amount: $931,000
    • Duration: 6/26/2024 – 03/31/2026
National Science Foundation: IIS Division
  • Programming and Machine Learning Education for Students with Vision Impairments through Compilers, AI and Cloud Technologies
    • Role: co-PI
    • Budget: $ 770,941.00
    • Duration: 06/2022-06/2026

Publications

  • Oyama, S., Neely, L., & Davis, J., Gonzalez, G., and Galviz, M. (2025). Estimation of hand and head hitting impact force using an accelerometer device: Application to applied behavioral analysis. Manuscript accepted for publication in Next Research.

  • Eghbalian, A., Azam, M. M., Holloway, K., Neely, L., & Desai, K. (2025). Applying computer vision to analyze self-injurious behaviors in children with autism spectrum disorder. 2025 IEEE/CVF Winter Conference on Applications of Computer Vision Workshops (WACVW), Tucson, AZ, USA, pp. 11-20, doi: 10.1109/WACVW65960.2025.00007.

  • Neely, L., Holloway, K., Miller, S., Cantero, K., Alaeddini, A., & Oyama, S. (2025). Using wearable sensors to measure frequency and force of dangerous behaviors: An exploratory study of feasibility. ePub ahead of print in Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41252-025-00439-z

  • Neely, L., Oyama, S., Chen, Q., Qutub, A., & Chen, C. (2023). Tutorial: Lessons learned for behavior analysts from Data scientists. Perspectives on Behavior Science, 47(1), 203–223. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40614-023-00376-z

  • Neely, L., Carnett, A., Quarles, J., Park, S.-W., & Kelly, M. (2023). Behavior analytic technologies mediated via augmented reality for autism: A systematic review. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 36(2), 243–269. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-023-09912-w

  • Neely, L., Carnett, A., Quarles, J., MacNaul, H., Park, S.-W., Oyama, S., Chen, G., Desai, K., & Najafirad, P. (2022). The case for Integrated Advanced Technology in applied behavior analysis. Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 7(3), 415–425. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41252-022-00309-y

  • Neely, L., Carnett, A., Cantrell, K., Stegemann, S., & Svoboda, M. (2022). Functional communication training for toddlers at-risk for autism with early problem behavior. Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 6(4), 537–548. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41252-022-00306-1