Alumna Spotlight: Bonnie McBride

Dr. Bonnie McBride, Ph.D., BCBA-D, is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and Director of the Oklahoma Autism Center. Her work includes expanding services and conducting research to improve the lives of families and children affected by autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Dr. McBride’s journey began at the University of Washington, where she delved into inclusive preschool teaching and co-founded Project DATA. Collaborating closely with the esteemed Dr. Ilene Schwartz, Director of the Haring Center, she co-authored “The DATA Model for Teaching Preschoolers with Autism,” a testament to their shared dedication.  

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Q. Could you share insights about your educational journey at the University of Washington? Any cherished memories or impactful moments stand out?  

I moved to Washington State in 1991 and applied for a position with Dr. Tom Lovitt a well-known researcher and expert in learning disabilities at the UW.  He introduced me to Dr. Ilene Schwartz shortly after discovering my interest and experience with autism and early childhood. I didn’t know at the time the important impact that introduction would have on the rest of my career.   

Ilene connected me with the principal of the Experimental Education Unit, who was hiring a lead teacher for one of the inclusive preschool classrooms that Dr. Schwartz and others had created.  Ilene and I had so many commonalities in training and experiences in autism (i.e., ABA training working with children with autism in a clinical/treatment setting and a vision of what an inclusive classroom could be) that working with her seemed like what I should be doing.  However, leading that classroom was harder than I had envisioned, and I remember fondly that the principal at the time Jennifer Annable said she avoided taking tours to my classroom for the first three months! It took me a bit to figure out what I was doing. I can see now that it was a great symbiotic relationship. I and others during that time would take Ilene’s vision and figure out how to make it work in the classroom.   

I worked as a lead teacher and for Ilene on grants for the next 5 years. What a wonderful and impactful time of learning that was for me.  Those 5 years really set the stage for the next 27 years of my career. As an aside, I also feel like I get credit for “discovering” a current rock star of the University of Washington, Dr. Gail Joseph because she did her student teaching in my classroom one summer and I knew she was someone we needed at the EEU plus working with her was a lot of fun. During this time, a small group of us decided to apply for the doctoral program. I don’t know if we were officially Dr. Schwartz’s first doctoral students, but we certainly were some of the first.  This included Ann Garfinkle, Gusty-Lee Boulware, Gail Joseph and me.  What an incredible, talented group of professionals I got to work with at the EEU and during my doctoral program.  No matter how much time has passed, when I see them again it feels like no time has gone by at all. The bonds formed during that period of my life certainly were some of the most impactful. The work I had done up to this point set the stage for the next big milestone in my career, and that was working with Dr. Schwartz to develop and refine the DATA Model.  

Q. Please tell us about your work and research. 

I left the University of Washington in 2006 and took a faculty position in the department of pediatrics at University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. In this role, I worked in developmental and behavioral pediatrics, specifically in autism spectrum disorder. My research over the past 18 years has focused on promoting early identification, identifying effective interventions, and the implementation of evidence-based interventions in meaningful educational and community-based settings. My research began at the University of Washington with Dr. Ilene Schwartz as a collaborator in the development of Project DATA (Developmentally Appropriate Treatment for Autism) in 1997. This project was funded through a model demonstration grant with OSEP.

At OUHSC, I worked with senior research faculty in my department who had interest and expertise in translational research methods and who specialized in studying the implementation and adaptation of evidence-based models to authentic service settings. As part of a pilot project investigating the efficacy of the Project DATA Toddler model, I developed a community-based adaptation of the DATA model partnering with the state’s early intervention program to implement in local early learning and care centers. This pilot project expanded to 4 additional sites around the OKC and Tulsa metro areas and has sustained services to children and family for the past 15 years.

These sites served as primary research sites of a multi-state RCT (Oklahoma and Washington) evaluating the efficacy of Project DATA for Toddlers and Preschoolers funded by the Institute of Educational Sciences—a branch of the US Department of Education in which Dr. Schwartz and I served as Co-Principal investigators. Results showed similar developmental gains to other studies using behavioral intervention. However, I believe that the original results of the RCTs did not adequately capture what is special about the DATA Model. Identifying how the uniqueness of DATA Model impacted student outcomes will hopefully be phase 2 of DATA Model research.  

Q. Could you tell us about a particularly rewarding experience or breakthrough you’ve had in this endeavor?  

What has been particularly impactful is the combination of work I am doing with my colleagues at OUHSC around implementation and adaptation of evidence-based interventions and the development of the DATA Model work with Dr. Schwartz at UW. As a field, we have known what is effective, but there is this disconnect between what is known and what is put into practice.  I really value the work we have done, and I am excited to continue to learn from my colleagues at OUHSC and others about how to better understand the factors that influence the likelihood that science-based approaches are used.

The DATA Model is a good example of a flexible model that uses science-based interventions, in part because it was designed to be implemented in inclusive education settings. Locally, we have worked with several large districts in the Oklahoma Metro area to implement the DATA Model. There is still much work to be done.  However, models like DATA have demonstrated that we can provide good quality instruction in a fun and age-appropriate environment with ALL kids.  

Q. What advice would you like to share for future UW researchers and practitioners? 

Take advantage of and seek out opportunities for collaboration. Especially researchers or professionals from other disciplines who work with a different population but are concerned with the same challenges.

Q. Finally, what current or future projects are you excited about? 

I have recently been involved in working with different early childhood systems (childcare, Head Start, Home Visitation, and WIC etc.) to improve early identification efforts in Oklahoma as part of a grant awarded to the Oklahoma Department of Human Services as part of a Preschool Development Grant Birth-5. This overlaps with my work as Oklahoma’s Act Early Ambassador for a CDC developmental health promotion program that engages families in regular monitoring of their child’s development and acting early if there are concerns.