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The Clinical Center for the Study of Development & Learning UNC Center For Development & Learning

Faculty & Staff Bio

Faculty
Psychology

Jennifer Hiemenz, Ph.D., ABPP-CN
Pediatric Neuropsychologist
Co-Director for Clinical Services
Acting Director of Training
Clinical Assistant Professor, Departments of Psychiatry and School Psychology, UNC Chapel Hill

 

EDUCATION
    • Post-Doctoral Fellowship Kennedy Krieger Institute/Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (1998-2000), Pediatric Neuropsychology and Developmental Disabilities
    • Ph.D. University of Georgia 1998, School Psychology
    • M.Ed. University of Georgia 1995, Educational Psychology
    • B.A. University of Notre Dame 1994, Psychology

RESEARCH AND CLINICAL INTERESTS

Nutritional influences on neuropsychological development in preschool-aged children with neurodevelopmental disorders, and neuropsychological aspects of giftedness in early development


PERSONAL STATEMENT
At the CDL, I provide clinical services in the Child and Adolescent Neuropsychology Clinic for children from birth through adolescence with a wide range of neurological and developmental disorders.  Patients are referred from a variety of sources, including the departments of Neurology, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Pediatrics, and Psychiatry at UNC Hospitals, other medical centers, public and private schools, and families.  I also work with Dr. Kelsey in the Nutrition/Behavior Clinic, working with families of children with developmental disabilities and significant food preferences.  I provide clinical supervision to several practicum students, interns, and postdoctoral fellows each year in these clinics. I am also the state School Psychology Consultant for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, Exceptional Children Division.  In this role, I provide technical assistance to the EC Division on matters pertaining to school psychology practice and special education, as well as to school psychologists and EC directors across the state.  I maintain and organize North Carolina’s registry of school psychologists who have received advanced training in working with students who are served under the federal category of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and assist the EC Division with policy development in this area.  I am also active within the North Carolina School Psychology Association, and co-chair the NCSPA Professional Practices Workgroup.  I have a close relationship with the School Psychology Program at UNC-CH, and have taught core courses in their program. 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
2003 – present      State School Psychology Consultant, NC Department of Public Instruction
2006 – present           Clinical Assistant Professor of Education, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill NC

RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Pretzel, R.E., Hiemenz, J.R., & Kahng, R. (in press). Assessment of preschool children: Standards, stages, and approaches. In S. Hooper and W. Umansky (Ed.) Young children with special needs. (5th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Mahone, E. M., Wodka, E.L., Hiemenz, J.R. (2006). Hand and eye preference and its association with task approach in preschoolers. Psychological Reports: Perceptual and Motor Skills, 102(3), 691-702.

Dusing, S. C., Rosenberg, A., Hiemenz, J.R., Piner, S., & Escolar, M. (2005). Gross and fine motor skills of children with Hurler Syndrome (MPS-IH) post umbilical cord blood transplantation: A case series report. Pediatric Physical Therapy, 17, 264-267.

Mahone, E. M., Pillion, J. P., Hoffman, J., Hiemenz, J. R., & Denckla, M. B. (2005). Construct validity of the Auditory Continuous Performance Test for Preschoolers. Developmental Neuropsychology, 27(1), 11-33.

Kibby, M.Y., Kroese, J. M., Morgan, A. E., Hiemenz, J. R., Cohen, M. J., & Hynd, G. W. (2004). The relationship between perisylvian morphology and verbal short-term memory functioning in children with neurodevelopmental disorders.  Brain and Language, 89(1), 122-135.

Hagelthorn, K., Hiemenz, J. R., Pillion, J. P., & Mahone, E. M. (2003).  Age and task
parameters in continuous performance tests for preschoolers.  Psychological Reports: Perceptual and Motor Skills, 96, 975-989.

Mahone, E.M., Pillion, J.P. & Hiemenz, J.R. (2001).  Initial development of an auditory continuous performance test for preschoolers. Journal of Attention Disorders.

Hiemenz, J. R., & Hynd, G. W. (2000). Sulcal/gyral pattern morphology of the
perisylvian language region in developmental dyslexia. Brain and Language, 74(1), 113-133.

Kroese, J. M., Hynd, G. W., Hall, J., Knight, D., & Hiemenz, J. R. (2000). Phonological processes (blending, segmenting, elision, and reversal), and phonological coding in memory in the clinical appraisal of spelling ability in reading disabled, ADHD, and normal children. Reading and Writing, 13 (1-2): 105-131.

Hiemenz, J. R., Hynd, G. W., & Jimenez, M. (1999).  Seizure disorders. In R. Brown
(Ed.) Cognitive aspects of chronic illness in children.  Guilford Publications.