Janet Farmer, PhD
Janet Farmer, PhD, is the director of academic programs at the Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders at the University of Missouri. She is a professor of health psychology in the School of Health Professions and professor of child health in the School of Medicine.
Farmer’s degree from the University of Kansas and her doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Missouri. She also completed her internship and post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Missouri, where she specialized in working with children and adults with chronic health conditions and disabilities. In 1991, she joined the faculty of the MU Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the Department of Child Health in the School of Medicine. In 2001, Farmer participated in the development of the MU Department of Health Psychology in the School of Health Professions. She has earned a diploma in rehabilitation psychology from the American Board of Professional Psychology and is a fellow of the American Psychological Association. She was appointed to the Missouri Commission on Autism in 2008 and re-appointed by Governor Jay Nixon in April 2009.
Throughout her career, Farmer has worked extensively with children and families affected by autism, traumatic brain injury and other neurodevelopmental disorders. She has been dedicated to identifying best practice models of care that are family-centered, collaborative, and evidence-based. To achieve these goals, she has been instrumental in launching key programs at MU:
- Child Neuropsychology Services, director, 1992-2003
- Division of Pediatric Psychology and Neuropsychology, director 2002-05
- TIPS for Kids interdisciplinary training program, clinical director, 1995-2005
- Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders, founding director and director of academic programs, 2005-present
At the state and national level, Farmer has led the development of for children with autism and their families, guided the Missouri Traumatic Brain Injury Educator Training program, shaped the use of telehealth for children with special health care needs and advanced the Medical Home Training Initiative.
Farmer’s current research interests focus on interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders that promote healthy development and improve each family’s quality of life, especially through advances in health service delivery. Farmer has received grant funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders, the federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau, the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth and the Missouri Foundation for Health. She is the associate editor of the Journal of Rehabilitation Psychology from 2006-11 .
Selected publications
Farmer JE, Marien, WE, Frasier, L. Quality improvements in primary care for children with special health care needs: Use of a brief screening measure. Children’s Health Care 2003; 32:273-285.
Farmer, JE, Marien, WE, Clark, MJ, Sherman, A, Selva, TJ. Primary care supports for children with chronic health conditions: Identifying and predicting unmet family needs. Journal of Pediatric Psychology 2004; 29(5): 355-367.
Stoelb, M, Yarnal, R, Miles, JH, Takahashi, TN, Farmer, JE, McCathren, RB. Predicting responsiveness to treatment of children with autism: The importance of physical dysmorphology. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities 2004; 19 (2): 66-77.
Takahashi, TN, Farmer, JE, Deidrick, KK, Hsu, BB, Miles, JH, Maria, BL. Joubert Syndrome is not a cause of classical autism. Am Journal of Med Genetics 2005; 132A:347-351.
Miles, JH, Takahashi, TN, Bagby, S, Sahota, PK, Vaslow, DF, Wang, CH, Hillman, RE, Farmer, JE. Essential vs complex autism: Definition of fundamental prognostic subtypes. American Journal of Medical Genetics 2005; 135A, 171-180.
Farmer, JE, Clark, MJ, Sherman, A, Marien, WE, Selva, TJ. Comprehensive primary care for children with special health care needs in rural areas. Pediatrics 2005; 116, 649-656.
Farmer, JE, Deidrick, KM, Gitten, J, Fennel, E, Maria, BL. Parenting stress and its relation to the behavior of children with Joubert syndrome. Journal of Child Neurology 2006; 21, 163-167.
Kanne, SM, Randolph, JK, Farmer, JE. Diagnostic and assessment findings: A bridge to academic planning for children with autism spectrum disorders. Neuropsychology Review 2008; 18(4), 367-384.
Miles JH, Takahashi TN, Hong J, Munden N, Flournoy N, Braddock SR, Martin RA, Spence MA, Hillman RE, Farmer JE (2008). Development and validation of a measure of dysmorphology: Useful for autism subgroup classification. Am J Med Genet, Part A, 146A:1101-1116.
Farmer, J.E. & Clark, M.J. (2008). Identification and evaluation of Missouri’s children with autism spectrum disorders: Promoting a rapid response. Missouri Medicine, 105, 384-389.
Rosenberg, R.E., Mandell, D.S., Farmer, J.E., Law, K., Marvin, A.R., & Law, P.A. (2010). Psychotropic medication use among children with autism spectrum disorders enrolled in a national registry, 2007-2008. Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders, 40 (3), 342-351.
Farmer, JE, Clark, MJ, Drewel, EH, Swenson, TM, Ge, B. (2010, Aug 19). Consultative care coordination through the medical home for CSHCN: A randomized controlled trial. Maternal and Child Health Journal. Advance online publication DOI: 10.1007/s10995-010-0658-8
Contact
Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
University of Missouri
205 Portland Street
Columbia, Mo. 65211
573-882-6081
farmerje@health.missouri.edu
