About
Joanna Mussey, PhD, ABPP, is a board-certified clinical child and adolescent psychologist at MU Health Care and the Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment. She has extensive clinical experience assessing, diagnosing and treating young people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and other neurodevelopmental problems. As a clinician and researcher, she is interested in how ASD symptoms develop differently based on a person’s life experiences and how behaviors change throughout a person’s life.
Education & Training
Graduate Institution
Fellowship
Clinical Psychology
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Degrees
Bachelor of Arts, University of California, Los Angeles
Insurances
MU Health Care participates with most major managed care organizations. To find out whether MU Health Care is a participating provider in your insurance plan or network, or for information on co-payments and deductibles, please contact your insurance carrier directly.
Academic Information
Office
701 Veterans United Drive
Columbia, MO 65201
United States
Research Profile
Joanna Mussey, PhD, ABPP, is a clinical child and adolescent psychologist and assistant professional practice professor within the Mizzou School of Medicine. She specializes in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and other neurodevelopmental conditions. Dr. Mussey is also an independent trainer for autism diagnostic measures, including the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, 2nd Edition (ADOS-2).
Her research and clinical work focus on understanding how ASD presents across the lifespan with varying abilities. She has extensive experience differentiating ASD from other neurodevelopmental conditions, addressing co-occurring concerns such as anxiety and implementing evidence-based psychological, developmental, behavioral and skills-based interventions. Dr. Mussey’s research interests include behavioral phenotyping of ASD, evaluating best practices in the assessment and treatment of ASD and IDD and investigating factors that influence symptom presentation, including age, sex and gender, cognitive ability and language development. She is also committed to advancing professional training and developing programs that improve services and quality of life for individuals with ASD and IDD throughout their lives.
Research Interests
- Behavioral phenotyping and clinical characteristics of ASD across the lifespan
- Best practices in assessment and treatment of ASD and IDD
- Moderators (such as age, sex and gender, cognitive ability and language development) of ASD symptom manifestation
Research Areas of Expertise
- Assessment and differential diagnosis of ASD and other neurodevelopmental differences across the lifespan
- Evidence-based assessment of and interventions for ASD and IDD
- Sex- and gender-based differences in the clinical presentation of ASD symptomatology
- Assessment and treatment of co-occurring conditions and mental health needs in ASD and IDD, including anxiety
Awards & Honors
- American Psychological Association (APA) Early Career Achievement Award (2020)
- APA Committee on Early Career Psychologists Outstanding Poster Award (2018)
- National Register Early Career Psychologist Credentialing Scholarship (2014)
Professional Societies
- American Psychological Association (APA)
- International Society for Autism Research (INSAR)
- American Association of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD)
- North Carolina Psychological Association (NCPA)
- Missouri Psychological Association (MOPA)
Publications
- Mussey, J.L., & Klinger, L.G., (2020).
Imitation in ASD: Performance on an imitation choice task.
Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2020.101530 - Mussey, J.L., Ginn, N.C., & Klinger, L.G. (2017).
Short Report: Are males and females with ASD more similar than we thought?
Autism, 21, 733-737. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361316682621
Books and chapters
- Klinger, L. G, Mussey, J. L., & O’Kelley, S. E. (2018).
Assessment of Intellectual Functioning in Autism Spectrum Disorders. In S. Goldstein, J. Naglieri, & S. Ozonoff (Eds.)
Assessment of Autism Spectrum Disorders, 2nd Edition. Guilford. - Mussey, J.L. (2018).
Psychological testing.
In E. Braaten (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Intellectual and Developmental Disorders (pp. 1328-1332). SAGE Publications, Inc. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781483392271.n410 - Mussey, J.L. (2018).
Wechsler adult intelligence scale.
In E. Braaten (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Intellectual and Developmental Disorders (pp. 1715-1718). SAGE Publications, Inc. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781483392271.n535 - Mussey, J.L., & Miller, K.M. (2018).
Media portrayals of individuals with developmental disabilities.
In E. Braaten (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Intellectual and Developmental Disorders (pp. 994-996). SAGE Publications, Inc. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781483392271.n310 - Mussey, J.L. (2018).
Media portrayals of individuals with intellectual disabilities.
In E. Braaten (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Intellectual and Developmental Disorders (pp. 997-999). SAGE Publications, Inc. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781483392271.n311
Digital and other novel forms of scholarship
- Mussey, J., Dawkins, T., & AFIRM Team. (2017).
Cognitive behavioral intervention.
Chapel Hill, NC: National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorder, FPG Child Development Center, University of North Carolina. Retrieved from https://afirm.fpg.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/Cognitive-Behavioral-Instructional-Strategies-Brief-Packet-Mussey-et-al-2025-1.pdf
Invited non-refereed publications
- Azad, G., Mussey, J., Rodriguez, G., & Zeedyk, S. (2020, Summer)
An ECP Guide to Navigating Your First Pandemic: Survival First, Then Tenure?
Article in Summer 2020 APA Division 33 Newsletter. - Azad, G., Mussey, J., Rodriguez, G., & Zeedyk, S. (2019, Winter)
Destigmatizing Academic Experiences of Tenure-Track Faculty in the Field of IDD/ASD: Lessons Learned from Junior Faculty.
Article in Winter 2019 APA Division 33 Newsletter.