School of Communication Sciences and Disorders (SCSD) doctoral student Sara Collins was awarded the Student and Early Career Professional (SECP) Scholarship sponsored by the Communication Disorders Interest Network.
The scholarship will be used to support her attendance at the 145th Annual Meeting of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) where she will present her work titled, “AAC & Literacy: An Evaluation of Word Recognition Assessment Measures for Students who use Aided Augmentative and Alternative Communication.”
Collins will present her poster alongside her co-authors SCSD Assistant Professors Michelle Therrien and Andrea Barton-Hulsey, as well as fellow SCSD doctoral student Christy Timm.
“Our work aims to evaluate single-word reading assessment tools that are adapted for children between the ages of 3 and 21 who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC),” said Collins. “Our team is interested in the single-word reading measures that have been adapted for aided AAC users who have an intellectual or developmental disability (IDD).
The team’s poster will present on the variety of experimental, single-word assessment tools that do not require speech ability for participation.
“I am looking forward to seeing first-hand the innovations in assessments, interventions, and policy developed during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Collins. “With the change in services, I’ve been interested to see how individuals with IDD, and the professional stakeholders who work alongside these individuals, have been impacted and how they adapted to new tools, services, and delivery platforms in their work, schooling, and communication techniques.”
This will be Collins’ first time presenting at the AAIDD. Through her attendance, she hopes to contribute to discussions about the barriers for individuals with IDD and meet like-minded researchers who will educate her on how to better advocate for individuals with IDD.
“This scholarship is an important recognition of the work my team and I are conducting as it validates the need for this line of inquiry,” said Collins. “It also emphasizes the importance of adapting measures of literacy in order to foster an inclusive learning environment for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. As I continue my career beyond this conference, I hope to continue to create and validate new assessment tools for these individuals and address the work that still needs to be done.”