Tiffany Chavers Edgar, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
T32 Postdoctoral Fellow
Research in Developmental Disabilities and Language Laboratory
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Bridging the Gap: Enhancing Communication for Minimally Speaking Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Approximately seven million individuals in the United States are diagnosed with an intellectual or developmental disability. Many of these individuals do not develop functional speech and remain non-speaking or minimally speaking throughout their life span. As a result, these individuals face significant deficits in social-communication domains, activities of daily living, and adaptive behavior. Minimally-speaking individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) are under-served and under-researched. My research aims to address this critical gap in the knowledge base by conducting methodological rigorous and clinically relevant studies in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and IDDs. This talk will highlight my findings related to the unique language and cognitive profiles of individuals with IDDs and the efficacy of AAC interventions targeting social communication for minimally speaking individuals with IDDs.
This work was supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (Grants: P50HD105353-Chang, T32HD007489-Hartley) as well as the Vilas life cycle award (Sterling) and startup funds from the University of Wisconsin–Madison (Sterling).