News

Fall 2022

Our lab had a number of presentations at the November 2022 ASHA convention on topics related to language and literacy for individuals with developmental disabilities.

Our lab participated in the Special Olympics Race for Inclusion on November 5th in support of a more inclusive community. FSU is proud to support unified clubs on campus!

Summer 2022

Doctoral students Brianna Coltellino and Sara Collins presented their work at the Annual meeting of the American Association on Intellectual and developmental Disabilities. Sara presented a virtual oral presentation titled "An early literacy review: Literacy measures administered to children who use AAC" supported by co-authors Dr. Barton-Hulsey, Dr. Therrien, Christy Timm Fulkerson, & Shirin Khamablia. Brianna presented a poster during the in-person meeting titled: "Factors contributing to diversity in parent beliefs about AAC telepractice services during COVID-19." 

Fall 2021

Congratulations to Sara Collins! She is an FSU’s doctoral student in the School of Communication Science and Disorders. She was selected by the CCI Leadership Board Awards Committee to receive the CCI Leadership Board Student Leadership Award. Sara values being an adaptable, life-long learner as she advocates for the families and SLPs of children who use augmentative and alternative communication. She has a 1-hour oral seminar accepted to present at the American Speech Language Hearing Association National Convention in Washington D.C this November 19th entitled, “Family-Provider Partnerships and AAC: Lessons Learned from the Covid-19 Pandemic.”

Sara Collins, doctoral scholar in SCSD prepared a presentation for the American Speech-Language Hearing Association national convention that has received the designation of a Meritorious Poster Submission. Meritorious recognition is for proposals judged by the program committee to show extraordinary, exceptional, and innovative work. In total, 1253 posters were submitted and only 60 were selected for meritorious recognition.
The presentation is titled: “Clause-level grammatical accuracy in expository writing of children with and without developmental language disorder.” Co-authors on the presentation include SCSD faculty Shannon Hall-Mills and Carla Wood.
Congratulations to SCSD graduate student, Shirin Khambalia, who received one of three iThink Community Foundation Scholarships. This scholarship helps deserving students who exemplify leadership, commitment to their community, and commitment to their career goals. We’re excited to help Shirin achieve her goal of becoming a speech-language pathologist!

Spring 2021

Members of the lab along with Dr. Michelle Therrien and Dr. Mollie Romano from FSU and Dr. Elizabeth Biggs from Vanderbilt University shared our recent collaborative work describing factors that have influenced family and speech-language pathologists partnerships during Augmentative and Alternative communication service delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic. This poster was presented at this year’s virtual meeting of the Gatlinburg Conference on Research and Theory in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

Fall 2019

Members of the lab shared their most recent work describing early literacy profiles in children with developmental disabilities during two poster sessions at American Speech-Language and Hearing Association Convention in Orlando, Florida.

The poster pictured on the right, Early Literacy Knowledge in Autism: Impacts of Home Experiences, received the PROmoting the next GENeration of Researchers (PROGENY) award to recognize and encourage promising undergraduate researchers.

Dr. Barton-Hulsey and lab members participated in a one-mile advocacy walk established to help promote the acceptance and inclusion of individuals with Down syndrome and their families at the 14th Annual Buddy Walk in Tallahassee. At the booth, the lab team provided resources to parents, such as children books that help aid in literacy development, as well as played activities with the children to encourage literacy acquisition.

Summer 2019

Dr. Barton-Hulsey has presented posters this summer at the Symposium for Research on Child Language Disorders (SRCLD) and the annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading (SSSR) on her work identifying profiles of early literacy skills in preschool age children with Autism Spectrum disorder, Down Syndrome, and related developmental disabilities. Relationships between child speech ability and access to home and school literacy instruction were also discussed. Preliminary findings from an ongoing study examining the relationship between single word reading skills, phonological awareness, and vocabulary knowledge in children with developmental disabilities in Kindergarten – 3rd grades was also presented. This work will lead to the design and testing of early reading instruction strategies that are inclusive of children with developmental disabilities who have limitations in speech ability.

Spring 2019

 

Brianna Coltellino, Julia Bitar, and Brooke Hierholzer presented their poster on “The Relationship between Phonological Awareness, Vocabulary Knowledge, and Home Literacy Experience in Preschool Age Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)” at the FSU Communication Science and Disorders Research Rounds Mini-Conference.