Common understanding of severe communication impairment is of limited understanding and speech, or of arrested language development. But what does it mean, for example, to have the communication of a 2 year-old for an adult aged 40 years? The focus of this presentation is the complexity of communication profiles for adults with severe intellectual disability, and the implications for how to best support participation and inclusion.
About Professor Iacono:
Teresa Iacono is Professor of Rural and Regional Allied Health and Head of La Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University, Victoria. She earned her doctorate in Special Education and Communication Disorders at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, USA. She is a speech-language pathologist, with clinical, teaching and research interests in assessment and intervention for people with severe intellectual and other developmental disabilities across the lifespan, and the role of AAC to enhance their communication. Teresa has had academic appointments at Macquarie University, Monash University, and currently La Trobe University. She has published widely, with 94 journal papers, 11 book chapters and a co-edited book on AAC and Autism Spectrum Disorders. She is a previous editor of the international journal Augmentative and Alternative Communication. In 2007, she was a recipient of the inaugural National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia) Ethics Award for her work into ethical concerns of including people with developmental disabilities in research. Teresa has supervised 11 Ph.D. and 3 MA (Hons) students to completion, and is currently supervising 6 Ph.D. students. She is a member of the La Trobe University Living with Disabilities research group. Her current research activities continue to address issues facing people with developmental disabilities and their families, but with a focus on accessing services in rural communities and the role of telehealth. She is a member of the Loddon Mallee Allied Health Reference Group, Radius Disability Services Board of Directors, and the Telehealth Advisory Committee for the Department of Health.
Enquiries: Rachel Roth - rachel.roth@unsw.edu.au.