Jamie Murray-Branch, a clinical professor of Communicative Disorders, has been awarded an academic staff professional development grant.
The award will allow Murray-Branch to directly consult with leading experts in the area of autism and communication intervention at the Hattie B. Munroe Augmentative Communication Program under the guidance of Dr. David Beukelman at the University of Nebraska.
Beukelman and his staff are leading experts in the area of augmentative and alternative communication.
Murray-Branch's consultation with the Munroe Augmentative Communication Program facultywill help her develop and integrate new clinical training opportunities here at theUW-Madison Speech and Hearing Clinicinthe UW-Madison Department of Communicative Disorders.
A primary focus of the grant is on the development of a unique preschool/literacy program that incorporates visual strategies and augmentative and alternative communication systems for children on the autism spectrum as well as those with multi-handicapping conditions.
Students majoring in speech and language pathology through the Department of Communicative Disorderswill also benefit from these additional curricular and clinical training opportunities. In addition, the UW-Madison Speech and Hearing Clinic will be able to expand community outreach to this growing segment of the population.