RESEARCH_0001.1
AGAN BACKGROUND

As a speech-language pathologist, my own background consists of 20-years of experience specializing in rehabilitation of disorders of speech, language and cognition in acute care hospitals; inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation settings. I am no longer in academia and I am currently focused on pediatric work— another area of practice I enjoy tremendously.

​My doctoral studies and own research agenda have sought to understand the balance between spoken and written language in literate persons with severe speech impairments attempting to pursue valued life activities (i.e., education, careers). It was in this research that I first began to realize the importance of properly understanding the changing landscape of literacy on the opportunities of persons with severe communication disabilities. Recent decades have been seen an epochal shift  from traditional notions of print literacy to digital, screen-based multimodal compositions.

ORIGINS OF RESEARCH

Professor Chioffi and I first became acquainted in a clinical context when he came to the University of Arkansas Speech and Hearing Clinic seeking assistance with his speech and language challenges.
​In spite of a significant return of premorbid functioning in the years following his initial neurological insult, he still presented as an individual with severe speech disfluencies with accompanying language symptoms impacting both spoken and written language. Enhancing participation in valued activities (e.g., his vocational activities) became the focus of intervention in collaboration with him.

Initially, his intervention was noteworthy and deserving of a case study write-up from a clinical standpoint for two reasons. First,
​by nature of the rarity of his particular speech impairment, neurogenic stuttering, and perhaps even more importantly his vocational pursuits. Most individuals with similar experiences recede from public life due to the significant communication challenges involved. His persistence in remaining engaged in his passion for graphic design work at this level  has been without equal in my opinion. Most worthy of a case-study write-up. However, as our collaborative intervention preceded the richness of Professor Chioffi’s contributions steered us in directions with implications far beyond a single case study, deserving of a more extensive research agenda.

EVOLUTION
The initial clinical intervention grew into what is best described as a clinical design-oriented intervention case-study and is taking shape in the current effort: the modality project {dot} design.  
​Following initial ethnographic study of Professor Chioffi in his classroom environment, iterative cycles of planning, implementing and evaluating intervention strategies were conducted. A brief conceptual background will highlight guiding theoretical principles and practical considerations in our initial and developing research phase, after which a summary to date regarding our progress will be provided in the areas of: patterns and preferences of communication; physicality and accessibility; and development of compensatory and multimodal communication tools.

VISUALIZATIONS

Student
​​Artifacts