Presenters at Language and Literacy: Preschool and School-Age Children

Kathryn Cabbage, PhD, CCC-SLP, is an Associate Professor in the Speech and Hearing Sciences Department at Washington State University. Her research interests center on the connections between early speech and language skills and later literacy acquisition. Katy is interested in improving both the clinical identification and treatment of literacy difficulties in children with speech and language impairment, particularly in school-based settings. She teaches coursework on literacy and language development and speech sound disorders.

Disclosures:

• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation
• Salaried employee at Washington State University
• Research supported in part by an NIH grant
• ASHA member

Deborah Campbell, PhD, CCC-SLP, is the owner of Superior Therapy Services, located in the Nature Coast of Florida. Her research has focused on the reliability, feasibility, and real-world implementation of telehealth for pediatric speech-language assessment, as well as service delivery, with an emphasis on ensuring valid clinical outcomes in naturalistic practice settings. She has delivered clinical services via telehealth with pediatric and adult populations since 2015. Deborah was the Florida Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists’ 2021 Clinician of the Year and a 2022 nominee for ASHA’s Louis M. DiCarlo Award for Clinical Achievement based on her successful advocacy in changing Florida SLPA supervision rules. Additionally, her telehealth assessment presentation at the 2023 ASHA Convention was designated a “Changemaker.” Deborah also has advanced clinical expertise in language-based literacy disorders, including dyslexia, pediatric feeding disorders, and early intervention. She is guided by a simple belief: every child can learn, every child has the right to communicate, and every child deserves equitable access to effective care—no matter where they live or the resources available to them.

Disclosures:

• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation
• Presenter at conferences, such as COPAA and FLASHA, as well as a guest speaker at universities, on topics varying from speech-language pathology assistants to telehealth and diagnostic reading assessments
• Visiting Research Scholar at the University of South Florida
• Chair of the the FLASHA Medicaid Committee
• Owner of a private therapy clinic, Superior Therapy Services, Inc.
• Performs independent education evaluations for school districts, special education attorneys, and the Disability Rights nonprofit law group

Tatyana Elleseff, MA, CCC-SLP, BCS-CL, is a bilingual speech-language pathologist specializing in developmental language disorder (DLD), dyslexia, and evidence-based intervention for language and literacy disorders. A board-certified specialist in child language, she works with at-risk children, including those with co-occurring psychiatric conditions, who present with complex learning needs. She is a strong advocate for clinical integrity, educational equity, and science-backed practice, with publications in professional journals and presentations delivered to national and international medical, academic, nonprofit, and professional organizations. Tatyana is the owner of Smart Speech Therapy LLC, where she supervises a team of 15 speech-language pathologists providing comprehensive evaluation, therapy, and consultation services. She serves as a clinical instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and is a clinical supervisor at Rutgers Day School, a university-operated, hospital-affiliated program for students with significant psychiatric, behavioral, language, and literacy needs. She also serves as a Supervising Consultant in Speech-Language Pathology for the American School in London, where she provides clinical supervision, develops assessment protocols, audits evaluations, delivers professional development, and advises leadership on service delivery, staffing, and workload equity.

Disclosures:

• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation

Erica Gutmann, MS, CCC-SLP, is a speech-language pathologist and PhD student in the SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Language and Communicative Disorders. Her clinical expertise is in working with school-age students with language and literacy disorders. Her research focuses on language and literacy development and disorders and supporting students with dyslexia and DLD in their school environment through a dissemination and implementation lens.

Disclosures:

• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation
• PhD research is funded by a stipend from a Training Grant, Project INTERSECT
• Research reported in this presentation was supported by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders of the National Institutes of Health 

Shannon Hall-Mills, PhD, CCC-SLP, is an Associate Professor in the School of Communication Science and Disorders at Florida State University. Her work focuses on language and literacy development and disorders in children and adolescents, educational policy and practices for students with disabilities, and school-based issues in speech-language pathology. Dr. Hall-Mills is a proactive researcher, leader, teacher, speaker, and advocate for school-based speech-language services.

Disclosures:

• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation
• Salaried employee of Florida State University
• Member of Literacy Assessment and Intervention Program Committee (ASHA Convention)

Carol Scheffner Hammer, PhD, CCC-SLP, is Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her work focuses on eliminating educational disparities by promoting the language, literacy, and academic achievement of young children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and from under-resourced communities. Specifically, she studies cultural and environmental influences on young dual language learners’ (DLLs) development and develops and evaluates professional development and parental involvement programs that promote the language and literacy skills of young DLLs. With her colleagues, she has developed and evaluated ExCELL (Exceptional Coaching for Early Language and Literacy), a research-based language and literacy professional development program for early childhood teachers with a specific focus on young DLLs. Dr. Hammer’s work has been continually funded by federal agencies since 2000. She has received more than $30 million in grant funding. Additionally, she has published over 90 articles and book chapters. She is past editor of the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, an ASHA Fellow, and a recipient of ASHA Honors in 2024.

Disclosures:

• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation
• Works at Teachers College, Columbia University
• Work referenced in this presentation has been supported in part by grants from the U.S. Department of Education

Leesa Marante, PhD, CCC-SLP, is a licensed speech-language pathologist and Assistant Professor at Jacksonville University. She developed her commitment to school-based practice during her clinical fellowship with Atlanta Public Schools and has since maintained an active role as a school-based SLP. Dr. Marante's research broadly focuses on improving academic outcomes for school-age children and adolescents with developmental language disorder. Central to her work is the goal of equipping school-based SLPs with the resources and support necessary to enhance their professional self-efficacy, job satisfaction, and delivery of evidence-based practice. Her dissertation examined the working conditions and occupational well-being of school-based SLPs, assessing current levels of stress and burnout while piloting a social support group intervention designed to mitigate burnout symptoms. This research has made meaningful contributions to an underrepresented area of the field—the mental health and professional sustainability of school-based SLPs—and offers a line of research and reform for systemic reform in school districts nationwide.

Disclosures:

• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation
• Salaried faculty as an assistant professor at Jacksonville University
• Clinical Lead speech-language pathologist for Simple Speech Therapy, LLC
• Provides consultation services for school-based SLPs who are experiencing overwhelm and burnout symptoms

Nickola Wolf Nelson, PhD, CCC-SLP, BCS-CL, is Professor Emerita at Western Michigan University. Nelson’s publications on language/literacy disorders include the Test of Integrated Language and Literacy Skills (TILLS) and textbook Language and Literacy Disorders: Infancy through Adolescence. She served as Editor of Topics in Language Disorders (2005-2018). Nelson is a member of the Orton Oaks, an ASHA Fellow, and Fellow of the International Academy for Research in Learning Disabilities. She received Honors of ASHA and the Kleffner Clinical Career Award from the ASHFoundation. Nelson now lives in Wichita, Kansas, with her husband, Steve Nave.

Disclosures:

• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation
• Royalties from Brookes Publishing Co., Inc. for the Test of Integrated Language and Literacy Skills (TILLS) and the Student Language Scale (SLS)
• Research in this presenation was supported bya grant from the Institute of Education Sciences and from Brookes Publishing
• Conducts volunteer assessment and intervention activities in public and private schools in the area of Wichita, Kansas

Abbie Olszewski, PhD, CCC-SLP, is an Associate Professor in Literacy Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno. With over 25 years of clinical experience, her work focuses on language and literacy development and disorders, including dyslexia, as well as trans voice and communication. Her research also explores the integration of artificial intelligence to enhance speech-language pathology services. Dr. Olszewski is a founding member of the Structured Word Inquiry Research Vanguard (SWIRV) group. She contributes to several federally funded, interdisciplinary initiatives spanning education, artificial intelligence, and communication disorders, including serving as Senior Personnel on the National AI Institute for Exceptional Education (NSF/IES), Co-Principal Investigator on the Nevada Collaborative (OSEP), and Project Director for IGNITE (OSEP).

Disclosures:

• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation
• Salary from University of Nevada, Reno
• Partial salary from National Science Foundation and Institute of Education Sciences project: National AI Institute for Exceptional Education
• Partial salary from Office of Special Education Program projects: NVC and IGNITE 

Danika Pfeiffer, PhD, CCC-SLP, is an Assistant Professor in Speech-Language Pathology at Old Dominion University and a certified speech-language pathologist. She is Principal Investigator of the Collaboration in Research for Children's Language and Literacy (CiRCLL) Lab. Her primary research interest is in enhancing young children's early language and literacy skills through collaborative, school-based partnerships. This includes providing educators with interprofessional training at the pre-service and in-service levels. Danika's early intervention research is currently funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Danika serves as a member of the Council of Academic Programs in Communication Sciences and Disorder's Interprofessional Education/Interprofessional Practice (IPE/IPP) Committee. She is also the Editor of Perspectives: School Based Issues. In addition, she hosts the About, From, & With podcast, sharing her experience pursuing a career in academia as well as others' journeys in the field of speech-language pathology. Lastly, she works closely with other scientists and clinicians as Chair of CSDisseminate. Their work aims to enhance research accessibility, rigor, and transparency in the field of Communication Sciences and Disorders and beyond.

Disclosures:

• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation
• Salary from Old Dominion University
• Research funding support from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
• Editor of Perspectives, School-Based Issues

Trina D. Spencer, PhD, BCBA-D, is a senior scientist and director of the Juniper Gardens Children’s Project and is a professor in the Department of Applied Behavioral Science at the University of Kansas. Drawing from learning sciences and multiple disciplines (e.g., behavior analysis, speech-language pathology, applied linguistics, and education), she concentrates her efforts on the oral academic language that serves as a foundation to the reading comprehension and writing composition of preK to 3rd grade students and multitiered systems of language and literacy support in early childhood education. Dr. Spencer maintains a spirited research agenda that has yielded 76 peer review publications, 186 invited presentations, $16M in external funding, and several commercialized curricula, interventions, professional development systems, and assessment tools. Her innovations are used broadly in several countries, and she continues to develop culturized interventions with international collaborators for their contexts. Dr. Spencer values researcher-practitioner partnerships, community engagement, and interdisciplinary collaborations to accomplish high-impact and innovative applied research.

Disclosures:

• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation
• Author of language and literacy assessment and intervention tools

Danielle “Nell” Thompson, PhD, CCC-SLP, is insatiably curious about the ideas, systems, and practices that help leaders, educators, and speech-language pathologists thrive. She is proud to first and foremost be an SLP and is also a published author, coach, speaker, and transformational literacy leader known for advancing language-centered systems change in education. Through her work across PreK-12 rural and urban educational settings, she integrates implementation science, educator and leadership development, and instructional coherence to help schools and districts create sustainable literacy transformation. Dr. Thompson is the founder of The Transformative Reading Teacher Group (TRTG) and founder of The Big Sky Literacy Summit, an internationally recognized professional learning experience focused on literacy, language, leadership, systems thinking, and human potential. Her work centers on the belief that language is foundational to literacy, learning, and human connection. She is widely recognized for helping educators and leaders move beyond compliance-driven reform toward transformational implementation that builds trust, coherence, and collective capacity for sustained change through a language-first lens.

Disclosures:

• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation

Shaylee Woods, MS, CCC-SLP, is a speech-language pathologist and Senior Research Coordinator at Kennedy Krieger Institute's Center for Autism Services, Science and Innovation (CASSI). Shaylee has clinical experience in both public schools and private practice for children with a variety of communication disorders. As a research coordinator, Shaylee supports language and literacy instruction in early childhood classrooms. Her previous research efforts include peer mentoring in CSD undergraduate and graduate programs, dynamic assessment, and narrative language intervention.

Disclosures:

• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation
• Salaried employee at Kennedy Krieger Institute