Program Description

Purdue University's program in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) is internationally prominent. Students completing the program secure positions in a variety of service delivery, teaching, and research settings. The AAC program is for students seeking graduate degrees in either special education or speech-language pathology. This program is transdisciplinary and encourages applications from individuals with previous training and experience in any of a wide variety of areas such as audiology, bio-engineering, child development, electrical engineering, linguistics, occupational therapy, physical therapy, psychology, rehabilitaion engineering, special education, and speech-language pathology.

Philosophy

Communication is an integral part in the lives of individuals when they participate in their environments. For individuals with little or no functional speech, however, participation is often restricted. The AAC Personnel Preparation Program for the Master's Degree is dedicated to providing academic and practicum experiences designed to prepare speech-language pathologists and special educators to provide transdisciplinary and field-based AAC services for individuals with little or no functional speech so that they can reach their full potential as communicators.

The Doctoral Program emphasizes basic and applied research skills and scholarly writing through participation in a wide variety of AAC projects. Research activities are based on quantitative (group and single-subject designs) as well as qualitative methods of scientific inquiry.

Last update: October 18, 2001