UROP Project

Supporting People with Disabilities to Communicate Using Technology in the AACtion Lab

Artificial Intelligence, Disability, Communication, speech-language pathology

Research Mentor: Dr Dawn Sowers,
Department, College, Affiliation: SCSD, Communication and Information
Contact Email: dsowers@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 4
Relevant Majors: Open to all majors; projects focus on people with multiple disabilities and the use of technology to support their communication.
Project Location: 201 W. Bloxham Street, Tallahassee - Warren Building, near campus/downtown
Research Assistant Transportation Required: Yes
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5-10, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link:

• Day: Thursday, September 3
  Start Time: 2:00
  End Time: 2:30
  Zoom Link: https://fsu.zoom.us/my/dsowers
• Day: Monday, August 31
  Start Time: 1:00
  End Time: 1:30
  Zoom Link: https://fsu.zoom.us/my/dsowers

Project Description

There are several projects happening in the AACtion Lab for the 26-27 Academic Year that you could support. My research focuses around individuals with multiple disabilities who rely on technology as their primary mode of communication. Current projects include understanding how upright mobility helps children with disabilities increase their language skills and social interactions, teaching literacy skills to students with motor and speech impairments, understanding what continuing education speech therapists need to help these individuals, using AI (machine learning) to support more efficient technology and communication. Perhaps one of these are a match for you!

Research Tasks: Depending on what project, a student in my lab may be:
1. Performing a literature review and/or helping to finalize manuscripts for publication
2. Collecting different types of data from individuals with or without disabilities
3. Analyzing data - including qualitative data such as interview responses, organizing findings, etc, providing reliability checks on already analyzed data

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: I will teach you the skills that you need to complete the tasks associated with your project. Skills that may be useful include:
1. Willingness to ask questions
2. Curious nature
3. Understanding that people with communication and other disabilities deserve to have a voice and wanting to participate in efforts to support them
4. Organization and time management