Lauren Fischbacher, PhD

Lauren Fischbacher received her Ph.D. in Special Education from UCLA and California State University, Los Angeles. Her research primarily focuses on non/minimally speaking/verbal autistic young children and adults and the implementation of alternative and augmentative communication (AAC). She is currently a postdoctoral researcher in Communication Science and Disorders at Baylor University working on projects using eye-tracking technology for autism. Her research is aimed at achieving inclusion, belonging, and access from early childhood into adulthood in schools and communities for autistic people, AAC users, and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. 

 
Institution: University of California, Los Angeles

Project: Outcomes, Needs, and Desires of Autistic and Intellectually Disabled AAC Users: A Community-based Participatory Study

Project Overview: This community-partnered participatory study explores the outcomes of adult alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) users who qualified for special education under autism and/or intellectual disability. This project aims to examine outcomes, the transition to adulthood, K-12 and special education experience, and the diagnosis and AAC journey. By examining outcomes, the research aims to provide insights into what AAC users themselves consider to be fulfilling and successful outcomes, challenging the traditional perspectives shaped by those without communication disabilities. Grounded in the social model of disability, which views disabilities not as problems to be fixed but as societal constructs that need to be understood and accommodated, this study addresses the question posed by Lund and Light (2006): ”What is a good outcome [for AAC users]?” Through a combination of surveys, interviews, and questionnaire data, the findings will contribute to the limited knowledge about AAC users’ outcomes for people with autism and IDD.