Andrea Barton Hulsey, Ph.D.

Broadly, Andrea's research is centered around characterizing the linguistic skills children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) use for reading development, inclusive of those children with limited speech ability. Her work examines relationships between speech ability, vocabulary knowledge, receptive language, phonological awareness, and access to home and school literacy instruction during developmental periods of early childhood, preschool, and elementary school, and is organized around three themes: (1) Characterizing intrinsic and extrinsic factors related to reading outcomes in children with intellectual and developmental disabilities; (2) Determining developmental trajectories of component reading skills for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities and a range of speech ability; (3) Developing assessments and interventions inclusive of children with limited speech ability that incorporate the use of Augmentative and Alternative Communication systems.