Rehabilitation Institute

Specializations: Augmentative and Alternative Communication, Interaction Analysis, Neurogenic Communication Disorders, Clinical Supervision
 
Dr. Simpson is a speech and language pathologist with a special interest in persons with complex communication needs. Clinical areas of expertise include augmentative and alternative communication systems for a wide variety of individuals, including those with cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury, and Rett syndrome. He teaches courses in the graduate and undergraduate levels, primarily in the areas of neurogenic communication disorders. He also functions as the Communication Disorders and Sciences program coordinator and ASHA program director. He has been a member of the faculty at SIUC since 1994 where he was awarded the Rehabilitation Institute Teacher of the Year Award. Prior to earning his doctorate degree he worked for 12 years as a public school speech-language pathologist in northern Iowa. He has been a certified speech-language pathologist since 1980, certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. His primary research areas of interest are augmentative and alternative communication, interaction analysis, and the social use of language for those with severe communication impairments. He is a member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication.