New Communication Disorders Faculty Member's Work Focuses on People with Disabilities

University Relations

Christine Holyfield

New University of Arkansas assistant professor Christine Holyfield researches augmentative and alternative communication, focusing on developing and evaluating interventions, including technology and instruction, for people whose speech capabilities don't meet their daily needs.

Holyfield joined the faculty of the College of Education and Health Professions this fall after earning a doctorate in communication sciences and disorders from Pennsylvania State University. Her master's degree is from the University of Kansas and her bachelor's degree is from Central Michigan University, both also in communication sciences and disorders.

"I work with a small subgroup of the population of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities," Holyfield said. "These individuals are often excluded from services. I enjoy problem-solving to support their needs and work to develop interventions that support rather than exclude them."

These are school-age children or adults who have not developed complex language. They may have a small group of single words they use, but they communicate mostly by what Holyfield describes as individual, idiosyncratic ways that do not serve them well beyond a small group of people who know them and can understand what they want because of close, daily contact.

For her dissertation, Holyfield interviewed family members and other people close to middle school students with disabilities and then used video to document the communication methods the children in her study used.

"I shared the video clips with other communication partners in order to teach them to recognize and respond to these idiosyncratic ways of communicating," she said. "At home, they interacted with people who knew when they were happy or upset or wanted something and responded accordingly. But away from home, they were not getting those responses."

Her dissertation found, however, that video can be used to teach communication partners about idiosyncratic behaviors and responding to them.

But the research has to come at the communication process from both angles, Holyfield said. While it helps to teach people how to respond specifically to one individual, it is also important to help the individual learn to communicate in more universally understood ways, she said.

"We have to give them tools of communication so that anyone will understand," she said.

Holyfield has been part of research groups working with software companies to develop applications that can help people with communication disorders.

"There is a lot of growth in technology and sometimes people haven't thought about using these advances to support individuals with disabilities," she said. "Mobile technology has seen huge improvement, and, for example, onboard cameras can be used to quickly take photos to represent words for people who don't use speech."

Her work is unique in the U of A communication disorders program. Other faculty in the program have strong language-development backgrounds, Holyfield said, and that knowledge will help her in her work to promote early language development in individuals with disabilities.

She is teaching a graduate course on evidence-based practices in augmentative and alternative communication.

"This is a good place to support my research agenda, and I'm also glad to have the opportunity to teach future speech-language pathologists about how best to support individuals with communication limitations," Holyfield said.