Autism expert joins speech, hearing sciences
SPOKANE – Teresa Cardon, a speech-language pathologist with almost 20 years experience working with children with autism, has been hired by WSU’s department of speech and hearing sciences as an assistant professor.
Cardon will be based at WSU Spokane, and her appointment is effective Aug. 16.
Before coming to Spokane, Cardon was at Arizona State University, where she served as a faculty research associate in the Infant Child Research Programs while earning a PhD in speech and hearing science with an emphasis on autism. Prior to that, she was a clinical practitioner, serving – among others – as director of speech-language pathology at the Southwest Autism people awards and honors
“We are delighted that Dr. Cardon has decided to join our faculty,” said Gail Chermak, chair of the department of speech and hearing sciences. “She brings expertise in one of the highest demand areas of clinical practice and one of the highest priority areas of funded scientific inquiry.”
In her new role at WSU, Cardon will teach graduate and undergraduate courses while continuing to build her research program on children with autism. As part of her dissertation research, Cardon has looked at different ways to teach children with autism how to imitate behavior, an important developmental skill in young children that is often lacking in children with autism. She is also looking to define behavioral profiles for children with autism and identify the most effective communication therapy for each profile.
Cardon is the author of three books published by the Autism Asperger Publishing Company:
- “Top Ten Tips: A Survival Guide for Families with Children on the Autism Spectrum,” which was selected by the National Parenting Publications Awards (NAPPA) as a general parenting resources winner for 2010;
- “Initiations and Interactions: Early Intervention Techniques for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders;”
- “Let’s Talk Emotions: Helping Children with Social Cognitive Deficits, Including AS, HFA, and NVLD, Learn to Understand and Express Empathy and Emotions.”
Among other professional activities, she has served as a steering committee member for the Network of Autism Training and Technical Assistance Programs (NATTAP) since 2006.
A California native, Cardon holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Communicative Disorders, both from Cal State University Fullerton, in addition to a PhD in Speech and Hearing Science from Arizona State University.
