Karen Erickson, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Director, Center for Literacy & Disability Studies
Phone: (919)-966-8828
Fax: (919)-843-3250
Email: karen_erickson@med.unc.edu
Personal website: http://www.med.unc.edu/ahs/clds

Education

•  Ph.D. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1995
• M.S. State University of New York, Albany, 1988
• B.S. Cornell University, 1987

Personal Statement

I am a special education teacher who worked in a variety of classroom settings supporting students with a range of disabilities. My heart lies with children who have the most significant disabilities, particularly those who do not use speech as their primary means of communication. My work over the past decade has focused on understanding the best ways to assess and teach reading and writing to children with the most severe disabilities. As a member of an interdisciplinary team from my first day in the classroom, I take pride in the fact that educators and clinicians often mistake me for a speech language pathologist. Although I have no formal training in the field, I do believe that language is at the root of learning - particularly literacy learning.
Courses Taught

•   AHSC 350, Assistive Technology in the Allied Health Sciences

Research/Clinical Interests

•  Assessment of Reading and Writing
• Literacy Instruction
• Alternative assessment techniques for persons with significant disabilities
• Emergent literacy development across disabilities including Rett syndrome, autism, and young children who have visual impairments and blindness
• Beginning reading instruction for adolescents and adults with significant disabilities

Recent Publications

Koppenhaver, D. A., & Erickson, K. A. (in press). Natural Emergent Literacy Supports for Preschoolers with Autism and Severe Communication Impairments. Topics in Language Disorders.

Sturm, J. M., Erickson, K. A. & Yoder, D. E. (in press). State of the Science: Enhancing Literacy Participation Through AAC Technologies. Assistive Technology.

Koppenhaver, D. A., Erickson, K. A., & Skotko, B. G. (2001). Supporting communication of girls with Rett syndrome and their mothers in storybook reading. International Journal of Disability, Development, and Education, 48(4), 395-410.

Koppenhaver, D. A., Erickson, K. A., Harris, B., McLellan, J., Skotko, B., Newton, R. A. (2001). Storybook-Based Communication Intervention for Girls with Rett Syndrome and Their Mothers. Disability and Rehabilitation, 23, 149-159.
Books

Erickson, Karen A. (2000). All Children are Ready to Learn: An Emergent versus Readiness Perspective in Early Literacy Assessment. Seminars in Speech and Language, 21(3), 193-203.

Howell, Richard, Erickson, Karen, Stanger, Carol, & Wheaton, Joseph. (2000). Evaluation of a Computer-based Program on the Reading Performance of First Grade Students with Potential for Reading Failure. Journal of Special Education Technology, Volume 15(4).

Cunningham, James W., Erickson, Karen A., Spadorcia, Stephanie A., Koppenhaver, David A., Cunningham, Patricia M., Yoder, David E., & McKenna, Michael C. (1999). Assessing Word Attack from an Onset-Rime Perspective. Journal of Literacy Research, 31(4), 391-414.

Erickson, K. A. and Koppenhaver, D. A. (1998, Sept/Oct). Using the "write talk-nology" with Patrik. Teaching Exceptional Children, 58-64.

Erickson, K.A., Koppenhaver, D K, Yoder, D.E. (2002). Waves of Words: Augmented communicators read and write. Toronto: ISAAC Press.
Book Chapters

Cunningham, J. W., Koppenhaver, D. A., Erickson, K. A., & Spadorcia, S. A. (in press). Word identification and text characteristics. In J. V. Hoffman & D. Schallert (Eds.), Texts, Tasks & Teaching Reading in Elementary Classrooms. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Mirenda, P. and Erickson, K. A. (2000). Autism, AAC and Literacy. In A. Wetherby & B. Prizant (Eds.), Communication and language issues in autism and PDD: A transactional developmental perspective (p. 333-367). Baltimore, MD: Brookes
Peer Reviewed Articles

Erickson, K. A., Koppenhaver, D. A., Yoder, D. E., and Nance, J. (1997). Integrated Communication and Literacy Instruction for a Child with Multiple Disabilities. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 12(3), 142-150.

Erickson, K. A. and Koppenhaver, D. A. (1995). Developing a Literacy Program for Children with Severe Disabilities. Reading Teacher, 48, 676-684.