Cynthia Cress Associate Professor
Ph.D., Communication Disorders: Augmentative Communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1993
M.A., Communication Disorders: Language Development & Disorders, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1990
B.A., Psychology and Speech & Hearing Science, University of Michigan, 1982
Cynthia Cress, an associate professor in communication disorders, specializes in language development and disorders, early intervention, and augmentative communication. She teaches classes on preschool language disorders, linguistic diversity in bilingual and bicultural, communication assessment and intervention for children birth-to-three, and communication assessment intervention for persons with severe disabilities and autism. She also teaches an infant communication analysis seminar.
Cynthia was the principal investigator on a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant under the Clinical Investigator Development Award (CIDA). This five-year research grant targeted early communication and symbolic development in children at risk for becoming non speaking as a result of physical impairments. The research involved longitudinal samples of language and other developmental behaviors from children who were 1-3 years of age.
Other past research activities include developing and testing technology to support infant vocal development, and early communication risk among infants.
Cynthia received the Distinguished Service Award from the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America in 1998. She has served on grant review panels for the NIH Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. In addition, Cynthia served as the associate editor for the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology from 2013-16 before transitioning to her current editor position.
Areas of Expertise:
Language Development
Language Disorders: Infants and Preschool Children
Augmentative Communication
Significant Disabilities
Autism: Early Communication & Intervention