About the CaSE Lab

Mission: Our mission is to improve the early identification and intervention of communication support needs in children with motor disabilities through research, education, outreach, and collaborative partnerships with families and professionals.

Core Areas: Awareness - Education - Research - Support - Outreach

Research Objectives

  • Early Identification
    Partner with multidisciplinary teams to design and validate tools that enhance timely recognition of speech and communication challenges in children with developmental motor conditions.
  • Early Intervention
    Develop and evaluate responsive, family-guided approaches to strengthen communication development in young children with motor-based needs.
  • Community Engagement
    Build partnerships with healthcare providers, educators, community organizations, and families to encourage adoption of effective early support tools and strategies.

Vision: We envision a future where every child with a developmental motor condition receives timely communication support and individualized strategies that foster growth from the earliest stages of life. Caregivers are equipped to navigate services and support their child’s full communication potential in home, school, and community settings.

Statement of Lab Commitments

In the CaSE Lab, we are dedicated to:

  • Broad Participation and Lab Involvement
    Inviting team members, research collaborators, and families from a wide range of life experiences to ensure that our work is relevant and meaningful across varied communities.

  • Respectful Engagement
    Creating a collaborative environment where each perspective contributes to improving communication outcomes for children with motor challenges.

  • Reducing Gaps in Services
    Addressing service access gaps by designing tools and strategies that are practical, scalable, and sensitive to differences in life context and background.

  • Open Access and Knowledge Sharing
    Making our research available to all who may benefit—clinicians, families, educators, researchers—and co-creating resources to help put knowledge into practice, so that more children can thrive from an early age.

Lab Funding

  • College of Arts & Sciences
  • WP Jones Presidential Faculty Development Fund

  • Annual Pilot Award (NCATS UM1TR004528)