Allison Gladfelter, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Title:	Associate Professor/ACUE Distinguished Teaching Scholar/Co-director of the NIU Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language and Literacy
Pronouns:	she/her/hers
Unit:	Speech-Language Pathology
Office Location:	Wirtz Hall 122H
Office Phone:	815-753-7737
Office Fax:	815-753-9123
Email:	agladfelter@niu.edu
Office Hours:	By appointment

Courses Taught

• COMD 221: Phonetics and Phonology
• COMD 305: Language Development
• COMD 429: Assessment Procedures in Communicative Disorders
• COMD 603: Communication Disorders in Early Childhood
• COMD 618: Autism and Social Communication Disorders
• AHCD 494: Workshop in Autism Services

Education

• Ph.D., Purdue University, Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences
• M.S., Purdue University, Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences
• B.A., Augustana College, Communication Sciences and Disorders and Spanish

Certification

• Certificate in Effective College Instruction endorsed by the American Council on Education
• Hanen More Than Words Certification
• Certification of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology, American Speech-Language Hearing Association
• Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) Clinical Certification

Licensure

State of Illinois, Speech-Language Pathology License

Research Interests

• Typical and atypical language acquisition
• Language learning mechanisms
• Autism
• Developmental language disorder
• Motor and language interactions
• HUSKIES Lab

Community Programs

NIU Autism Caregiver Group

Selected Publications

Wang, Z., Onal, S., Pandit, P., Gladfelter, A., & Buac, M. (2026). Accessible autism screening in children: a pilot study of markerless gait analysis from ordinary walking videos. International Journal of Developmental Disabilities, 1–15.

Scoppa, M., Benham, S., Gladfelter, A., Steeb, A. and Goffman, L. (2026) Influence of Semantic Richness on Word Form Learning in Children with Developmental Language Disorder. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 

Gladfelter, A., Parr, A., Cannone, A. and O'Connor, S. (2026). A Multistate Look Into Early Intervention Speech-Language Pathologists' Confidence Identifying and Diagnosing Autism. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 35(2), 712-729.

Gladfelter, A., Thomas, S., Nguyen, C. and O'Connor, S. (2026). Assessing Misidentification Potential When Using Percent Developmental Delay as an Early Intervention Eligibility Criterion. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools.

Anderson, L., Gladfelter, A., Buac, M., Cheung, W. C., Wang, Z. and Onal, S. (2025). Relationships Between Cultural Factors and Motor Abilities in Autistic and Non-Autistic Children. Behavioral Sciences, 15(12), 1742.

Ocampo Vianca, A., Buac, M., Cannone, A., O'Connor, S. and Gladfelter, A. (2025). Developing a Core Vocabulary List for Tagalog–English Bilingual Preschool-Age Children. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 34(6), 3103-3117.

Dinello, A., and Gladfelter, A. (2025). Intervention Techniques Targeting Echolalia: A Scoping Review. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 34, 1528-1543.

Richtsmeier, P.T., Gladfelter, A. and Moore, M.W. (2024). Contributions of speaking, listening and semantic depth to word learning in typical 3- and 4-year-olds. Language, Speech and Hearing Services in Schools.

Andzik, N., LaRouech, A. and Gladfelter, A. (2023). Parents' perspective of augmentative and alternative communication from assessment to implementation. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups.

Buac, M., Ibarra, G., Torres, R., Onal, S., Gladfelter, A. and Wang, Z. (2023). The urgent need for neuroscience research to consider culture when assessing the development of gait in autistic children: A scoping review. Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, 22(2), 51.

Harris, L. N., Gladfelter, A., Santuzzi, A. M., Lech, I. B., Rodriguez, R., Lopez, L. E., Soto, D. and Li, A. (2023). Braille literacy as a human right: A challenge to the “inefficiency” argument against braille instruction. International Journal of Psychology, 58(1). 52-58.

Gayaldo, S. and Gladfelter, A. (2022). Prevalence versus evidence: A closer look at the research available for serving children exposed to maltreatment and a response to Hyter’s call for Trauma-Informed Care. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 31, 2283 - 2288.

Mitchell-Cannone, A. and Gladfelter, A. (2020). The incorporation of hippotherapy as a treatment tool in speech-language therapy sessions for adolescents with communicative disorders. EBP Briefs, 14, 1 – 10.

Odeh, C., Gladfelter, A., Stoesser, C. and Roth, S. (2020). Comprehensive motor skills assessment in children with autism spectrum disorder yields global deficits. International Journal of Developmental Disabilities.

Odeh, C., Martell, R. Griffith, S., Johnson, E. and Gladfelter, A. (2020). Motor-based interventions improve language outcomes in children with autism: A systematic review. Clinical Archives of Communication Disorders, 5, 1-7.

Gladfelter A and Barron K.L. (2020). How Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Developmental Language Disorder and Typical Language Learn to Produce Global and Local Semantic Features. Brain Sciences, 10, 231.

Gladfelter, A. and VanZuiden, C. (2020). The Influence of Language Context on Repetitive Speech Use in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 29, 327-334.

Gladfelter, A., Barron, K.L. and Johnson, E. (2019) Visual and verbal semantic productions in children with ASD, DLD and typical language. Journal of Communication Disorders, 82, 105921.

Gladfelter, A., Johnson, E. and Odeh, C. (2019). Parent Perceptions of Social Behaviors Associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder Are Related to Motor Skills. Communication Disorders Quarterly.

Gladfelter, A. and Goffman, L. (2017) Semantic Richness and Word Learning in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Developmental Science.

Saletta, M., Gladfelter, A., Vuolo, J. and Goffman, L. (2015). Interaction of Motor and Language Factors in the Development of Speech Production. In R. H. Bahr and E.R. Silliman (Eds). Handbook of Communication Disorders. Routledge.

Gladfelter, A. and Leonard, L.B. (2013). Alternative tense and agreement morpheme measures for assessing grammatical deficits during the preschool period. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, 56, 542-552.

Gladfelter, A. and Goffman, L. (2013). The influence of prosodic stress patterns and semantic depth on novel word learning in typically developing children. Language Learning and Development, 9, 151-174.

Gladfelter, A., Wendt, O. and Subramanian, A. (2011). Evidence-based speech and language intervention strategies for the birth to three populations. Evidence-Based Practice Briefs, 5, 41-50.