Experts & Speakers Faculty Profile
Erna Alant
Otting Endowed Chair in Special Education
Interests:
Intervention for children and adults who have little or no speech, and the use of augmentative communication strategies (AAC) to assist them to communicate despite their lack of speechEducation:
- B.A. at University of Pretoria, 1977
- M.A. at University of Pretoria, 1978
- Ph.D. at University of Pretoria, 1984
Background:
Professor Erna Alant received her bachelors, masters and PhD in the field of Speech- Language Pathology at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. Thereafter she joined the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg in 1978 from where sheI moved to Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal to work in the school context. In 1984, she was appointed at the University of Pretoria as a clinical tutor, lecturer and later as professor in Communication Pathology.In 1990, she founded the Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (CAAC), which is a unique graduate training and research facility in Africa. In 1995, the CAAC received the Education Africa Presidential Award from Nelson Mandela for its work in South Africa. Professor Alant also received the Rolex Award for Enterprise in 1998 for the project "Communication for life." Since then, the CAAC has received numerous national and international awards in recognition of its impact within the African continent and beyond.
Professor Alant's research endeavors over the past 20 years have focused largely on the development of relevant communication systems for people who have no or little speech within poverty contexts. One of the outcomes of this research was a book on AAC and Severe Disability: Beyond Poverty published by Whurr Publishers in 2005. This book, which was co-edited by Lyle L Lloyd, PhD, from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., was the first book which focused on poverty and AAC intervention internationally.
In 2008, she received an award from the American Association for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in recognition of her international contribution to the field. Professor Alant is presently President-elect of the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (2009-2010) and an associate editor for the Journal of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC).
She began her career at Indiana University Bloomington on January,1 2009, in the position of professor and Otting Endowed Chair in Special Education. Professor Alant looks forward to working with colleagues, students and the broader community in building a strong training and research program within the field of severe disabilities and augmentative and alternative communication. "May our efforts in this field not only be of benefit to those in Indiana, but extend beyond the United States to provide different opportunities for growth and skill development to all working in the field," Alant said.
Publications:
- Alant, E ; Kolatsis, A & Lilienfeld, M . The Effect of Sequential Exposure of Color Conditions on time and Accuracy of Graphic Symbol Location. (Accepted for Publication in Augmentative & Alternative Communication (March 2010)
- Bornman, J., Alant, E. & Du Preez, A. (2009). Translucency and Learnability of Blissymbols in Setswana-speaking Children: An Exploration. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 25(4), 287-298
- Goldblum, G & Alant, E (2009). Sales assistants serving customers with traumatic brain injury. Aphasiology, 23(1), 87-109
- Dada, S & Alant, E (2009). The Effect of Aided Language Stimulation on Vocabulary Acquisition in Children With Little or No Functional Speech. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology,18, 50-64.
- Alant, E ; Uys, K & Tonsing, K. (2009). Communication, Language and Literacy learning in Children with Developmental Disabilities. In Matson, JL; Andrasik, A & Matson, M.L. (Eds). Treating Childhood Psychopathology and Developing Disorders. Springer, New York, pp. 373-402.
