Neurodiversity Matters: Alyssa Hillary Zisk on Augmentative and Alternative Communication

Autistic people have a whole constellation of communication needs and styles, but these are not always understood or accommodated by researchers. This month, Sohail interviews Alyssa Hillary Zisk about Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC): what it is, the range of communication profiles it can help accommodate, and how qualitative inquiry into autistic experiences helped name these to increase understanding.

Dr. Alyssa Hillary Zisk (they/them) is the AAC Research team lead at AssistiveWare. They completed their Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Neuroscience at the University of Rhode Island in 2021, working on brain computer interfaces for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Their AAC research with AssistiveWare includes work with large anonymous language use data collected from AAC users and a study of terminology preferences among a variety of stakeholders. They are also a regular collaborator with Dr. Amy Donaldson’s Autism & Social Communication Lab, where they address AAC use and relevant speech experiences for autistic people who use both speech and AAC. Dr. Zisk uses their experience as a part-time AAC user and their community connections to other AAC users to guide their research, aiming to address both practical and theoretical concerns that matter to AAC users.

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