Dr. Norah Johnson, professor in the College of Nursing, and Dr. Sheikh Iqbal Ahamed, professor in the Department of Computer Science, received a $306,000 grant for the development of an app that helps support communication for children with autism.
The grant is an R41 subaward from the Small Business Technology Transfer National Institutes of Health grant mechanism awarded to Young Speaker Inc., a learning application project led by Dr. HyungKyoung Oh at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
“Marquette’s mission is to serve, both in our local area and around the globe,” Ahamed says. “This grant fits perfectly with that mission, and we are very excited to get to work.”
The grant will fund an app targeted to young children with autism who are minimally verbal. Johnson, whose research is focused on developing evidence-based interventions for families with autistic children, has authored over 60 peer-reviewed publications on the subject. She believes this grant may allow her to do some of her most significant work yet.
“There are lots of kids out there who only know a fixed number of words that aren’t enough to really help them communicate,” Johnson says. “Their families can’t rely on those few words for them to be able to effectively communicate. An app that supports their ability to learn how to use single words, word combinations and sentences through practicing with a device has the potential to change lives.”
This app is being developed in partnership with Autism United of Wisconsin, which provides support services to families impacted by autism.
“I want to personally thank both Dean Jill Guttormson of the College of Nursing and Dean Heather Hathaway of the College of Arts and Sciences for allowing this kind of collaboration, and I’m confident it will result in exciting outcomes,” Ahamed said.
