David Koppenhaver, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Language, Reading, and Exceptionalities, Appalachian State University. Dr. Koppenhaver holds a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). He is the former director of the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies and has worked for the past 20 years with preschool- and school-aged children who have a wide variety of literacy learning difficulties. He currently teaches undergraduate classes in reading methods, special education, and instructional technology. He has written and lectured widely on literacy instruction for children with significant disabilities and was the recipient of the 1998 International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication/Don Johnston, Inc. Distinguished Lecturer Award. He collaborated with Karen Erickson and David Yoder in organizing a collection of AAC/literacy case studies for the book Waves of Words: Augmentative Communicators Read and Write and co-edited an issue of Topics in Language Disorders with Jan Bedrosian (Western Michigan University) on literacy and AAC interventions for persons with autism.

Karen Erickson, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Allied Health Sciences, University of North Carolina. Dr. Erickson is the current director of the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies, where she has played a leading role in developing this course and the Symposium on Literacy and Disabilities. She holds a Ph.D. in Special Education and Literacy Studies from UNC and is a former teacher of children with significant disabilities. Knowledgeable in literacy, assistive and instructional technologies, augmentative communication, and the learning characteristics of children with significant disabilities, she is in great demand as a presenter, consultant, and program developer. In 2004, Dr. Erickson was awarded the Educator of the Year Award from the National Down Syndrome Congress and the ISAAC Distinguished Literacy Lectureship Award. Her assessment and intervention strategies are described in numerous journal articles and book chapters. Dr. Erickson currently heads a research and development team developing web-based literacy supports for young adolescents with severe disabilities and their teachers.