Alison Eisel Hendricks

Dr. Alison Eisel Hendricks is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communicative Disorders and Sciences at the University at Buffalo, affiliated with the College of Arts and Sciences and the Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science. She directs the UB Language Learning Lab and serves as Director of Undergraduate Studies.

• Contact: 116 Cary Hall, Buffalo NY 14214, ahendric@buffalo.edu, (716) 829-5563
• Courses: Phonetics, Phonological Disorders, Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in CSD

Research Focus:
The UB Language Learning Lab investigates language acquisition in school-age children with and without language impairments like Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). Key areas include:

• How children learn language from input quantity/type
• Acquisition of grammatical structures
• Interplay between sociolinguistic factors and language ability
• Improving DLD identification in culturally/linguistically diverse populations

Publication Trends:
Recent work spans 2013-2023, emphasizing:

• Academic achievement gaps in children with DLD/dyslexia
• Sociolinguistic analysis of African American English
• Open science practices in BIPOC research
• Diagnostic tool development for diverse dialect speakers
• Morphosyntactic patterns in language disorders

Lab Affiliation:
The lab operates within the Department of Communicative Disorders and Sciences, focusing on naturalistic studies and educational equity. Research outcomes aim to refine classroom screening protocols and address assessment biases.