Laura Richardson

Dr. Laura Richardson serves as Assistant Professor of Speech-language Pathology in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Lebanon Valley College, where she bridges clinical practice with academic instruction to advance communication sciences.

Her academic foundation includes:

• B.S. in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Kutztown University
• M.A. in Speech-Language Pathology from West Chester University
• Ph.D. in Speech-Language Pathology from Pennsylvania State University

Richardson's research critically examines communication development through the lens of relational health, with sustained focus on autism spectrum disorder and augmentative and alternative communication systems. Her work uniquely integrates infant mental health frameworks with feeding disorder interventions, emphasizing how early caregiver-child interactions shape language acquisition. She pioneers lifespan approaches to preintentional communication, particularly for nonverbal individuals with complex disabilities, while investigating intersections between language delays and childhood mental health outcomes.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals a decisive shift toward interdisciplinary synthesis—connecting AAC methodologies with art therapy modalities, neonatal abstinence syndrome impacts, and literacy development. Her systematic reviews consistently center family perspectives, notably parental hopes for children with ASD across developmental stages and relational health outcomes in feeding interventions.

Her scholarly contributions have earned recognition including:

• Meritorious Poster Award at PSHA 2023 for Infant Feeding Methods and Relational Health research
• Meritorious Poster Award at PSHA 2023 for Art-Based AAC interventions with autistic children
• Meritorious Poster Session at PSHA 2024 for community-centered service learning models

Richardson's clinical mentorship extends through Lebanon Valley College's speech-language pathology clinic, where she supervises student clinicians in service-learning projects addressing local community needs. Her grant experience includes participation in U.S. Department of Education Leadership Grants at Penn State focused on AAC implementation, and she actively develops open educational resources to enhance accessibility in communication sciences education.

While institutional lab structures aren't explicitly detailed, her collaborative research network spans international conferences—from Billund, Denmark to Lisbon, Portugal—and involves multi-institutional teams examining global AAC challenges and infant mental health frameworks.