Janet L. Dodd, SLP-D, CCC-SLP, has over 25 years' experience working as a school-based speech-language pathologist. Dr. Dodd blends her experiences as a school-based speech-language pathologist (SLP) with her passion for the field into her role of teaching aspiring clinicians. As a school-based SLP, she recognized the inadequacies of current practices in meeting the needs of her students who were unable to use oral language as a functional means of communication. Utilizing her experience and the professional networks she developed working as a speech-language pathologist in a public school setting, she established Chapman University's All About Communication (AAC) Camp. Initially developed as a means to provided graduate speech-language pathology student clinicians hands-on experience using technology to teach students with complex communication needs to communicate, AAC Camp has evolved into an exemplary service delivery model to apply when working with students with the most complex communication needs. Another area of particular interest that evolved mostly out of necessity in working with high-profile students was the practice of providing thorough, educationally relevant, and legally defensible assessments for children with suspected autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnoses. Through her experience as a school-based SLP in collaboration with colleagues representing various disciplines, she developed the Comprehensive Multi-disciplinary Assessment Protocols for ASD (CMAPS). The CMAPS is a series of assessment protocols that can be used by school-based teams to guide the development of comprehensive and legally defensible assessment plans. Her research and clinical experience focuses on the use of classroom-based interventions to address the unique challenges experienced by children with ASD, including curriculum-relevant social skills interventions and the use of technology to facilitate communication in children with more severe forms of autism. She has published numerous articles and frequently presents on topics relevant to speech-language pathologists working with children with ASD in school settings.
