Karen Erickson

Karen Erickson is the Director of the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies, a Professor in the Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, and the David E. and Dolores “Dee” Yoder Distinguished Professor in the Department of Allied Health Sciences in the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Karen is a former teacher of students with significant disabilities. Her current research addresses literacy and communication assessment and instruction for students with significant cognitive disabilities. Recent projects have focused on creating open-source professional development and implementation supports such as those created for the Dynamic Learning Maps Alternate Assessment Consortia (http://dlmpd.com), Project Core (http://project-core.com), and Tar Heel Shared Reader (http://sharedreader.org). She is the co-developer of the Tar Heel Reader (http://tarheelreader.org) online library of accessible books for beginning readers, as well as several other assistive and learning technologies including Readtopia with Don Johnston, Inc.