Prof Rajinder Koul visits the CAAC

The Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (CAAC) was honoured to have Prof Rajinder Koul visit for five weeks. Prof Koul is currently a professor and chairperson of the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, and Associate Dean for Research at the School of Allied Health Sciences. He has published in numerous peer-reviewed journals, has edited a book on Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) for adults with aphasia, and is a co-editor of Evidence Based Communication Assessment and Intervention Journal. He is a recipient of the Mary E Switzer Distinguished Rehabilitation Research Fellowship from the United States Department of Education’s National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. In 2005, he was named a Fellow of the American Speech, Language and Hearing Association (ASHA). The status of Fellow is one of the highest honours ASHA can bestow.

During his visit Prof Koul provided mentorship and guidance to master’s and PhD students; visited and gave presentations at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, George Mukhari Hospital, Sefako Makgatho University and at the University of the Witwatersrand; and presented three seminars at the CAAC. The first of these was the Neville Cohen Memorial lecture at the 26th Annual AAC Research Seminar, titled ‘Experimental and non‐experimental research in behavioural sciences: Implications for practice’. He later presented two more seminars about neurogenic communication disorders. He also received the Neville Cohen Memorial Award for his outstanding contribution in the field of AAC & severe disability.

The staff and students at the CAAC greatly benefited from Prof Koul’s visit and his vast knowledge in the field of AAC.