Summary
Abbie Olszewski, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is an associate professor in Literacy Studies within the College of Education and Human Development. With over 25 years of experience as a licensed and certified clinical speech-language pathologist, Dr. Olszewski brings extensive expertise to her role, focusing on training future educators—including speech-language pathologists, general and special educators, and early childhood special educators—on how to improve children’s language and literacy skills in educational settings. Her primary focus is on the evaluation and intervention of children with dyslexia.
Dr. Olszewski's research spans three main areas. First, she is developing a cutting-edge screener that leverages artificial intelligence to identify behavioral indicators of dyslexia and dysgraphia in children's writing samples. This innovative work is partially supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), through the National Artificial Intelligence Institute for Exceptional Education. The project focuses on creating AI-driven solutions to (a) expand access to speech-language pathologists for early and (b) deliver ability-based interventions for young children with speech and language disabilities.
Additionally, Dr. Olszewski has secured federal funding from the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) to support interdisciplinary training for early childhood special educators and speech-language pathology students.
Second, Dr. Olszewski authored the pioneering manualized intervention book titled How to Teach Voice and Communication Skills to Transgender Women, which has become an essential resource in the field.
Lastly, she is passionate about enhancing teaching practices and is actively involved in the scholarship of teaching and learning.
Research Interests
- Language and literacy disorders
- Dyslexia
- Interdisciplinary education and practice
- Trans and nonbinary voice and communication
- Scholarship of teaching and learning
Courses Taught
- Phonetics
- Assessment of Communication Disorders
- Research Design
- Educational Research
- Advanced Educational Measurement
- Interdisciplinary Seminars
- Dyslexia
Selected Publications
(students underlined)
Baggett, M., Diamond, L. L., & Olszewski, A. (2023). . Intervention in School and Clinic, 1-12.
Stewart, J., Vigil, D., & Olszewski, A. (2022). . Clinical Archives of Communication Disorders, 7(3), 94-104.
Matthews, J., Olszewski, A., & Petereit, J. (2020). . American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 29(2), 1-14.
Olszewski, A. (2019). . Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 24(3), 31-33.
Olszewski, A., Diamond, L., & Bingham, A. (2018). . Teaching and Learning in Communication Science Disorders.
Gillam, S., Olszewski, A., Squires, K., Snyder-Wolf, K., Slocum, T., & Gillam, R. (2018). . Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 49, 197-212.
Pyle, N., Crowther, A., Lignugaris-Kraft, B., Gillam, S., Reutzel, R., Olszewski, A., et al. (2017).. Reading Research Quarterly, 0(0), 1-33.
Olszewski, A., Gillam, S., & Panoraska, A. (2016). . Communication Disorders Quarterly, 1-13.
Olszewski, A., & Frank, E. (2016). Building speech-language pathology capacity and colleagues across continents. Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology, 18(3), 137-138.
Gillam, S.L., Gillam, R., Fargo, J., Olszewski, A., & Segura, H. (2016). . Communication Disorders Quarterly, 1-11.
Gillam, S., Olszewski, A., Fargo, J., & Gillam, R. (2014). . Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 45, 204-219.
Education
- Ph.D., Disability Disciplines in Special Education and Rehabilitation, specializing in Speech-Language Pathology and subspecializing in Language and Literacy, Utah State University, 2011
- M.A., Speech-Language Pathology, Northern Illinois University, 1998
- B.S., Communicative Disorders, Northern Illinois University, 1996