Fulbright Specialist Program Award Received by Susan Johnston, Professor of Special Education

In mid-September 2024, Susan Johnston, Professor in the College of Education’s Department of  Special Education, will depart for Tbilisi, Georgia as an awardee of the competitive Fulbright Specialist Program. Just over 400 such specialists receive support from the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board and the U.S. Department of State each year. Professor Johnston’s award will enable her to share her extensive academic and professional expertise in augmentative and alternative communication and early language intervention with faculty, students, and stakeholders at Ilia State University (ISU).

As a Fulbright Specialist, Professor Johnston will collaborate with Professor Nino Tsantsadze and others at ISU focusing on three impactful areas of work:

1. Conducting research to identify barriers to supporting individuals with extensive support needs who use, or may benefit from, augmentative and alternative communication.
2. Engaging with faculty at ISU to further develop and refine their supervision model to support their pre-service students.
3. Utilizing case-based learning with students at ISU to enhance their understanding of how to support individuals with complex communication needs.

The application process for Fulbright Specialists is extensive and rigorous. Recipients of Fulbright Specialist awards are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement, demonstrated leadership in their field, and their potential to foster long-term cooperation between institutions in the U.S. and abroad. Professor Johnston’s award reflects the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board’s confidence in her expertise and her project’s ability to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and establish partnerships benefiting participants, institutions, and communities both in the U.S. and overseas.

When asked about her goals for the project, Dr. Johnston stated, "Through the power of knowledge-sharing and collaboration, I hope to transform challenges into opportunities for individuals in Georgia with significant disabilities who use, or may benefit from, augmentative and alternative communication."

Johnston has been a professor in the University of Utah’s College of Education for more than 25 years. She received her MA and Ph.D. in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, MN. Prior to coming to Utah, Dr. Johnston was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Special Education at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, MI.