Munroe-Meyer Institute
UNMC_Acronym_Vert_sm_4c
University of Nebraska Medical Center

Susan Fager, PhD, CCC-SLP

Scottish Rite Associate Professor, MMI
Director, Munroe-Meyer Institute Department of Speech-Language Pathology
Fellow, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
Speech-Language Pathologist

402-559-0426

Susan Fager, PhD, CCC-SLP

Susan Fager, PhD, CCC-SLP, is the Scottish Rite associate professor and director of the Department of Speech-Language Pathology at the UNMC Munroe-Meyer Institute.

Fager has an extensive clinical and research background in augmentative and alternative communication and motor speech disorders. Her current research focuses on the development and clinical evaluation of new and emerging alternative access methods to augmentative and alternative communication as well as the development of apps to support training and clinical decision-making and assistive technology practitioners. She has established clinical and research relationships with individuals who use augmentative and alternative communication and their families, academic partners and augmentative and alternative communication and assistive technology industry partners to address communication topics across the lifespan.

Fager has published numerous papers and book chapters and presented nationally and internationally on augmentative and alternative communication. She has received collaborative funding through the National Institutes of Health; National Science Foundation; National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research; and the American Speech-Language Hearing Foundation to support her research.

  • PhD: Augmentative and Alternative Communication and Motor Speech Disorders, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2008.
  • MS: Speech-Language Pathology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1997.
  • BS: University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1995.

Specialty Certifications

  • American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Certificate of Clinical Competence.
  • Nebraska state licensed speech-language pathologist.

Fager provides patient care services at the UNMC Munroe-Meyer Institute Department of Speech-Language Pathology.

Clinic Location: Munroe-Meyer Institute
  • Murtaugh, B., Fager, S., & Sorenson, T. (Invited manuscript, accepted, 2023). Emergence from disorders of consciousness: Optimizing self-agency through communication. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinics of North America.
  • Fager, S.K., Burnfield, J.M., & Sorenson, T. (2023). Participatory design approach to creating an accessible nurse call / hospital room control system for individuals with severe physical impairments. Assistive Technology Outcomes and Benefits, 17, 96-109. ATOB Volume 17 - Assistive Technology Industry Association (atia.org)
  • Mitchell, C.L., Cler, G.J., Fager, S.K., Contessa, P., Roy, S.H., De Luca, G., Kline, J.C.,& Vojtech, J.M. (2022). Ability-based methods for personalized keyboard generation. Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, 6(8):67. https://doi.org/10.3390/mti6080067
  • Mitchell, C.L., Cler G., Fager, S.K., Contessa, P., Roy, S., De Luca, G., Kline, J., & Vojtech, J. (2022). Ability-based keyboards for augmentative and alternative communication: Understanding how individuals’ movement patterns translate to more efficient keyboards. In Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Article 412, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1145/3491101.3519845 
  • Fager, S.K., Sorenson, T., Jakobs, E., Koester, H., Jakobs, T., & Beukelman, D.R. (2022). Multi-modal access method (eye-tracking + switch-scanning) for individuals with severe motor impairment: A preliminary investigation. Assistive Technology. Online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400435.2022.2053895
  • Dietz, A., McKelvey, M., Mirenda, P., Light, J.C., Blackstone, S., Fager, S., Fischer, J., Garrett, K., Golinker, L., Thiessen, A., Weissling, K., Williams, M.B., & Yorkston, K. (2022). Lessons for the AAC field: a tribute to Dr. David Beukelman. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 38(2), 77-81. https://doi.org/10.1080/07434618.2022.2077831
  • Gormley, J., & Koch Fager, S. (2021). Personalization of patient-provider communication across the lifespan. Topics in Language Disorders, 41, 249-268. https://doi.org/10.1097/TLD.0000000000000255
  • Development of augmentative and alternative communication access technologies and interfaces.
  • Development of training tools to support augmentative and alternative communication and assistive technology clinical service delivery.
  • Identification of best practices to support augmentative and alternative communication clinical decision-making.
  • American Speech Language and Hearing Association’s Fellowship of the Association, 2021.
  • daVinci Award in Communication/Educational Aid for Supplemented Speech Recognition, Jakobs, Hosom & Fager, 2011.
  • American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
  • American Speech Language-Hearing Association, Special Interest Groups 12 - Alternative and Augmentative Communication.
  • Nebraska Speech-Language Hearing Association.
  • United States Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication.
Speech-Language Pathology Department

University of Nebraska Medical Center
Munroe-Meyer Institute
985450 Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, NE 68198-5450

Clinic Appointments

Child using hand at mouth to form sounds in speech-language therapy session, Adobe Stock.
Department Services

Explore programs and services available through MMI's Department of Speech-Language Pathology.