Faculty Profiles
Susan Latham
Professor
Founding Director, Speech Language Pathology, MS in Speech Language Pathology
Speech Language Pathology
Autism Studies - Grad Studies
320 Spes Unica Hall
slatham@saintmarys.edu
"I'm not just mentoring our students as a speech and language pathologist or as a teacher, but also as a woman and as another human being."
Susan Latham, a '91 alumna and Professor/Founding Chair of Speech-Language Pathology at Saint Mary's College, emphasizes a holistic approach to student development.
Education
PhD, Michigan State University
MA, Michigan State University
BA, Saint Mary’s College
Areas of Expertise
- Autism spectrum disorder
- Early language and literacy
- Early childhood language disorders
- Infancy
Research Interests
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Early Childhood Language Disorders
- Early Childhood Language & Literacy
Courses Recently Taught
- SLP 220 Introduction to Communicative Sciences & Disorders
- SLP 486 Research Practicum
- SLP 505 Early Childhood Language Disorders
- SLP 524 Autism Spectrum Disorder
- AUST 560 Autism & Communication
Professional Experience
- Over thirty years working as a certified (CCC-SLP) speech language pathologist in hospitals, schools, and home intervention programs
- Clinical supervisor in a Language & Literacy-Based Classroom
- Autism consultant serving children, families, and educators
Creative and Scholarly Work
- Latham, S., Caniglia, S., Harness, H., Kraft, D., Sirianni, R. (November 2025) Client Optimized Virtual Equine Therapy for ASD Intervention. American Speech Language Hearing Association Convention. Washington, D.C.
- Latham, S. (2024) Speech, Language, and Literacy Intervention for the Developing Language Learner (3-5 year old). 2024 Early Childhood Conference, Notre Dame, IN.
- Latham, S. & Blackwell, A. (April 2023) Supporting Autistic Students Who Are Gestalt Language Processors. Presented at the Indiana Speech Language Hearing Association Annual Convention, Indianapolis, IN.
- Latham, S. & Hinnefeld, S. (November 2022). Evidence-Based Practice Curriculum: The Story of One College’s Inter-professional Collaboration. American Speech Language Hearing Association Convention. New Orleans, LA.
- Houch, A., Fean, J., & Latham, S. (2019) Real Life Calling: A cocurricular project in vocational discernment. Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE) Conference. Louisville, KY.
- Gong, Y., Yatawatte, H., Poellabauer, C., Schneider, S., & Latham, S. (August 2018). Automatic Autism Spectrum Disorder Detection Using Everyday Vocalizations Captured by Smart Devices. Presented at The 9th ACM Conference on Bioinformatics, Computational Biology and Health Informatics (ACM BCB).
- Yatawatte, H., Poellabauer, C., Schneider, S., & Latham, S. (July 2018). Deviations of Acoustic low-level descriptors in speech features of a set of triplets, one with autism. 40th Annual International Conference on the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC). Honolulu, HI.
Professional Memberships
- American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA) (1995-present)
- Council of State Association Presidents (CSAP)
- Indiana Speech Language Hearing Association (ISHA) (2005-present)
- Michigan Speech Language Hearing Association (MSHA) (1995-present)