Campus Directory

FACULTY AND STAFF

Kathryn Prescott

Title:	Assistant Professor
Office:	Pacelli Hall
Phone:	773-298-3567
Email:	prescott@sxu.edu
Department:	Comm. Sci. & Disorders

Biography

Kathryn Prescott's, Ph.D., research interests include the interaction of individual child characteristics and cognitive mechanisms with specific features of the learning environment, giving rise to structural language development in autistic children. Prescott has additional clinical and research interests in language acquisition through augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) modalities, including determining optimal intervention dose/frequency and device personalization. The goal of this research is to provide personalized recommendations for speech-language therapy and environmental accommodations based on each child's unique profile of strengths and needs. Prescott is a certified speech-language pathologist with clinical experience in schools, early intervention, and outpatient pediatric clinical settings.

Education

Ph.D. in Communication Sciences and Disorders

University of Wisconsin-Madison

M.A. in Speech-Language Pathology

University of Illunois Urbana-Champaign

B.S. in Communication Sciences and Disorders

Northwestern University

Areas of Specialization

Typical and Atypical Child Language Development; Autism

Certification/Licensure

Licensed Speech-Language Pathologist (Illinois and Wisconsin)
Certificate of Clinical Competence, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

Chair Specialized Clinical Interests

Language Development
Autism
Augmentative and Alternative Communication
Early Intervention
School-Age Language Intervention

Courses Taught

CSDI 305: Development of Language in the Young Child
CSDIG 503: Developmental Disorders of Language
CSDIG 514: Practicum in Prevention
CSDIG 515: Practicum in Speech-Language Pathology I

Selected Honors/Awards

Research Funding: NIDCD F31 DC020901, 09/01/2022-06/12/2024, Exemplar Variability in Cross-Situational Word Learning Among Young Autistic Children. PI.
D. Scholarship, Council of Academic Programs in Communication Sciences and Disorders (CAPCSD), 2022
Paula Menyuk Award, Boston University Conference on Language Development (BUCLD), 2021

Presentations/Publications/Productions

Publications

Prescott, K. E., Larson, C., Stabile, M., & Eigsti, I. M. (under review). Sound-symbol correspondence in autism: The Bouba-Kiki effect. Research in Autism.

Prescott, K.E., Mathée‐Scott, J., Saffran, J., & Ellis Weismer, S. (in preparation). Semantic Representation and Network Organization in Young Autistic Children.

Prescott, K. E., Mathée‐Scott, J., Bolt, D., Saffran, J., & Ellis Weismer, S. (2024). The effect of volatility in linguistic input on prediction behavior in autistic toddlers. Autism Research.

Prescott, K. E., Crespo, K., & Ellis Weismer, S. (2023). Spatial Language and Cognition in Autistic Preschoolers. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 1-13.

Prescott, K. E., Mathée‐Scott, J., Reuter, T., Edwards, J., Saffran, J., & Ellis Weismer, S. (2022). Predictive language processing in young autistic children. Autism Research, 15(5), 892-903.

Prescott, K.E., & Ellis Weismer, S. (2020). Children with ASD and Communication Regression: Examining Pre-Loss Skills and Later Language Outcomes Through the Preschool Years. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 1-15.

Mathée-Scott, J., Prescott, K. E., Pomper, R., Saffran, J., & Weismer, S. E. (2024). Prediction by Young Autistic Children from Visual and Spoken Input. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 1-13.

Larson, C., Gangopadhyay, I., Prescott, K.E., Kaushanskaya, M., & Ellis Weismer, S. (2021). Planning in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Role of Verbal Mediation. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 1-18.

Posters and Presentations

Prescott, K.E., Stabile, M., Larson, C., & Eigsti, I., (2025). “Revisiting Bouba and Kiki in Autism” (Poster), International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) Annual Meeting.

Prescott, K.E., Mathée‐Scott, J., Saffran, J., & Ellis Weismer, S., (2024). “Semantic Representation and Network Organization in Young Autistic Children” (Poster), Symposium on Research in Child Language Disorders.

Mathée-Scott, J. & Prescott, K.E., (2023). “Prediction and Language in Young Autistic Children” (Presentation). Department of Communication and Sciences and Disorders (CSD) Professional Seminar, University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Prescott, K.E., Mathée‐Scott, J., Saffran, J., & Ellis Weismer, S., (2023). “Autistic Toddlers Demonstrate Hyperplasticity During a Linguistic Prediction Task” (Oral Presentation), Symposium on Research in Child Language Disorders.

Mathée‐Scott, J., Prescott, K.E., Pomper, R., Saffran, J., & Ellis Weismer, S., (2023). “Autistic and non-autistic children differentially affected by disruptions in verbal probabilistic input” (Poster), Symposium on Research in Child Language Disorders.

Prescott, K.E., Mathée‐Scott, J., Saffran, J., & Ellis Weismer, S., (2023). “Young Autistic Children Demonstrate Hyperplasticity of Learning in Linguistic Task” (Poster), International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) Annual Meeting.

Prescott, K.E., & Ellis Weismer, S., (2023). “Spatial Language and Cognition in Young Autistic Children” (Poster), International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) Annual Meeting.

Prescott, K.E., Mathée‐Scott, J., Reuter, T., Edwards, J., Saffran, J., & Ellis Weismer, S., (2021). “Young Autistic Children Make Predictions During Online Sentence Processing” (Oral Presentation), Symposium on Research in Child Language Disorders.

Prescott, K.E. & Ellis Weismer, S, (2021). “Regression as a Predictor of Preschool Language Outcomes in ASD” (Poster), American Speech-Language -Hearing Association Convention.

Larson, C., Gangopadhyay, I., Prescott, K.E., Kaushanskaya, M., Ellis Weismer, S. (2020). “Planning in children with autism spectrum disorder: The role of verbal mediation” (Poster). Symposium on Research in Child Language Disorders.*

*SRCLD 2020 conference canceled due to COVID-19 outbreak