Communication without Borders: Speech Language Pathologist Conducts Preeminent Research on Autism in Sri Lanka

We like to say that our employees share a remarkable and unwavering passion for helping each child reach his or her fullest potential.  Nimisha Muttiah, one of our Speech-Language Pathologists, really embodies that claim.  The scope of her definition of “each child” extends thousands of miles beyond our service area to her home country of Sri Lanka.  Every day she comes to work, ready to help children build their communication skills and find ways to express themselves.  But in her free time she’s thinking about how she can replicate the elements that work so well in Massachusetts in a totally different environment.  For Nimisha, it’s not just a profession, it’s a passion.

Growing up in Sri Lanka, Nimisha saw firsthand what could happen to children who had communication challenges in a place where resources like dedicated classrooms, therapeutic experts and technological tools were just not available.  Children would be left out, ultimately dropping out of school when adaptations might otherwise have helped them succeed academically.

As an adult, she took on this cause, wanting to help children in her home country make progress in spite of the financial and systematic constraints.  She also wanted to help address the limited awareness in Sri Lanka about disabilities, and specifically about communication disorders.  As an undergraduate speech-language pathology student in India, Nimisha worked with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) at specialized pre-schools. While state-of-the-art technology is available in the United States to help children with ASD better communicate, Nimisha researched low-technology communication options that could be applied in Sri Lanka and other developing countries.

Before heading to the US to earn her doctoral degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders at Penn State (Class of 2015), Nimisha returned to her home country of Sri Lanka and started working with three children with ASD, two of whom did not have functional speech.   While at Penn State, Muttiah wanted to apply what she was learning in the classroom directly to her community in Sri Lanka so she spent her summers there – in the cities of Jaffna, Tangalle and Galle – implementing her research. Her work focused on four areas:

• Conducting research to find communication tools and training methods that would be appropriate for a low-resource context.
• Training pre-service speech-language pathologists.
• Creating awareness among the general public regarding autism and other communication disorders.
• Providing clinical services in speech and language therapy.

“Nimisha’s work represents the first and only investigation of the issues faced by parents in Sri Lanka, and will be a valuable resource for advocacy and policy change,” said Kathryn Drager, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education with the Penn State College of Health and Human Development. “The results of her studies will significantly contribute to our knowledge base for providing high-quality educational experiences for children with significant disabilities around the globe.”

Nimisha’s dissertation research study involved training Sri Lankan special education teachers who worked with students with severe communication needs, resulting in positive changes in the teachers’ communication interactions with their students. She also conducted workshops with teachers and parents, presented public talks on topics such as ASD, conducted presentations for general physicians to help them recognize ASD, and provided them with educational resources for children. Additionally, she wrote columns for local newspapers to educate readers about the speech-language pathology profession and communication disorders.

“I feel that the work I have done to date in Sri Lanka is barely scratching the surface,” Nimisha said. “There is much more that needs to happen in order for children with special needs to receive satisfactory educational and communication services.”

A short video of Nimisha at work with Alejandro, one of our patients at Franciscan Hospital for Children, and a student at the Kennedy Day School.

Nimisha plans to one day continue her efforts in Sri Lanka, in part by starting a center that offers services to children with severe communication needs.   For now though, she’s still learning and gaining experience on the most effective techniques.   She works with children like Alejandro who attend the Kennedy Day School onsite at Franciscan Hospital for Children.  He and his classmates receive collaborative special education, therapeutic, and health services as part of the school day and communication is a big part of the curriculum.  The school operates as part of the hospital and shares its resources in a unique model that benefits children with complex needs.

“We are proud of Nimisha whose work is a wonderful example of the unwavering commitment our staff have to ensuring every child has the opportunity to reach their full potential,” said John D. Nash, president and CEO. “Here and overseas, Nimisha’s expertise and personal commitment can impact the lives of many.”

To download a copy of Nimisha’s Dissertation click here.

This story was produced in collaboration with the Penn State College of Health and Human Development.