Austin Thompson, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Assistant Professor
Email: athomp27@central.uh.edu
Office Location: Melcher Life Sciences M243D
Curriculum Vitae | Website

Austin Thompson is an Assistant Professor in Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Houston. He obtained his Ph.D. from Florida State University in 2023, following his B.A. and M.A. degrees from Louisiana State University in 2016 and 2018. As a certified speech-language pathologist, Austin strives to bring a clinical emphasis to his research, which delves into the perceptual, acoustic, and kinematic aspects of speech in individuals with and without motor speech disorders such as dysarthria. Outside of work, Austin enjoys reading, running, listening to music, and spending time with his family and his four-legged children.

Education

Ph.D., Communications Sciences and Disorders, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
M.A., Communication Sciences and Disorders, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
B.A., Communication Sciences and Disorders, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA

Teaching

Fluency Disorders (COMD 7221)

Research Interests

Dr. Thompson uses state-of-the-art technology to analyze the speech of individuals with and without dysarthria, a neurological motor speech disorder, aiming to develop effective assessment and treatment approaches that enhance speakers’ communicative participation and overall quality of life. His research primarily focuses on dysarthria in conditions like Parkinson’s disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, as well as speakers of English as a second language or speakers of regional dialects. Dr. Thompson’s work utilizes perceptual, acoustic, and kinematic methods, such as electromagnetic articulography (and ultrasound, to examine speech.

For more information, view Dr. Thompson’s research page.

Research Grants

(past 5 years)

2021-2023 National Institutes of Health, NIDCD, F31 National Research Service Award, A multidimensional study on articulation deficits in Parkinson’s disease, Role: Principal Investigator

Selected Publications

(for a full list of publications, see CV and Google Scholar Profile)

Thompson, A., Hirsch, M. E., Lansford, K. L., & Kim, Y. (2023). Vowel acoustics as predictors of speech intelligibility in dysarthria. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. https://doi.org/10.1044/2022_JSLHR-22-00287
Hirsch, M. E., Thompson, A., Kim, Y., & Lansford, K. L. (2022). The reliability and validity of speech-language pathologists’ estimations of intelligibility in dysarthria. Brain Sciences, 12(8), 1011. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12081011
Kim, Y., Chung, H., & Thompson, A. (2022). Acoustic and articulatory characteristics of English semivowels /ɹ, l, w/ produced by adult second-language speakers. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 65(3), 890-905. https://doi.org/10.1044/2021_JSLHR-21-00152905.
Kim, Y., & Thompson, A. (2022). An acoustic-phonetic approach to effects of face masks on speech intelligibility. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. https://doi.org/10.1044/2022_JSLHR-22-00245
Thompson, A., & Kim, Y. (2019). Relation of second formant trajectories to tongue kinematics. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 145(4), EL323-EL328. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.5099163

* student co-author

Honors

Outstanding Doctoral Student Award, Florida State University School of Communication Science and Disorders, 2022
New Century Scholars Doctoral Scholarship, American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation, 2020
Graduate Student Scholarship, American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation, 2019

Professional Activities

Member and Founder, OpenCSD (www.open-csd.com), which is a volunteer organization aiming to educate and foster the use of open science practices within the field of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD).
Committee Member, Speech and Language Science Topic Committee of the American Speech Language Hearing Association (2021 Convention)
Ad hoc scholarly reviewer, various research journals

Faculty