Carolyn Higdon

Professor of Communication Sciences & Disorders

Carolyn Wiles Higdon

Dr. Higdon can provide information on various topics related to speech-language pathology, swallowing, assistive technology, artificial intelligence in medical, education, legal, and accreditation sectors.

Research Interests

  • Augmentative and Alternative Communication, Assistive Technology and Artificial Intelligence are primary research areas.  
  • Medical speech pathology to include dysphagia, voice science, neuroscience, and progressive neurological diseases  
  • Pediatrics with emphasis in autism and developmental delays 
  • Interprofessional Education and interprofessional practice to include patient provider practices 
  • Life care planning and economic projects for individuals with disabilities 

Biography

Carolyn Wiles Higdon, EdD, CCC-SLP, F-ASHA, F-NAP is a full tenured professor at the University of Mississippi in Oxford with a dual appointment to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.  
 
Dr. Higdon has served on a number of ASHA committees and boards, including the Financial Planning Board, the Government Relations and Public Policy Board, and the Special Interest Divisions Board of Division Coordinators. Dr. Higdon has been a member of the ASHA Speech-Language Pathology Advisory Council and the ASHA Legislative Council. Dr. Higdon is the founding member and past chair of both Special Interest Group (SIG) 17, Global Issues in Communication Sciences and Related Disorders, and SIG 12, Augmentative and Alternative Communication. She has been/currently is a site visitor for the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology, an augmentative and alternative communication consultant to the ASHA Health Care Economics Committee, and a past chapter advisor to the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association at the University of Mississippi. Dr. Higdon is a past SLP academic member of the Council of Academic Accreditation, the Governmental and Public Policy Board, and immediate past SIG 17 Perspectives Editor. Dr. Higdon is on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Interprofessional Education and Practice, and is the committee chair for the National Academies of Practices’ Telehealth/Telepractice Legislative Tracking Committee.  
 
Dr. Higdon is a former chair of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Ole Miss, past-president of the Mississippi Speech and Hearing Association, and past chair of the Georgia Board of Examiners. She has been a member of the Speech-Language Pathology Professional Standards Committee of the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools and International Commission on Healthcare Professions, the sitting speech-language pathologist for the Rehabilitation Engineering Society of North America’s Professional Standards Committee for the development of the assistive technology credential, and a past member of the Joint Committee of ASHA and the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. Dr. Higdon holds state health licensure in multiple states and has been instrumental in the passage of universal licensure in several states. Dr. Higdon has been qualified as an expert witness in federal trials in the area of speech-language pathology. She is a reviewer for Social Security Administration pediatric and adult cases.  
 
Dr. Higdon has published numerous articles and chapters on such topics as life care planning, augmentative and alternative communication and assistive technology, health literacy, early intervention, and the future of speech-language pathology in medical and educational arenas. She has presented approximately 200 national and international lectures on a variety of clinical, administrative, and business management topics. She is a member of Phi Kappa Phi and was awarded the Alpha Omicron Pi Woman of Excellence Award for Outstanding Faculty Member at the University of Mississippi. Dr. Higdon has taken multiple rehabilitation delegations to various countries around the world, and has been an adjunct faculty member to the University of Guyana. Dr. Higdon is a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and a Fellow of the National Academies of Practices, and  was awarded the 2022 American Speech-Language Hearing Association Certificate of Recognition for Outstanding Contributions in International Achievement.  
 

Publications

  • 2010) Higdon, C.W.  The role of the speech-language pathologist and assistive technology in life care planning. In R. Weed and D. Berens (Eds),  Handbook of Life Care Planning and Case Management, Third Edition (pp 139-242)  Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press.  
  • (2010) Higdon, C.W.  and Mustain, Wm. (2010). The role of the audiologist in life care planning. In R.O. Weed and D. Berens (Eds), Handbook of Life Care Planning and Case Management, Third Edition (pp. 243-302). Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press.  
  • (2010)  Higdon, C.W. (2010). Standards and Certification for Speech-Language Pathologists in the United States. In B.L. Nichols and C.R. Davis (Eds.), In Health care professional practice in the United States: Speech-Language Pathology. What You Need to Know About Health Care and Allied Health Professions in the United States (pp. 145-280, 365-376). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company. 
  • (2010 ) Tutorial completed.  Title:  The Role of the Speech-Language Pathologist in Litigation. 
  • (2023-2002)  Member of Editorial Board and select reviewer, Journal of Life Care Planning. Editor: Debra Berens. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press.  
  • (2009-2008) Expert reviewer for IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering. Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University. 
  • (2007) Select reviewer for The International Guide to Speech Acquisition, S.McLeod, Thomson Delmar Learning.  Published 2007. 
  • (2006) Higdon, C.W. Life Care Planning Issues for Adult Swallowing Disorders. Journal of Life Care Planning, Vol 4 (4), 185-204.  
  • (2006) Abstract and Index Information published to the CSA Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts (CSA): A Missing Link: People, Practice and Some Precarious Research!, Topics in Language Disorders. 
  • (2005) Higdon, C.W. Life Care Planning Issues for Pediatric Swallowing Disorders. Journal of Life Care Planning, Vol 4, Numbers 2 & 3, 99-114. 
  • (2004) Higdon, CW.  Language and Augmentative Communication. Topics in Language Disorders.  Topic Editor. Journal Editor: Dr. Kay Butler. Vol 24, No 1, January-March 2004.  Aspen Publishers/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. 
  • (2004) Higdon, C.W. The role of the speech-language pathologist and assistive technology in life care planning.  In R.O. Weed (Ed), Handbook of Life Care Planning and Case Management, Second Edition (pp. 145-216). Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press.  
  • (2004) Higdon, C.W., Higdon, L., & Gladstone, V.  The role of the audiologist in life care planning. In R.O. Weed (Ed), Handbook of Life Care Planning and Case Management, Second Edition (pp. 217-264). Boca Raton: CRC Press.  
  • (2004), Higdon  C. W. The role of the speech-language pathologists and audiologists in life care planning.  In S. Riddick-Grisham (Ed), Pediatric Life Care Planning and Case Management (pp 320-410 ). Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press.  
  • (1998) Higdon, C.W.  “The role of the speech-language pathologist and assistive technology in life care planning,” Handbook of Life Care Planning and Case Management; ed. Roger O. Weed, CRC Press, 1998. 

Education

B.S. Communicative Disorders, Kent State University Main Campus (1970)

M.A. Communicative Disorders, Kent State University Main Campus (1972)

Ph.D. Communicative Disorders, University of Georgia (1987)