Shakila Dada is a Professor in the Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (CAAC) in the Faculty of Humanities and was recently appointed as the Director of the Centre at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.
With her Research, she seeks to systemically describe, understand, and address the communication and participation patterns of persons with disabilities and specific persons with complex communication needs. Prof Dada's particular focus is on how graphic symbol-based augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems can be used to facilitate language learning for individuals with complex communication needs to facilitate their participation in society.
She has adopted a systems approach to her Research. At the microsystem level, her Research has addressed the iconicity of graphic symbols, characteristics of graphic symbol-based AAC systems, and the effect of aided input strategies designed to facilitate language learning in both children with developmental disabilities and adults with aphasia.
Prof Dada's Research also investigates the mesosystems of persons with complex communication needs by focusing on the perspectives of communication partners, family members, teachers, and health care professionals regarding the implementation of AAC. At the macro-system level, her Research is concerned with the practice's policies relating to AAC systems and the availability and acceptability of those systems to individuals with complex communication needs.