Sofia Benson-Goldberg
Biography
Dr. Benson-Goldberg will not be accepting PhD students for the fall of 2027.
Sofia Benson-Goldberg (she/her/hers) is an Assistant Professor in the Communication Disorders and Sciences Program at the University of Oregon. Her research and clinical interests focus on the language, communication, and literacy experiences of individuals who are non-speaking and use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems. She is particularly interested in how to improve access to reading and writing instruction and intervention for individuals with high support needs who use AAC. Dr. Benson-Goldberg is a nationally-certified Speech-Language Pathologist who has worked with children, adolescents, and young adults who use AAC and their families in home-based, clinical, and school settings.
Education
PhD (2021) Speech and Hearing Sciences
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
MS (2014) Speech Language Pathology
University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
BA (2010) History
University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Honors and Awards
Graduate Education Advancement Board Impact Award, UNC Chapel Hill, 2021
New Century Scholars Doctoral Scholarship, ASHFoundation, 2020
National Institute of Health Travel Award for the 40th Annual Symposium on Research in Child Language Disorders, Madison, WI, 2019
Graduate Student Scholarship, ASHFoundation, 2018
Doctoral Merit Assistantship, UNC Chapel Hill, 2017
Publications
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
*indicates student/trainee author
**indicates individual who uses augmentative and alternative communication (AAC)
Geist, L., Reagan, P., & Benson-Goldberg, S. (2026). Participatory design in action: Creating a scalable keyboard for communication across contexts and positions. Assistive Technology Outcomes and Benefit, 20(1), 38-56. https://www.atia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/ATOB_V20_Final.pdf
Benson-Goldberg, S., Satterfield, B., & Ramsey, M. (2026). MTCAI: Simplifying medical reports for patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 23(2). https://doi.org/10.1111/jppi.70061
Downs, J., Keeley, J., Jacoby, P., Benson-Goldberg, S., Pillar, S., Miele, A., Leonard, H., Saldaris, J., Marsh, E. D., Benke, T. A., Demarest, S. T. (2026). Development and initial validation of the communication inventory disability – observer reported (CID-OR): A measure of communication in CDKL5 deficiency disorder. Journal of Patient-Reported Outcomes, 10(6), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41687-025-00977-z
Benson-Goldberg, S. (2025). Symbolated texts as an assistive technology: Exploring the impact on reading comprehension. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 161, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2025.104998
Benson-Goldberg, S., Geist, L., & Erickson, K. (2025). Inclusive design and usability testing: Involving an end-user in developing augmentative and alternative communication user interfaces using an open-source platform. Journal of Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies, 12(1), 1-13.
Benson-Goldberg, S. & Erickson, K. (2025). Intervention and sampling trends in literacy research for young AAC users: A scoping review. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 68(2), 685-704. https://doi.org/10.1044/2024_JSLHR-24-00473
Benson-Goldberg, S. & Erickson, K. (2025). Praise and language intervention: Is ‘good job’ helping us do a good job? A tutorial. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, 10(1), 123-135. https://doi.org/10.1044/2024_PERSP-24-00005
Benson-Goldberg, S., Geist, L., & Erickson, K. (2024). Simplified COVID-19 guidance for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 37(3), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1111/jar.13222
Benson-Goldberg, S., & Erickson, K. (2024). Reported and enacted emergent literacy instruction: Understanding young students with extensive support and complex communication needs opportunity to learn. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 44(1), 6-19. https://doi.org/10.1177/02711214241235404
Benson-Goldberg, S., Geist, L., & Erickson, K. (2023). Expressive communication growth overtime: A longitudinal analysis of the Project Core implementation model pilot data. Communication Disorders Quarterly, 45(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1177/15257401221120790
Research
Dr. Benson-Goldberg's research program is rooted in her ardent belief that all humans are deserving, and benefit from, language, communication, and literacy instruction, where literacy includes learning to read and write traditional orthography. The long-term goal of Dr. Benson-Goldberg's work is to improve communication, language, and literacy outcomes for people with who are non-speaking and use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) including those with intellectual disabilities. This work specifically includes those with the most complex disabilities who are often excluded from intervention research. To that end Dr. Benson-Goldberg's research is centered around three main themes: (a) exploring the lived experiences of those who use AAC; (b) increasing literacy learning opportunities for individuals who use or would benefit from AAC; and (c) investigating solutions to increase access to and improve AAC systems.