Dr. Lillian Stiegler, professor of communication sciences and disorders, was recognized for her outstanding dedication to the university, the students and the field of autism. She received her Ph.D in ’94 in speech pathology from LSU and is viewed as an inspiration throughout the department and Southeastern’s campus. Stiegler won the Southeastern Award for Excellence in Faculty Sercive in 2010 and worked as a technical assistant in making the movie “Miracle Run.” She instructs students in a variety of fields such as autism, language disorders and clinical supervision. She is also involved in research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, Word Finding, Developmental Language Disorders and Augmentative/ Alternative Communication.
The Lion’s Roar: Did you have family or friends with autism while growing up?
Stiegler: While I was growing up, no. When I was growing up, autism was hardly ever diagnosed. It was reserved for people at the very severe end of the spectrum, such as people who couldn’t speak or were extremely aloof, and maybe people who would self-injure. So the definition of autism is really different now.
When did you first show interest in the Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) department?
When I was in high school we had to complete so many hours of service and I was assigned to what was then called “crippled children’s hospital” in New Orleans, today it’s just called Children’s Hospital. My job was to play with the children between their therapies, and that’s when I first met a speech therapist and saw how she worked with the children. I thought that was a cool thing and that’s what I wanted to be.
How has your family background influenced your career decisions?
I’ve always been interested in language. My mother is multilingual. She’s a native of Cuba, so that’s her first language, but she speaks English and French fluently. She taught French for 35 years.
What motivates you to become an inspiration?
You’re not motivated to become an inspiration. I just enjoy working with families and trying to help people achieve effective communication. Communication is a critical need, just like air and water and food. So when people have trouble communicating it’s an emergency.
What has been your most rewarding experience in this field?
Every summer I do a little mini camp for children with autism. And it’s sort of where everything comes together because the students learn so much. They get to meet lots of different children with autism and their parents. But the kids have a lot of fun coming to the camp and they look forward to it. Then the families are here and they get to meet each other and talk to each other, and a lot of times they learn from each other. It’s sort of a win, win, win situation for the students, the children, the parents and me.
How did you become involved in the movie “Miracle Run”?
The director called me up and I guess someone recommended me. He wanted me to look over the script and make sure that it was pretty realistic. And when I first saw it, it had a lot of problems. There were a lot of things in it that I didn’t think children with autism would really say and do. So I fixed it as well as I could. They were very good about following those changes. They asked me to be on the set every day as they were filming and there were some days when I couldn’t be there so I recruited moms with kids with autism because they know what it’s really like.
Did you enjoy helping with the movie?
It was interesting. I wouldn’t want to do it all the time. There’s lots of waiting involved and very long hours, but it was an interesting experience. I’m glad it’s not my full time job.
How do you feel about your recent achievements, such as receiving the Southeastern Award for Excellence in Faculty Service in 2010?
That was a great big honor and I don’t know how I feel about it. It’s a little bit embarrassing because there are a lot of people at this university that do very good service work, but I was proud of it.
Do you consider yourself to be successful?
I think I am successful. I feel successful when I can give the students a good experience. Just recently we had 26 students attend the annual American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Convention in San Diego. Many of them presented research projects and represented Southeastern very well. That makes me proud and that makes me feel successful. At the convention they participated in the Knowledge Bowl, and it’s only ten teams in the country that get chosen. It’s a jeopardy format and they answered more questions correctly than any other team!
What do you consider to be the best part of working in this department?
It’s something different every day. It’s never dull. You get the best of both worlds because you get to work with the students, but you also always have clinical problems to solve. We have a teaching clinic, so I get to consult on a whole variety of cases.
Do you have any significant future career plans?
I have a project going right now with the Hammond Children’s Discovery center. My students and I have been working with the staff over there to offer special opportunities for younger kids with autism and their families to enjoy the center. I’d like to do more for teenagers with autism. I have a student who has a teenage brother with autism and she and I have some plans to start a program for the older kids.