Prof. Dr. Dorothea Lage

    Main focus

    • Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) as a comprehensive concept in practice and theory.
    • AAC knowledge management and anchoring in organizations and institutions for people with disabilities
    • AAC with people with complex communication needs and severe profound disabilities
    • People with severe and multiple disabilities: shaping everyday life with the aim to improve quality of life, autonomy and participation
    • Theories of human development and their benefits, their implementation in professional/ pedagogical settings, in particular, concerning the individual’s development of interaction, communication, language and motor skills
    • Participation and empowerment supporting models of intervention planning and everyday life design based on the concept of Functional Health and the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) of the WHO
    • UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD): implementation and its guidelines in professional work in the context of disability
    • The Sociology of Disability in the context of social work

    Teaching and continuing education

    • Module head for the specialization “Impairment and Disability”
    • Head of MAS in “Disability and Participation”
    • Head of CAS in Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)

    Services for organisations providing assistance to people with disabilities

    • Tailor-made in-house continuing education for organizations
    • Specialist presentations
    • Concept development
    • Expert advice and coaching in teams
    • Peer reviews

    Research and development

    • Development of practice projects
    • Evaluations

    Further information

    • Since 2011: Member of the Board of the Association for Education in Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), CH-Zug (www.buk.ch). Member of the Swiss Network for AAC (www.uk-netzwerk.ch).
    • Since 2005: Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Society for AAC, German speaking Countries (www.gesellschaft-uk.org).
    • Since 1998: Authorised by the Society for AAC, German speaking Countries, to act as an advisor for AAC (gesellschaft-uk.org).
    • 2005-2008: Visiting Professorship an the Katholic University of Applied Sciences in Special Education
    • 1996-2018: Lecturer at the Department of Special at the University of Fribourg in the course “Clinical Special Needs Education and Social Education” on the subject of AAC
    • 1993-2011: Founder of and business partner in the “Office for AAC” (www.buk.ch), CH-Zug, self-employed.
    • Since 1993: Member of the Association for AAC German Speaking Countries (www.gesellschaft-uk.org)
    • Since 1990: Member of ISAAC, International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication, Toronto, Canada (www.isaac-online.org)

    Publications and projects