Faculty Directory

Susan M. Bruce

Professor Emerita

Photo of Susan M. Bruce

Susan M. Bruce

Ph.D.

Contact

Email: susan.bruce@bc.edu

ORCID

Education

  • Ph.D., Michigan State University
  • M.A., Michigan State University
  • B.A., Michigan State University

Research Interests

My primary research emphasis is on communication development in children with multiple disabilities and especially those who are congenitally deafblind. I am particularly interested in how these children develop symbolic understanding and expression. Closely related to this work, is my focus on select pivotal milestones (such as joint attention and object permanence) that are connected to specific communicative achievements. In addition, I have conducted more than a dozen action research studies (including participatory action research) involving individuals who are deafblind or visually impaired. I am also interested in assessment, which is reflected across my communication and action research studies.

Expertise

  • Language Learning & Literacy
  • Teaching & Teacher Education

Dr. Bruce is not currently accepting Ph.D. students.

Curriculum Vitae

Department

TCS Teaching, Curriculum, and Society

Profile

Susan Bruce's prolific career has focused on how students with multiple disabilities-particularly those who are congenitally deafblind develop communication and language. Her action, descriptive, and intervention research has spanned assessment, communication intervention, literacy, rare syndromes, action research, and teacher preparation.

As a professor of the TCS Department, Bruce contributes to the Lynch School through her expertise in assessing and teaching learners with disabilities, teacher education, international education, and research. Her recent research has included a longitudinal case on the literacy development of a young man who is deafblind, a descriptive study on the use of tactile tangible symbols by learners who are blind or deafblind, and collaborative research on strategies to support shared reading in the home and school settings.

GLOBAL SPOTLIGHT
  • Serving on the Scientific Committee and presenting at the International Young Researchers Conference in Deafblindness, Saint Petersburg, Russia
  • Co-researcher with Marleen Janssen, University of Groningen, on instruction of communication, language, and literacy with children who are deafblind in US and Netherlands.
  • Program Coordinator of the Masters Degree Program, Global Perspectives: Teaching, Curriculum, and Learning Environments.

Publications

Select Peer-Reviewed Articles:
Brum, C., & Bruce, S. (in press). Shared reading with learners who are deafblind: Instructional materials and learning environments. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness.
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Sevcik, R. A., Barton-Hulsey, A., & Bruce, S., Goldman, A., Ogletree, B. T., Paul, D., & Romski, M. (2022). It鈥檚 never too late: Debunking myths about communication and adults with severe disabilities. Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 60, 416-425.
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Coleman, M., Kan, D., Bruce, S., Miller, K., & Tiggs, S. (2022). An introduction to culturally sustaining pedagogy for students with sensory disabilities. Special Issue of Teaching Exceptional Children. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00400599221090867
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Brum, C., & Bruce, S. (2022). Instructional strategies to support shared reading for learners who are deafblind. British Journal of Visual Impairment. https://doi.org/10.1177/02646196221077219
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Bruce, S. M., Stutzman, B.*, Nannemann, A.*, Lewitus, A., McDonald, C., & Mango, T.** (2020). Improving interactions of transition age peers with visual impairments and intellectual disability. British Journal of Visual Impairment. https://doi.org/10.1177/0264619620946070, 1-11.
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Drobynk, W., Rocco, K., Davidson, S., Bruce, S., Zhang, F. & Soumerai, S. B. (2019). Sensory integration and functional reaching in children with Rett Syndrome/Rett-Related Disorders. Clinical Medicine Insights: Pediatrics, 13, 1-11.
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Nelson, C., & Bruce, S. (2019). Children who are deaf/hard of hearing with disabilities: Paths to language and literacy. Education Sciences, 9(134), 1-16. Retrieve from https://doi.org/10.3390/edusci9020134.
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Select Chapters:
Bruce, S., Nelson, C., & Stutzman, B.* (2022). Understanding the needs of children who are deaf with disabilities due to genetic causes. In C. Guardino & J. E. Cannon, & P. V. Paul (Eds.), Deaf and hard of hearing learners with disabilities: Foundations, strategies, and resources (pp. 96-132). New York: Routledge Press.
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Nelson, C., Bruce, S., & Barnhill, B. A. (2022). Future directions in the field of deafblindness. In C. Guardino & J. E. Cannon, & P. V. Paul (Eds.). Deaf and hard of hearing learners with disabilities: Foundations, strategies, and resources (pp. 162-192). New York: Routledge Press.
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Bruce, S., & Borders, C. (2021). Literacy in learners who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing with disabilities. In S. R. Easterbrooks & H. M. Dostal (Eds.), Oxford Handbook of Deaf Studies in Literacy (pp. 385-400). New York: Oxford University Press.

Awards

Distinguished Service Award (2022). Division on Visual Impairment and Deafblindness, Council for Exceptional Children.

Invited member of the National Joint Committee on the Communication Needs of Persons with Severe Disabilities (2011-present).

Peer Reviewer of the Year (2008) (awarded May, 2009). Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness.

Virginia M. Sowell Award (2006). Awarded for outstanding contributions in deafblindness/multiple disabilities. Awarded by The Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER).

Grants & Fellowships

Sensory Integration to Increase Reaching in Children with RETT/MECP2 Related Disorders. Rett Syndrome Foundation.

Action Research in Deafblindness. Perkins School for the Blind Research Fund.

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