Miguel Garcia Salas

Why FSU?

I am interested in collaborating with families to help their children read and communicate, and FSU offered me the best chance to accomplish that goal. I was offered the opportunity to study under Dr. Carla Wood and learn through the FIREFLIES program of the Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR). When FCRR's structure and reach are combined with Dr. Wood's expertise in working with diverse families, I am equipping myself with the best tools to serve vulnerable families. Additionally, FCRR's FIREFLIES program allows me to learn with an interdisciplinary cohort of like-minded PhD students. I love the way in which we bounce ideas off of each other, collaborate, and learn together. These opportunities are rare and are the major reasons why I chose to get my PhD in the FSU School of Communication Science and Disorders.

Motivation to pursue a graduate degree

During my time as an SLPA, I often found myself struggling to provide families with resources that were accessible, efficient, and culturally appropriate. In particular, we have a lot of research on the efficacy of various shared reading strategies. However, I found that many of the strategies were inaccessible or were not as successful for the families I served. I pursued a PhD to explore what was driving the efficacy of shared reading interventions and to break down any potential barriers to that process.

Importance and/or impact of research and work

My work generally explores the "what" and the "how" related to parent-child shared reading interventions. We must understand why shared reading interventions are not as productive for families from diverse and vulnerable communities. What are shared reading beliefs and practices that affect the efficacy of interventions? How can we change the way we instruct families to better support strategy use? What are the effects of using different parent training interventions? How do child outcomes improve as a result of different intervention approaches?

Career aspirations

I hope my career leads me to a place where I can collaborate with families to create resources and tools to promote children's language and literacy development at home. Whether that is at an academic institution or a nonprofit is still up in the air for me.

Advice for anyone considering graduate school

I would recommend that you identify your "why" and roll with it. What is the big question you want to answer? What is your calling? As soon as you identify your "why", keep it prioritized, and the rest will fall into place.