His academic, clinical, and research interests includes child language disorders, pragmatic language disorders in children, adolescents, and young adults with autism spectrum disorders, and intervention techniques using augmentative/alternative communication. Since 2009 he has served as a Mentor for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's (ASHA) Student to Empowered Professional (S.T.E.P.) Mentoring Males (AIMM) program, and he started a peer mentoring program for students diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. He was also appointed to the advisory board of the Texas Autism Council. He received his B.S., and M.S., from the University of Central Arkansas in Speech-Language Pathology, and his Ph.D., from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in Communication Sciences and Disorders.