Matt Zellner

Assistant Professor, Speech Language Pathology and Audiology
School: School of Health Sciences and Human Performance

Project MAPS (Mapping Access to Pediatric Services)

Project MAPS (Mapping Access to Pediatric Services) is the collective name for our multiple ongoing projects exploring patterns of service accessibility and utilization across regions and communities using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software and secondary datasets.

To date, Project MAPs has explored nationwide changes in Part C early intervention service provision in response to COVID-19, differences in the availability of EI providers between rural and urban areas in Illinois, and the relationship between accessibility of autism providers and age at diagnosis in Indiana.

Recent Project MAPS Presentations & Publications

Presentations

Zellner, M.A. (2025, November). Exploring urban-rural differences in early intervention access: a geographic information systems approach. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Annual Convention.

Zellner, M.A., Kaat, A.J., & Roberts, M.Y. (2024, June). How does Illinois stack up? Examining the impact of COVID-19 on early intervention service provision in the Land of Lincoln and nationwide. Early Childhood Research Alliance of Chicago (EC-REACH) Annual Research Conference.

Zellner, M.A., Kaat, A.J., & Roberts, M.Y. (2024, February). Examining the Uneven Impact of COVID-19 on EI Using Service Provision Data. Conference on Research Innovations in Early Intervention.

Publications

Zellner, M.A. , Kaat, A.J., & Roberts, M.Y. (2025). The Impact of COVID-19 on Early Intervention Referrals and Enrollments: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology .