After serving as a public school educator for 10 years, Haughney began working in higher education as the Lake and Edward Snyder Graduate Assistant and as a guest lecturer at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, where she also earned her Ph.D. in Special Education. She completed a Master of Arts in Teaching in Special Education from National-Louis University in Illinois and a B.A. in English Literature at Appalachian State University. Haughney’s research focuses on the intersection of augmentative and alternative communication and academic instruction, but also investigates assistive technology applications, general curriculum access, applied behavior analysis, and meeting the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse learners.