She teaches graduate courses in the areas of aural rehabilitation, pediatric habilitation, diagnostic audiology, and research methods, and she serves as an Educational Audiology consultant for local school districts. Her current research focuses on strategies to enhance communication abilities of children and adults who have hearing loss, hearing aids, and cochlear implants. Dr. Schafer received her B.S. degree in Communication Sciences from Texas Woman's University, and her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Audiology from The University of Texas at Dallas. She is active in professional organizations, serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Educational Audiology, and is past president of the Scott Haug Audiology Foundation.