CHAMPAIGN,Ill. - Maryann Romski, an expert in language disorders in children, will give the annual Goldstick Family Lecture in the Study of Communication Disorders at the University of Illinois on Thursday (Oct. 28).
Romski, a professor of communication and associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences at Georgia State University, has more than 25 years of clinical and research experience in developmental disabilities, augmentative communications and early language intervention.
She will talk about her current research, which focuses on early parent-implemented language interventions and their effects on young children at extremely high risk for delayed language and communication development.
The lecture, followed by a reception, will be at 4 p.m. at the I Hotel and Conference Center, 1900 S. First St., Champaign. The event, free and open to the public, will include remarks by Phillip Goldstick; James Halle a professor of special education and the inaugural Goldstick Family Scholar; Mary Kalantzis, dean of the College of Education; and Michaelene Ostrosky, head of the department of special education.
The Goldstick Initiative for the Study of Communication Disorders, funded in 2005 by an endowment from Phillip C. and Beverly Goldstick, of Chicago, supports the sharing of new strategies and practices with families and schools to ensure that children with disabilities live as independently as possible in their homes, neighborhoods and communities.
The Goldsticks' gift was made in honor of their granddaughter, Marissa, who has Rett syndrome, a genetic developmental disorder that primarily affects girls and impacts cognitive, sensory, emotional, motor and autonomic brain functions.
The Goldstick Initiative funds a lecture series in communicative disorders each fall that enables faculty members and students at Illinois and scholars from across the country to share their research. The initiative also supports two fully funded research fellowships for doctoral students and the faculty appointment that Halle holds, in the College of Education.
The field now known as special education was first established in the early 1950s by faculty in the College of Education at Illinois.
Romski is the author or co-author of more than 70 research articles and four books, including "Breaking the Speech Barrier: Language Development Through Augmented Means" (Brookes Publishing Co., 1996).
Information on Romski's talk and the department of special education is available on the Web.
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