The first Dr. Jane Blumenfeld Lecture, presented by the Department of Educational Specialties in the College of Education, will be held Monday, Dec. 10 from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. in Travelstead Hall. Featured speaker Dr. Elizabeth Kay Raining Bird will discuss, “Down Syndrome and Bilingualism: What We Know and What We Need to Know.”
Bilingual development in typically developing children has been researched quite intensively over the years. Far less has been published on bilingualism in children who have language and/or cognitive disorders, such as those with Down syndrome. Raining Bird presents an overview of research in this critical area and proposes avenues for future work. A reception, with refreshments, will follow.
Raining Bird is a professor in the School of Human Communication Disorders at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Her research area is child language/literacy development and disorders, with a focus on bilingualism in children with Down syndrome or other developmental disabilities.
The lecture is sponsored with generous support from the Dr. Jane Blumenfeld Endowment for Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in Special Education Assessment and Diagnosis.
Media contact: Steve Carr (505) 277‑1821; email: scarr@unm.edu
