The summer is almost over and for some with year round schools the academic year never ended. For me, the end of the Puerto Vallarta Bilingual Symposium was the beginning of my academic year. The Symposium was a tremendous success! John Consalvi, President of Bilingual Therapies, I know puts a lot of time and effort in this meeting. He is committed to helping clinicians find resources and networking through this symposium. Thank you John and the staff at Bilingual Therapies for such a great job!
Clinicians from across the country came alone and left with new friends and resources for their Hispanic children. I was encouraged by the openness and willingness of these professionals to share and just be honest about their work settings and their own attitudes about the administrative struggles. I know how teachers come and go, and also how bilingual clinicians are transferred because they don't "fit." Trying to get teachers, professionals, and administrators educated about the needs of children can be intimidating at times, and definitely frustrating most of the time. But don't give up, children need our services and educating staff is part of that job description. I hope that this coming year will be encouraging to you and to your staff. But more importantly I hope that great changes will come for children who speak another language than English and that these students will benefit from the decisions that are made on their behalf.
Something that might help in changing policy and procedures for your preschool children, is a resource guide I received from Deanine Mann, a former student of mine who now works in Minnesota. Talk With Me was developed by the early childhood and multicultural affairs committees of the Minnesota Speech Language Hearing Association and leaders from the ECSE and LEP divisions of the Minnesota Department of Children, Families, and Learning. The guide is divided into fifteen sections that cover topics ranging from theoretical issues to suggestions on intervention. There is a list of internet resources as well that I think are excellent.
The committee did a nice job of pulling together resources for early childhood. This guide includes information about Hispanic, Hmong, Kurdish, Lao, Oromo, Russian, Somali, Tibetan, Vietnamese, as well as African and Asian groups in general. It also includes lists of organizations and agencies in Minnesota that support diverse peoples. There is a section on international adoptions and reviews of articles concerning this growing group of children in our country. This section includes reviews of existing resources concerning subjects of first language loss, health and developmental studies, parental concerns and educational needs of internationally adopted children. A couple of articles that have not yet been published at this writing are of particular interest. I'll give you these references so that you can be looking for them.
Glennen, S. (2002). Language development and delay in internationally adopted infants and toddlers: A review. American Journal of Speech Language Pathology.
Glennen, S. & Masters, M.G. (2002). Typical and atypical language development in infants and toddlers adopted from Eastern Europe. American Journal of Speech Language Pathology.
The document includes legal guidelines and due process requirements. The resource guide states "Recognizing that traditional assessment methods cannot be used and that additional information must be gathered, this section contains clarification of the process of determining eligibility for limited English proficient students." There is a memo from the state department and eligibility criteria for speech and language impairment and developmental delays, with expanded explanations of how to apply criteria to English language learners. One section delineates the procedures that may be used in the absence of "technically adequate norm-referenced languages tests."
There is a section concerning interpreters and internet sites for an English-Hmong Dictionary of Special Education and an English-Spanish Special Education Glossary. These can be accessed through the following:
http://education.state.mn.us/mdeprod/groups/SpecialEd/documents/Instruction/001162.pdf
www.k12.mn.us/departments/dgr/curriculum/spanish.html
The Resource guide will be available this fall, 2002, through the Minnesota Department of Children Families and Learning, The Division of Early Childhood and Family Support.
I know that it takes time and many hours outside of the workplace to develop a resource guide for your state. It is also a tremendous responsibility and an act of love for the children who are served when the product is one that can be used by practicing clinicians. I would like to congratulate the clinicians in Minnesota who took this challenge and is leading their state into excellence.
- Kris Christians, Ann Derr, & Christine Paz
- St Paul Public Schools
- Ellen Fritz
- Minneapolis Public Schools
- Marilyn Fairchild
- Associated Speech and Language Specialists
- Sonja Griebel
- Hennepin county Medical Center
- Deanine Mann
- Roseville & Centennial School Districts
- Elizabeth Watkins
- ELL and Minority Issues consultant, Division of special Education, Minnesota Department of Children, Families, and Learning
