2011 Symposium
Ritz-Carlton, San Juan, Puerto Rico
July 21-23, 2011

Session Descriptions

What I Do When I Know That I Don’t Know: Practice without Evidence

Speaker: Brian Goldstein, Ph.D., F-CCC-SLP, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA

Description: Speech-language pathologists are urged to provide clinical services that are evidence-based. Research related to language development and disorders in bilinguals has increased significantly in the past 20 years. However, given that research in the field related to bilinguals is still relatively new, how are clinical services to be provided without a large evidence base? The purpose of this keynote address is to discuss conducting evidence-based practice with bilinguals.

Providing Phonological Intervention to Bilingual Children

Speaker: Brian Goldstein, Ph.D., F-CCC-SLP, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA

Description: Approximately 680,000 bilingual children in the U.S. have phonological disorders, a population that is expected to grow as the multilingual population in the US increases. The purpose of this seminar is to provide research evidence and clinical guidance for intervention services to bilingual children with phonological disorders.

Providing Culturally-and Linguistically Responsive Services to Individuals with Severe Disabilities

Speaker: Cynthia Cress, Ph.D., CCC-SLP; University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE

Description: This session will cover practical strategies for recognizing and responding issues related to cultural and language differences (CLD) that can affect service delivery for children and adults with severe disabilities. We will discuss principles and approaches to intervention common to service delivery in both severe disabilities and CLD, as well as sources of potential variability introduced by typical situations or clinical strategies seen for learners with severe disabilities. The session will demonstrate some essential clinical techniques for serving individuals with severe disabilities and their families/communities, and discuss possible adaptations of these techniques to account for CLD. The session will include videotaped and live applications of assessment and intervention strategies for learners with CLD.

Acquiring the Skills Needed to Distinguish Disability from Difference

Speaker: Catherine J. Crowley, F-CCC-SLP, JD, PhD; Teachers College Columbia University, New York, NY

Description: Within the current legal environment, disability determinations must distinguish a disability from lack of adequate instruction in reading and math and from second language acquisition. In the case of bilingual individuals, such evaluations depend more on the clinical judgment of the evaluator informed by the current available research, the federal standards, and preferred practice guidelines. This presentation uses actual cases to provide a hands-on, interactive approach. Participants will leave with strategies and tools that they can implement with their next bilingual evaluation.

Neural Plasticity & Bilingualism: Enough Evidence for Clinical Practice?

Speaker: Luis F. Riquelme, M.S., F-CCC-SLP, BRS-S; Asst. Professor, New York Medical College

Description:Advances in our understanding of the bilingual brain and its ability to change may be achieved with the investigation of neural plasticity principles. This session will review the principles of neural plasticity and focus on what we know about cerebral organization in bilinguals. Current evidence of brain-behavior relationships in bilingualism will be introduced. Neuroimaging and electrophysiological data will be presented and incorporated into a discussion on functional neural subsystems and cerebral representation of more than one language system. Understanding the activation maps for several neural networks in bilinguals will lead to audience participation on clinical applications. Emphasis on relevant diagnostic and treatment protocols will be provided.