Catherine Crowley and Miriam Baigorri lead their Teachers College Columbia University speech language pathology graduate students on annual trips to Ghana, West Africa. There, they work in hospitals and schools for people with communication disabilities including those with autism, intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy, hearing loss, and speech and language disorders. They provide speech language therapy, develop capacity, and collaborate with colleagues to address barriers to inclusion. Read More
Author: Leaders Project
AAC Market Cards in Ghana, West Africa for Students with Autism and Intellectual Disabilities
Catherine Crowley and Miriam Baigorri lead their Teachers College Columbia University speech language pathology graduate students on annual trips to Ghana, West Africa. There, they work in hospitals and schools for people with communication disabilities including those with autism, intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy, hearing loss, and speech and language disorders. Read More
Ghana Winter 2013: Professional Development Retreat
Dr. Catherine Crowley and Miriam Baigorri lead their graduate students in speech-language pathology at Teachers College Columbia University to Ghana each year to provide free services to people with communication disorders and to build capacity and exchange knowledge and skills with their colleagues in Ghana. This January 2013 three-day professional development retreat focused on Augmentation and Alternative Communication (AAC) including narrative stories, adapted from Carol Grey’s excellent work in “Social Stories”, word walls, and general education AAC materials, i.e., the calendar, schedules, and math. Fifty teachers from Ghana’s Unit Schools attended. Unit Schools are schools of about 2 or 3 classrooms for students with intellectual disabilities within general education schools. Ten general education teachers attended along with dignitaries from Ghana’s Ministry of Education Division of Special Education including Mr. Thomas Otaah, Mr. George Pat Takie, and Mr. Kobina Baidoo, and Ms. Sara Stryker of the United States Embassy in Accra, Ghana. Read More
Guatemala 2012: “Building Capacity: The Cleft Palate Speech Training Project”
Catherine Crowley and Miriam Baigorri of Teachers College Columbia University developed the “Building Capacity: The Cleft Palate Speech Training Project” for local professionals to begin to acquire the academic and clinical skills needed to provide quality services to children with cleft lip and palate. This project offers five days of intensive training with academic lectures in the mornings and clinical application with patients with cleft lip and palate in the afternoons. Read More
Ghana Winter 2013: OB-TAT & OB-TEA
The Osei-Bagyina Twi Articulation Test (OB-TAT) and the Osei-Bagyina Test of English articulation (OB-TEA) were developed by Albert Osei-Bagyina, a speech-language pathologist who practices in Kumasi and Accra in Ghana. Then, a team of master’s speech language faculty, supervisors, from Teachers College Columbia University, led by Catherine Crowley and Miriam Baigorri, created the OB-TAT and OB-TEA in a form that can be used by all speech-language therapists who work with Twi and English speakers from Ghana and some other African countries. The OB-TAT and the OB-TEA are available online to download for free and use in speech therapy and evaluations. Read More
Relevant Research: Measuring Bilingual Children’s Receptive Vocabularies
Source URL: View this document on PubMed
This study investigated the performance of typically developing, bilingual Spanish-English speaking first graders on standardized receptive vocabulary tests. It showed that examining only one of a bilingual child’s languages does not provide an accurate representation of the child’s linguistic knowledge.
Research Text: Introduction to Poverty- Variables Affecting Students’ Performance
Source URL: View the book at the Plural Publishing website
Roseberry-McKibbin provides an overview of factors to consider when examining the performance of children who come from low socioeconomic status backgrounds.
Relevant Research: Identifiers of Predominantly Spanish-Speaking Children with Language Impairment
Source URL: View this document on the ASHA website
This study proved that measures other than standardized language assessments can more accurately identify language impairment in culturally and linguistically diverse children (in this case monolingual Spanish speakers). Read More
