Researcher to discuss developing literacy in bilingual children Oct. 9

LAWRENCE -- An expert in how parents and teachers can help develop literacy in children whose first language is not English will speak at the Colloquia on Intellectual Developmental Disabilities 2003-04 public seminar series, Language to Literacy, this week at the University of Kansas.

Kevin Cole, senior researcher at the Washington Research Institute in Seattle, will discuss how parents and teachers can enhance emerging literacy skills in young children, including those with disabilities, at 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9, in Alderson Auditorium at the Kansas Union. Cole, a critic of many school-based practices, has a distinguished history of both research and curriculum development related to emerging literacy skills.

Cole will show excerpts from his video training series for parents and children, "Language is the Key." The series is available in subtitled English, Mandarin, Mandarin subtitled in Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Spanish and Tagalog/Pilipino.

Educators, practitioners, university students and other members of the academic and professional communities are particularly welcome to hear and talk with colloquia speakers, who are dynamic leaders in the field of language and literacy research.

The series will continue in 2004 with two more researchers:

Susan Landry, Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, is a sought-after speaker for her work in the role of parenting in language and cognitive development. Notably, she has developed a powerful intervention approach for parents in high-risk communities and a widely implemented curriculum for Head Start. Her lecture is scheduled for 4 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22, 2004, in Alderson Auditorium.

Robin Morris, Department of Psychology, Georgia State University in Atlanta, is known for his work in neuroimaging and evaluation of reading disabilities and interventions for a wide variety of learners including nonspeaking children and children with a range of other disabilities. He recently was appointed to the President's Council on Literacy. His lecture is scheduled for 4 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19, 2004, in Alderson Auditorium.

The Kansas Colloquia on Intellectual Developmental Disabilities is sponsored by the Schiefelbusch Institute for Life Span Studies, the Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Center, the Center for Reproductive Sciences, the Beach Center on Disability, the Juniper Gardens Children's Project and the KU Center on Developmental Disabilities.

The Schiefelbusch Institute for Life Span Studies at KU and its 12 affiliated centers are dedicated to finding research-based solutions to the challenges of human and community development, disabilities and aging.