MINI-GRANT HELPS UA PROGRAM HAVE BIG IMPACT

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - A mini-grant from the Hispanic Women’s Organization of Arkansas is helping the UA’s speech and hearing clinic have a big impact upon Spanish-speaking children. The organization’s $515 grant enabled the clinic to purchase books and videos needed to train Spanish-language interpreters.

"The Hispanic Women’s Organization calls it a mini-grant," said Edgarita Long, assistant professor of communications disorders. "From our standpoint, they have made a crucial contribution to providing accurate assessments for children, and we are grateful for their support."

The mini-grant is an enhancement to a $7000 grant Long and two of her co-workers, Beth Scott and Marilyn McGehee, received in fall 2000 from the American Speech, Language and Hearing Association Office of Multicultural Affairs. With the main grant, the UA speech and hearing clinic has developed a program to teach speech pathology students to work with interpreters to assess children’s language proficiency and to diagnose possible communications disorders.

"The Hispanic Women’s Association is pleased to be able to help a program that will be so important to Spanish-speaking children in Northwest Arkansas," said Diana Gonzales Worthen, HWOA president and graduate student in the College of Education and Health Professions.

Beth Scott, clinical supervisor, noted that the HWOA has also helped the clinic find potential interpreters, all of whom are bilingual and bicultural UA students.

"It’s so important to the success of our program to have the advice and support of community leaders, such as the Hispanic Women’s Organization," Scott said. "Their assistance in establishing the Spanish-language program has been invaluable."

The speech and hearing clinic’s Spanish-language assessment program is designed to ensure that Hispanic children aren’t misdiagnosed with speech disorders simply because of differences in language and culture.

Long explained that to avoid misdiagnosis, it is important for both the speech pathologist and the interpreter to be specially trained and to understand communication techniques considered normal within the child’s social upbringing.

Through her research with Native Americans, Long has found that minority children are most often misdiagnosed and placed in special education programs, which may stifle their interest in school and lead to high drop-out rates.

Not only will proper training benefit student speech pathologists and young subjects, but also it will benefit the interpreters. Long predicts that bilingual, bicultural individuals who are trained to assist speech pathologists will be in great demand, particularly in Northwest Arkansas.

The Hispanic Women’s Organization of Arkansas was founded in July 1999. Members strive to advance educational opportunities for Hispanic woman and their families, to celebrate and teach others about their culture, and to become active participants in the community.

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A photo is available of the check presentation by Diana Worthen Gonzales, president of the Hispanic Women’s Organization of Arkansas to Beth Scott, clinical supervisor. Present are also student speech pathologists, interpreters, and members of HWOA. l to r: Andreina Narvaez, Virginia Graham, Carolina Ponce, Vicki Wilson, Marilyn McGehee, Edgarita Long, Beth Scott, Diana Gonzales Worthen, Carol Rodriguez, Monica Jimenez, Margarita Solorzano, Yolanda Fields, Cristina Umana-Rojas. Access it on the web at http://pigtrail.edu/news or by contacting Roy Cordell at rcordell@uark.edu.