International Women’s Day presents an opportunity for us to pause and acknowledge the incredibly dedicated women leading the way to greater understanding of Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) around the world.
This year’s campaign theme is a challenged world is an alert world and from challenge comes change. So let’s all choose to challenge.
We are privileged to know of many great women who are parent’s/carers, educators, therapists, researchers and people with DLD who choose to challenge every day and are working incredibly hard to bring awareness of DLD to the world. Therefore, our list of women deserving recognition for their efforts in the DLD space is not comprehensive because there simply isn’t enough time to acknowledge all of the exceptional women driving change for people with DLD around the world.
For now though, let’s take a brief look at the female researchers who are without a doubt game changers in their field.
Professor Dorothy Bishop
Prof. Bishop has dedicated her research career to trying to understand the nature and causes of language impairments in children. Today we include this inspirational woman in our list of change makers for her outstanding work in developing consistent criteria and terminology for DLD with the CATALISE consortium. Read her work here:
Dr Karla McGregor
Dr. McGregor is the Director of the Center for Childhood Deafness, Language & Learning at Boys Town National Research Hospital and Professor Emeritus at the University of Iowa. She conducts research on word learning and use among people with DLD. This International Women’s Day, we recognise her contribution to DLD research and acknowledge her important role as founder of DLD and Me. Read her work here:
Dr Tiffany Hogan
Dr. Hogan is the Director of the Speech and Language (SAiL) Literacy Lab and Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the MGH Institute in Boston MA. Dr. Hogan studies the genetic, neurological, and behavioral links between oral and written language development, with a focus on co-morbid speech, language and literacy disorders.
We applaud Dr. Hogan for her research and advocacy efforts regarding DLD and dyslexia.
Dr Suzanne Adlof
Dr. Adlof is the Associate Professor, Communication Sciences and Disorders, at the University of South Carolina.
Her research work aims to improve the early identification of language and reading difficulties in children and aids in the development of effective interventions for language and reading difficulties.
We acknowledge Dr. Adlof for her research and advocacy efforts regarding DLD and dyslexia.
Professor Courtenay Norbury
Prof. Norbury is a Professor of Developmental Language & Communication Disorders. We recognise her contribution this International Women’s Day for her pioneer work with the longitudinal Surrey Communication and Language in Education Study (SCALES).
Professor Sheena Reilly
Prof. Reilly has produced a substantial body of original research and has contributed extensively towards understanding speech, language and literacy development in children. She is one of the leading minds on DLD in Australia. Listen to her chat with Shaun in Episode 2 of The Talking DLD Podcast | The Changing Face of DLD in Australia.
Dr Susan Ebbels
Dr Susan Ebbels is the Director of the Moorhouse Research and Training Institute and a highly specialist speech and language therapist. Today we recognise her ongoing commitment to understanding how best to support children with DLD through the Moorhouse Research Institute.
Associate Professor Lisa Archibald
Assoc. Prof. Lisa Archibald works in the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders at The University of Western Ontario. We have included this inspiring woman on our list for her research on DLD, school-based collaboration and working memory.
