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Meet Grace M. Libardo Alvarez
Hello, my name is Grace M. Libardo Alvarez. I am a speech-language pathologist who specializes in working with children and families who are culturally and linguistically diverse. My interest in this area stems from my own upbringing. My family and I emigrated from Argentina when I was five years old. The primary language of my home was Spanish, but I was immersed in other languages as well; of course English, but also Italian, my father's first language. Language was not the only aspect of my family that distinguished us. We maintained many of the traditions and customs of my parents' homeland. Although my parents believed that assimilation was key to success in America, there was never any question that within our household certain aspects of our culture were to be maintained and respected. As a young woman, I continued my bicultural life when I fell in love with and married a man who was born and raised in Argentina. The journey of assimilation while attempting to maintain aspects of a valued homeland continued within my own family as my husband and I raised our daughter. I had no idea how difficult a task it was till I became a parent myself! When Shanna was in grade school, I decided to go back to school. I had always been interested in language and how it connects us to one another. Being able to help people facilitate the development of and maintenance of this connection has proven to be one of the most rewarding endeavors of my life. For the past eleven years I have had the challenge and pleasure of helping children and their families deal with the very difficult task of distinguishing between language disorders and language differences. I have worked as a bilingual speech-language pathologist in many capacities: as a therapist in schools and private practice, a consultant for a bilingual school, and providing in-services to schools and professional organizations. In this area of specialization, it is not only important to understand the normal processes of speech-language acquisition, but also that of multilingualism. In the past, the research in this area was sparse; this is no longer the case. In my view, my responsibility to stay current on the latest findings, disseminate the research, and use research-based best practices in the intervention that I provide. My aim is to help families make informed decisions about how to raise their culturally/linguistically diverse children, as well as to provide guidance regarding appropriate, non-biased assessment/evaluation and treatment. My firm belief is that empowered parents are the absolute best advocates for their children. I look forward to being of service to you and your children. Sincerely,
Grace will be answering your questions through her new column: Ask Grace. Please send questions to her at: grace@biculturalfamily.org. She is looking forward to hearing from you! |
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