Hammett Named Bamford-Lahey Scholar -- Again     Lisa Hammett, a doctoral student in communication sciences and disorders in UGA’s College of Education, was one of only six students recently chosen from around the world as a Bamford-Lahey Scholar for 2003. It is the second year in a row that Hammett has received the distinguished award. The honor includes scholarship funding of up to $10,000 a year to doctoral students who intend to specialize in children’s language disorders. Funding for the scholarship comes from the Los Angeles-based Bamford-Lahey Children’s Foundation, which supports programs enhancing the linguistic, cognitive, social, and emotional development of children. Hammett, in her last year of doctoral studies, has pursued research at UGA on the bi-directional nature of parent-child book sharing, and the use of abstract language within this interaction context. She is currently pursuing research that uses multivariate and sequential statistical analyses to explore the interactions that take place during book sharing and their impact on language learning in children developing typically and children with language disorders. Hammett approaches literacy and language disorders in children from the perspective of dynamical systems theory and neuroscience evidence, incorporating current knowledge of how early experiences in multiple domains influences neurobiological development to create, maintain, and/or remediate language disorders. Hammett earned her undergraduate and master's degrees in speech-language pathology from James Madison University in Virginia. She spent nine years in clinical practice in public and international schools. Through collaboration with teachers and specialists in classrooms, she gained specialty knowledge in phonological awareness and early literacy development. Hammett became a teacher trainer in early literacy initiatives in her district and state. One of the Foundation’s objectives is to increase the number of doctoral level professionals who will educate future Speech-Language Pathologists, and who, through research, will contribute to the understanding of developmental language disorders. For more on the scholarship program check: http://www.bamford-lahey.org/scholarships.html Information on other scholars is available at: http://www.bamford-lahey.org/scholars.html   Wednesday, October 15, 2003 WRITER: Michael Childs, 706/542-5889, mchilds@coe.uga.edu CONTACT: Anne van Kleeck, 706/542-2413, avk@coe.uga.edu