John Pettit was the Coordinator of Clinical Services and Training at the University of Maine in Orono from 1981 to 1995 and completed his career as Chair of the Communication Disorders program at Radford University in Virginia. John was an active and enthusiastic member of the ASHA’s Council of Academic Programs in Communication Sciences and Disorders, serving a variety of functions during his years with the Council. He was president of the Council from 1990-91, received the Distinguished Contribution Award in 1992 and received the Honors of the Council in 1996. John was also a fellow of ASHA and one of his proudest professional achievements involved his time as a Mayo Clinic Fellow. John is survived by his wonderful wife Betty. We invite you to read the reflections of John’s colleagues both past and present.

Click here to read about Lambrecht Smith’s work in Sound Check: early warning signs of reading disabilities in preschoolers’ language skills.

The grant is titled Social Skill Development in Children with Autism: A Collaborative Research and Community Service Project.

The funding comes from the University of Maine’s Women in Leadership and Philanthropy initiative. Working with the Green House Nursery School and their preschoolers with autism, the goals of the project are:

• to provide social skills intervention;
• to provide both graduate and undergraduate students clinical experience in designing, delivering and assessing a program of social skills development;
• to provide both graduate and undergraduate students research experience in designing, implementing, analyzing and evaluating the outcomes of the social skills program;
• to provide both graduate and undergraduate students the opportunity to develop leadership skills – through mentoring less experienced students, interacting with families, providing an inservice for professionals, delivering a colloquium;
• to provide a much-needed service to the community.

Nancy Hall is heading up the project and will serve as the primary research mentor. Lorriann Mahan will serve as the primary clinical mentor. Lynn Faerber (Director) and Karen Thibault (Head Classroom Teacher) at the Green House will be consultants and coordinate in-classroom and in-service activities.

There is funding for 4 undergraduate students (a small stipend), an honorarium for the Green House, thank you gifts for the kids in the project, and materials. It is a 1 year project.

Left to right: Meaghan Francis, Josh Randazza, Elzabeth Libby, Jeannie Lovesey, Kathryn Delong, Brittany Lundeen, Sarah Frost, Kelly Blackwell, Jessica Pellitier, Katie Gerrish, Sarah Snow, Tabby Varney, Kristen Fahey, Ashlee Lucas, Cassie Clement, Emily Checkoway.
Not pictured: Sarah Carter

Allan Smith gave a presentation of his research at the Seventeenth Annual Conference of the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading July 7-10, 2010 in Berlin, Germany.  The title of the presentation was Speech timing characteristics of young children’s longest utterances and later reading disability by Allan B. Smith; Susan Lambrecht Smith; Jenny Roberts (Hofstra University, NY); John L. Locke (Lehman College, NY); Katharine Farrell.