Toward a Genetics of Language

University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS

November 11-13, 1993

At a time when new developments were beginning to emerge at a brisk pace, the 1993 Merrill conference fostered cross-disciplinary dialogue on the genetics of child language acquisition. Scholars were able to learn about each other's work, to comment and react to ongoing work in other scholarly fields, to challenge and consider new information. Although no conclusive evidence was available at that time, conference participants defined the parameters of this new endeavor in science.

The collection that resulted represents an early effort to establish the connection between genetics and language. The book was edited by Mabel Rice and was published by Lawrence Erlbaum in 1996.

For current information on specific language impairment, read Ten Things You Should Know about Children with Specific Language Impairment.

Resource

1993 Conference Participants 

Linda Brzustowitz, Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University 

Martha Crago, School of Human Communication Disorders, McGill University 

Jeffrey Gilger, Speech, Language and Hearing, University of Kansas 

Nina Hyams, Department of Linguistics, University of California at Los Angeles 

Larry Leonard, Audiology and Speech Sciences, Purdue University 

Jon Miller, University of Wisconsin-Madison 

Bruce Pennington, Department of Psychology, University of Denver 

Elena Plante, Child Language Laboratory, Department of Speech and Hearing Disorders, University of Arizona 

David Poeppel, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology  

Mabel Rice, Speech, Language and Hearing, University of Kansas 

Shelley Smith, Otolaryngology and Human Communication Center for Genetic Research in Com. Disorders, Boys Town National Research Hospital 

Catherine Snow, Graduate School of Education, Harvard University 

Bruce Tomblin, Wendell Johnson Speech and Hearing Center, University of Iowa 

Ken Wexler, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology