A whirlwind trip to Monterrey, Mexico
Dr. Margarita Ramos of EDUX, Dr. Ellen Kester and Scott Prath of Bilinguistics
In their 3 days in Mexico, Dr. Ellen Kester and Scott Prath:
- provided training for teachers, language specialists, and special educators from various parts of northern Mexico
- conducted a workshop about communication disorders for a group of pediatricians
- worked with families who have children with communication disorders, and
- met with a reporter from El Norte to heighten the awareness of communication disorders in Mexico. Here is their story.
90 Educators gather for 2-day training
Educators of children with communication disorders in Mexico create lessons to meet their students’ needs.
Children with communication disorders in Mexico often do not have the support of a speech-language pathologist or other specialist. Teachers have students with communication disorders in their classes but do not receive training on how to work with students with speech and language disorders. Dr. Ellen Kester and Scott Prath provided the educators with an overview of communication disorders. The second day of the workshop was a hands-on training. The group developed interventions they could implement in the classroom using literacy-based intervention. Bilinguistics provided the educators in Mexico with resources to help support their students.
Centro Médico Zambrano Hellion, where we met with pediatricians
Pediatricians learn when to identify children with communication disorders
We met with a group of pediatricians at Centro Medico Zambrano Hellion. The group sees 4,000 children per month. One of the doctors commented that in their group, he did not think any of them had ever made a referral for evaluation or services for a child under two years old. They were grateful for the resources we shared with milestones for word use, communicative interactions, and pre-verbal communication milestones.
Working to meet the needs of children with communication disorders in Mexico
Working with educators in Mexico
In conjunction with EDUX, a newly formed company led by Dr. Margarita Ramos, Bilinguistics will continue to provide critically needed trainings for teachers of children with communication disorders. EDUX’s mission is to create leaders in the field of education who can support children with special needs in schools, and provide support for their families.
Together, Bilinguistics and EDUX will provide education, trainings, and materials for educators throughout Mexico to support children with communication disorders.
