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Meet Our Founder/Administrator
Dionna Latimer-Hearn has served as a multilingual speech-language pathologist and educational consultant and has held positions in France, Illinois, Japan, Maryland, and Texas. She currently provides consultative support and professional development for organizations globally. She is the founder and director of REACT Initiative, Inc., a nonprofit organization advocating for equity in education. Dr. Latimer-Hearn is also the host of The Culture We Speak Podcast which examines the intersection of culture, language, and education. She is the recipient of a number of awards including the inaugural Clinician of the Year Award presented by the National Black Association for Speech-Language and Hearing.
Visit www.dlhearn.net for more info
ABOUT
RTD’s MISSION
Respect The Dialect exists to raise awareness and offer continuing education on issues pertaining to African American English (AAE) and its use in educational and professional settings. This forum offers resources and support to speech-language pathologists and educators who serve AAE-speaking students. ​
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Respect The Dialect began in 2019 as a Facebook group. The group was created by Dr. Latimer-Hearn and was designed to promote awareness and understanding of the African American English (AAE) dialect. In addition, the group offers support to educators and speech-language pathologists serving AAE-speaking communities. As our nation becomes increasingly diverse the occurrence of cultural-linguistic mismatch in the educational setting becomes more apparent. ​
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Respect The Dialect has grown and now offers a variety of supports and resources to contemporary educators and speech-language pathologists seeking to improve outcomes for AAE-speaking students.
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