Brenda Gorman
B.A., University of Wisconsin-Madison in Latin American Studies
M.A. and Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin in Communication Sciences and Disorders
Certificate of Clinical Competence, Speech-Language Pathology
Dr. Brenda Gorman earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in Communication Sciences and Disorders with a multicultural/bilingual specialization from The University of Texas at Austin. Before entering academia, she worked as a bilingual (Spanish-English) speech-language pathologist serving diverse caseloads in public schools, early intervention programs, and private clinics. To expand services and develop urgently needed continuing education courses to enhance bilingual assessment and intervention practices more broadly, she co-founded Bilinguistics Speech and Language Services in Austin, TX. She also served as Advisory Clinical Director of LinguaHealth LLC and GrupoLingua LLC.
Dr. Gorman has extensive experience working with multilingual learners and providing professional development to professionals who serve culturally and linguistically diverse populations. She has taught university courses on a broad range of clinical topics, including child language and literacy disorders, speech sound disorders, fluency, adult language disorders, augmentative and alternative communication and multilingual assessment and intervention. She founded and coordinates the Multicultural and Multilingual Emphasis in the Communication Sciences and Disorders program at Elmhurst University.
Her research focuses on language and literacy development and disorders, as well as speech-language assessment and intervention in multilingual populations. She has been awarded more than $5 million across numerous grants for projects dedicated to enhancing clinical services and educational practices for culturally and linguistically diverse populations. She has published widely in journals such as the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology; Bilingual Research Journal; Early Childhood Research Quarterly; Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics; International Journal of Bilingualism; Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools; The Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal; and Reading & Writing Quarterly. She has co-directed the Reading Acquisition for Spanish Speakers Program (RASPA) and an Early Reading First (ERF) project funded by the U.S. Department of Education. She currently directs the Excellence in Multilingual Personnel in Illinois Schools (EXCEMPILS) grant program, funded by the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
Dr. Gorman has received numerous awards for her professional accomplishments including the Illinois Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s Exemplary Practice Award in recognition of exceptional clinical-based, school-based, academic, research and leadership practices and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s Certificate of Recognition for Special Contributions in Multicultural Affairs.