Elena Plante

The second of five children, Elena Margaret Plante was born in 1961 in Baltimore, Maryland, to Kenneth Louis and Carmen (née Hechmer) Plante.{{Cite web|url=http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n92026200.html|title=LC Linked Data Service: Authorities and Vocabularies (Library of Congress)|last=Congress|first=The Library of|website=id.loc.gov|access-date=2019-10-29}}{{cite news |last1=Rasmussen |first1=Frederick N. |title=Kenneth L. Plante, electrical engineer and community volunteer, dies |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/obituaries/bs-md-ob-kenneth-plante-20180828-story.html |accessdate=20 October 2019}}{{cite web |title=Mr. Kenneth Louis Plante Obituary |url=https://www.haightfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Kenneth-Plante/#!/Obituary}}

Plante received her Bachelor of Arts in Speech-Language Pathology from Loyola University Maryland (formerly Loyola College) in 1984.{{cite web |title=Name change another step in Loyola's evolution |url=https://www.archbalt.org/name-change-another-step-in-loyolas-evolution/ |website=Archdiocese of Baltimore |date=19 January 2012}} In 1985, Plante completed her Master of Science, also in Speech-Language Pathology, at the same university.{{Cite web|url=http://www.u.arizona.edu/~eplante/cv.htm|title=Elena Plante, Professor, Speech, Language, and Hearing, University of Arizona|website=www.u.arizona.edu|access-date=2019-10-28}} Plante received her Ph.D. in Speech and Hearing Science with a minor in Neuroscience at UA in 1990.{{Cite web|url=https://plante.lab.arizona.edu/content/academic-cv|title=Academic CV {{!}} Plante Lab|website=plante.lab.arizona.edu|access-date=2019-11-04}} Completed under the supervision of pediatrician Anna Binkiewicz, Plante's dissertation, "Cerebral configurations among the parents and siblings of language-disordered boys," analyzed the neuroanatomy of four language-impaired children and provided evidence for the theory that language impairments have a genetic basis.{{Cite web|url=https://wwlifetimeachievement.com/2019/03/12/anna-i-s-binkiewicz/|title=Anna I.S. Binkiewicz|last=Administrator|first=Who's Who Site|date=2019-03-12|website=Who's Who Lifetime Achievement|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-29}}{{Cite journal|last=Plante|first=Elena Margaret|date=1990|title=Cerebral configurations among the parents and siblings of language-disordered boys.|url=https://repository.arizona.edu/handle/10150/185140|language=en}}

From 1990 to 1992, Plante was a postdoctoral fellow in Speech and Hearing Science at UA before joining the faculty of the department.{{Cite web|url=http://www.u.arizona.edu/~eplante/cv.htm#employ|title=Elena Plante, Professor, Speech, Language, and Hearing, University of Arizona|website=www.u.arizona.edu|access-date=2019-10-29}} With her colleague Rebecca Vance, Plante runs Talk MOORE, a six-week summer camp for preschool-age children with speech and language impairments.{{Cite web|url=https://slhs.arizona.edu/news/2019/04/talk-moore-summer-camp-preschoolers|title=Talk MOORE Summer Camp for Preschoolers {{!}} Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences|website=slhs.arizona.edu|access-date=2019-10-29}} Children in the program are exposed to structured, individualized therapies and group activities designed to improve reading readiness.{{Cite web|url=https://uanews.arizona.edu/story/ua-speech-camp-helps-kids-and-researchers|title=UA Speech Camp Helps Kids and Researchers|last1=Tricoles|first1=Robin|last2=Communications|first2=University Relations-|website=UANews|date=23 May 2016 |language=en|access-date=2019-10-29}} Much of her research at UA aims to develop effective therapies for children with developmental language disorders; this work has been funded by grants from the National Institute of Health.{{cite web|url=http://grantome.com/search?q=@author%20%20Elena%20Plante|title=Grantome|accessdate=4 November 2019}}

In 2018, Plante was elected to serve as the Vice President for Science and Research of the 2019 ASHA Board of Directors.{{Cite web|url=https://www.asha.org/News/2018/2018-Board-of-Directors-Election-Results/|title=2018 Board of Directors Election Results|website=American Speech-Language-Hearing Association|language=en|access-date=2019-10-29}}{{Cite web|url=https://slhs.arizona.edu/news/2018/06/elena-plante-elected-asha-board-directors|title=Elena Plante Elected to ASHA Board of Directors {{!}} Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences|website=slhs.arizona.edu|access-date=2019-10-29}}

Plante is a co-author of the Test of Integrated Language & Literacy Skills (TILLS) {{Cite web|url=https://products.brookespublishing.com/Test-of-Integrated-Language-and-Literacy-Skills-TILLS-Examiners-Kit-P846.aspx|title=Brookes Publishing: Test of Integrated Language and Literacy Skills™ (TILLS™) Examiner's Kit|website=products.brookespublishing.com|access-date=2019-11-11}} (with Nickola Nelson, Nancy Helm-Estabrooks, and Gillian Hotz). The TILLS is a standardized assessment tool with fifteen subtests that is used to evaluate language and literacy skills and associated deficits in listening, reading, writing, and speaking skills. With her colleagues, Plante developed the Pediatric Test of Brain Injury (PTBI),{{cite web |title=Brookes Publishing: Pediatric Test of Brain Injury™ (PTBI™ ) |url=https://products.brookespublishing.com/Pediatric-Test-of-Brain-Injury-PTBI--P134.aspx |website=products.brookespublishing.com}} a standardized assessment tool used to measure deficits in school readiness after brain injury in children ages 6–16.{{Cite book|title=Pediatric test of brain injury.|last1=Hotz|first1=Gillian|last2=Helm-Estabrooks|first2=Nancy|last3=Nelson|first3=Nickola|last4=Plante|first4=Elena|date=2010|publisher=Brookes Pub. Co|isbn=978-1598571127|location=Baltimore|pages=|oclc=476157105}}

Plante and her colleagues' articles have won three Editor's Awards from the ASHA journals in which they were published. This award is given annually to the most meritorious single article that appeared in the journal in the previous year.{{Cite web|url=https://pubs.asha.org/journals/editors_awards|title=Editor's Awards {{!}} {{!}} ASHA Publication Websites|website=pubs.asha.org|access-date=2019-11-11}} Plante and her colleagues Tammy J. Spaulding and Kimberly A. Farinella were honored in 2007 for their article, "Eligibility criteria for language impairment: Is the low end of normal always appropriate?"{{Cite journal|last1=Spaulding|first1=Tammie J.|last2=Plante|first2=Elena|last3=Farinella|first3=Kimberly A.|date=2006|title=Eligibility Criteria for Language Impairment: Is the Low End of Normal Always Appropriate?|journal=Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools|language=en|volume=37|issue=1|pages=61–72|doi=10.1044/0161-1461(2006/007)|pmid=16615750|issn=0161-1461}} published in Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools (LSHSS). This paper outlined difficulties associated with the use of low scores on standardized tests as a means of identifying children with language impairments, and emphasized how sensitivity and specificity rates may assist clinicians in making accurate diagnoses.

Plante and her coauthors Janne von Koss Torkildsen, Natalie S. Dailey, Jessica M. Aguilar, and Rebecca Gómez received the 2014 Editor's Award for "Exemplar variability facilitates rapid learning of an otherwise unlearnable grammar by individuals with language-based learning disability,"{{Cite journal|last1=von Koss Torkildsen Janne|last2=Dailey Natalie S.|last3=Aguilar Jessica M.|last4=Gómez Rebecca|last5=Plante Elena|date=2013-04-01|title=Exemplar Variability Facilitates Rapid Learning of an Otherwise Unlearnable Grammar by Individuals With Language-Based Learning Disability|journal=Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research|volume=56|issue=2|pages=618–629|doi=10.1044/1092-4388(2012/11-0125)|pmc=3973537|pmid=22988285}} published in the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. This paper replicated and extended previous research{{Cite journal|last=Gómez|first=Rebecca L.|date=2002|title=Variability and Detection of Invariant Structure|journal=Psychological Science|language=en-US|volume=13|issue=5|pages=431–436|doi=10.1111/1467-9280.00476|pmid=12219809|s2cid=9058661|issn=0956-7976}} demonstrating the importance of exemplar variation in supporting generalization of the grammatical patterns of an artificial language. Plante and colleagues reported that adults with language-based learning disabilities generalized grammatical patterns only when the input was highly variable, with many different words exemplifying the grammatical patterns.

A third Editor's Award came in 2017 for Plante's LSHSS article "Dose schedule and enhanced conversational recast treatment for children with specific language impairment," co-authored with Christina N. Meyers-Denman.{{Cite web|url=https://pubs.asha.org/journals/editors_awards|title=Editor's Awards {{!}} {{!}} ASHA Publication Websites|website=pubs.asha.org|access-date=2019-11-11}}{{Cite journal|last1=Meyers-Denman Christina N.|last2=Plante Elena|date=2016-10-01|title=Dose Schedule and Enhanced Conversational Recast Treatment for Children With Specific Language Impairment|journal=Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools|volume=47|issue=4|pages=334–346|doi=10.1044/2016_LSHSS-15-0064|pmc=5345548|pmid=27701629}} This paper demonstrated benefits of conversational recasts in supporting children's learning of grammatical morphology, where the therapist adds or corrects grammatical elements (e.g., word endings) while repeating back what the child has just said.

• Plante, E. (1991). MRI findings in the parents and siblings of specifically language-impaired boys. Brain and Language, 41(1), 67–80.
• Plante, E. M. (1998). Criteria for SLI: The Stark and Tallal legacy and beyond. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 41(4), 951–957.
• Plante, E., & Gómez, R. L. (2018). Learning without trying: The clinical relevance of statistical learning. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 49(3S), 710–722.
• Plante, E. M., & Vance, R. (1991). MRI findings in boys with specific language impairment. Brain and Language, 41(1), 52–66.
• Plante, E., & Vance, R. (1994). Selection of preschool language tests. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 25(1), 15–24.

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.u.arizona.edu/~eplante/lab.htm Plante Laboratory website]
• {{google scholar id|ABE2aPsAAAAJ}}
• [https://slhs.arizona.edu/person/elena-plante-phd-ccc-slp Faculty Web Page at UA]

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Category:American women scientists

Category:University of Arizona faculty

Category:Living people

Category:1961 births

Category:American women academics

Category:21st-century American women