Home | 2007 | 2006 | Article Archive 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | Featured Article

Meet Dr. Ron Goldman

Left to right- Kathleen Williams (EVT Author), Ron Goldman, Dr. Macalyne Fristoe (GFTA Co-Author)

Do you use the Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation? The Goldman-Fristoe-Woodcock? How about Listening to the World? Sounds and Symbols?

The common denominator for all of these products (and several others) is Dr. Ron Goldman. In addition to his work as a busy author, Dr. Goldman has served as the training director for the Sparks Center for Developmental and Learning Disorders, the president of the American Speech-Language Hearing Foundation (ASHF), and the vice president of planning for the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA). He has also participated on committees and review boards for organizations including the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), the Louisiana Speech and Hearing Association, the Speech and Hearing Association of Alabama, the Tennessee Speech and Hearing Association, the National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Department of Education. He has received numerous awards for his work, including fellowship status by ASHA and their highest award, the Honors of the Association, for which the recipient's achievements must be "of such excellence that they have enhanced or altered the course of our profession," according to ASHA bylaws.

Dr. Goldman has been retired for seven years, but his schedule shows no sign of slowing down. He is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Alabama-Birmingham and has recently completed the Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation, Second Edition (GFTA-2), with Dr. Macalyne Fristoe. Dr. Goldman describes the new edition of the popular test as "a refinement of a highly successful, frequently used test."

He notes, "It was a challenge to select appropriate art to prompt spontaneous responses. We needed to provide stimulus items using interesting pictures that would elicit pertinent responses. The standardization was challenging, too. We worked hard to make sure it is all-inclusive."

Dr. Goldman will be on hand at the ASHA convention in Washington, D.C., in November to discuss the development of both the original Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation and the new edition. Along with Dr. Macalyne Fristoe and Dr. Kathleen Williams, Dr. Goldman will discuss the supplementary developmental norms gathered from the GFTA-2 standardization data. Many research studies have attempted to set developmental markers by age for the correct production of each consonant sound. No study has included as large or as well-stratified and well-controlled a sample as the GFTA-2 standardization sample.

Now, Dr. Goldman has another revision in the works. A new edition of the Sounds & Symbols Early Reading Program (previously published as the Goldman-Lynch Sounds and Symbols Development Kit and High Hat) will be completed by August 2001. A renewed emphasis on phonics and a corresponding demand for the early reading program have prompted this new edition. (Ed. note: See SLP e-news article "High Hat is Back" for more details.)

"Personally, I think this project is one of the most productive intervention programs I've worked on," noted Dr. Goldman. "There's been a phenomenal response from its users."

The new version will feature all new art and updated stories and lessons, with content revised for gender and ethnic balance and cultural appropriateness. Dr. Goldman stresses, however, that "the heart of the Goldman-Lynch will be maintained." "I think," he continues, "that it will be widely used." Based on the popularity of Dr. Goldman's other tests and programs, and on customer response to the Sounds & Symbols project so far, success seems assured!

Plan to attend the joint ASHA presentation by Dr. Ron Goldman, Dr. Macalyne Fristoe, and Dr. Kathleen Williams: "GFTA-2 Developmental Norms by Gender and Consonant Sound" (Session 614), Thursday, November 16, 2000 8:00-9:30 a.m.