I have been attending the ISSBD conference in Lusaka, Zambia. Some of the presentations I have enjoyed attending include:
• African educational theories and practices (Chairs: Bame Nsamenang and Therese M.S.T. Tchombe, Cameroon)
• Cultural differences in cognitive styles (Pierre Daser)
• Socially distributed caretaking (Chair: Thomas S. Weisner)
• Beyond diathesis-stress: Differential susceptibility to environmental influences (Jay Belsky)
• Language influences in literacy acquisition in the African context (Chair: R. Malatesha Joshi) including a presentation on the effects of orthographic opacity on reading development in Zambia by Bestern Kaani from the University of Zambia
• Growing up in a multilingual society: Developmental stages and strategies in multilingual socialization (Ajit Mohanty)
• Reading acquisition in Africa: Typical and atypical pathways (Chair: Heikki Lyytinen)• Using longitudinal research to improve child and youth well-being through inter-disciplinary and inter-sectoral collaboration (Ann Sanson)
I presented “Speech impairment in 4- to 5-year-old Australian children: Prevalence, severity and service provision” on behalf of the Sound Effects Team: Linda J. Harrison, Lindy McAllister, and Jane McCormack.
