Image of Dionna Latimer-Hearn in blouse with blue pattern

Honors & Accolades

~ Inaugural Recipient of NBASLH Clinician of the Year Award - 2022

~ Inaugural Speaker at NBASLH Loyola University of Maryland - 2021

~ World Education Research Association World Congress Inaugural Most Innovative Poster Award - 2018

~ American Educational Research Association (AERA) Minority Dissertation Fellowship Award - 2017

~ Multicultural Grant Project Award - 2001

“It is evident that Dr. Latimer-Hearn cares deeply about the clients and families she serves. She has incorporated our family’s concerns and priorities into the therapy process. I have found her to be considerate, responsible, and sincere in her work. Her motivation and keen desire to meet the needs of her clients are to be commended.”

One nominator, a colleague, expressed: I hope to know Dr. Latimer-Hearn for the rest of my life because she inspires me to do my very best and bring others along with me. She is not only a Black woman leader in research and academia but also a changemaker, role-model, mentor, and generous SLP who is always working for the changes we need in speech-language pathology and

society at large.

In addition to her “day jobs”

Dionna is also the co-founder

and director of the REACT

Initiative, a Christian

nonprofit organization that

promotes equity in education for

historically marginalized populations.

She is the founder of Respect the Dialect, a

digital community which was designed to

promote awareness and understanding of the

African American English dialect. Later this

year, Dionna will be launching a new

platform and podcast called The Culture

We Speak to promote multicultural

awareness within the profession.

Please join me in celebrating the

inaugural recipient of the SLP

Clinician of the Year, Dr. Dionna

Latimer-Hearn.

Dionna Latimer-Hearn smiling at the camera in an African print, full-length dress with purple, orange, and black design

~ NBASLH 2022 Inaugural Clinician of the Year Award

This award includes a monetary prize that recognizes outstanding professional achievement of an NBASLH member who is a practicing speech-language pathologist, whether in schools, medical setting, clinic, or private practice.

This year’s inaugural recipient is a SLP currently residing in Texas. She has served as a multilingual SLP and educational consultant since 2002. She has clients not only in the United States, but around the globe.

One nominator, a psychologist colleague in the Republic of Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean, stated that “up till last year, we did not have access to speech and language services. After trying for over five years to find a speech and language pathologist to come to Rodrigues to help our pupils, we found Dr. Latimer-Hearn.

“We ended up working together because Dr Latimer-Hearn has lived and worked internationally, and has a working knowledge of French, especially, an understanding of, and sensitivity about dialects and languages that are marginalized, and the people who speak them…Dr Latimer-Hearn has been open about learning more about our language and shows sensitivity in her interpretation of our assessment data: she pays attention to divergences that may be cultural or due to our dialect, and divergences that may reflect a need for remediation. Despite having limited exposure to the language, she is very accurate in detecting dialectical differences and patterns.”

A mother of a client in Burkina Faso shared: “Since June 2020, Dr. Latimer-Hearn has provided remote therapy services in French…to support my son’s communicative abilities….he better controls his emotions with less outbursts as he is better able to articulate his thoughts, feelings, and needs. We feel like he has grown mentally and emotionally since his work with Dr. Latimer-Hearn.