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The Centre in the Media

We are always excited when our research is mentioned in the media. We believe it is a wonderful way for parents and children to see that their participation has made a difference! We have provided as many links to these mentions as we could find in the sections below!

On this page we also update any big news concerning the Centre, such as new grant funding or awards to members of the lab and also other news concerning activities of the Centre in the KW community. We are very proud of these accomplishments!

blocks March 2009: LUI recommended by an panel of autism experts!

We are excited to announce that the Language Use Inventory (LUI) has been recently included among a set of recommended measures for evaluating the efficacy of interventions that target spoken language acquisition in children with autism spectrum disorders by a panel of experts convened by NIH's National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (Tager-Flusberg et al., 2009).

 

blocks Media Mentions of Our Centre and its Research!

Studies involving the Language Use Inventory (LUI)....

Stepping into the minds of characters....

Fall 2007 - Present: Our study demonstrating the early ability of children to step into the minds of storybook characters has received a number of mentions of media!

A link between storytelling ability and mathematical ability....

April 2004 - Present: Our study demonstrating a link between children's early storytelling abilities at age 3 and 4 and their mathematical ability 2 years later continues to be featured in newspapers, magazines, and over 100 websites around the world! Here are some of the articles!

  • Journal Club, Nature, "A mathematician considers the early signs of mathematical ability"
  • Devlin’s Angle, American Mathematical Assoc. (Dec. 2007) "Predicting mathematical ability"
  • Science News, Nov. 10 2007 "Good stories, good math"
  • Literacy Today (UK), Dec. 2004 "Narrative skills linked to mathematical achievement"
  • Psychology Today, Nov./Dec. 2004 Issue (USA) "It all adds up"
  • Science Update (USA - AAAS) Radio Interview, Aug. 23 2004
  • NRC Handelsblaad, Aug. 14 2004 (Netherlands) "Vruchtbare verhalen"
  • FACTS, Issue Aug. 5 2004 (Switzerland) "Geschichten, die sich rechnen"
  • Why Files (University of Wisconsin), Aug. 5 2004 "Narrative skills linked to math prowess"
  • Gehirn & Geist, Issue 5 2004 (Germany) "Quasseln fur Algebra"
  • The Vancouver Sun, July 28 2004 (Canada) (Front page)
  • The National Post, July 28 2004 (Canada) (1/2 page) "Storytelling ability predicts math skill"
  • The Globe and Mail, Apr. 10 2004 (Canada)
  • If you wish to find more mentions, just google "o'neill math storytelling"

...and other mentions:

Nov. 2009: Dr. O'Neill is interviewed in an article in Canadian Family magazine by Angela Pirisi entitled Play date prep: Seven secrets to planning a drama-free get-together.

July 18, 2009: The Language Use Inventory is featured in an article in The Record entitled, Research File: Parents can help researchers evaluate language skills in autistic children.

April 2008: Dr. O'Neill is interviewed in an article in Canadian Family magazine by Angela Pirisi entitled Guys n' dolls: Forget boy toys and girl toys. Here's how to find the best toy for your tot.

Sept./Oct. 2007 issue of Grand Magazine. Dr. O'Neill's work involving the development of peer-to-peer conversation in preschool-aged children was mentioned in an article entitled, “Gentle Nurturing,” about award-winning ECE teacher Dawn Russel of the Psychology Department’s Early Childhood Education Centre.

Nov./Dec. 2006 issue of the Grand Magazine includes an interview with Dr. O'Neill for an article entitled “Lasting play value in classic toys.”

Fall 2006 issue of Waterloo Magazine includes an overview of Dr. O'Neill's work on the Language Use Inventory in an article entitled “Can we talk?“ that highlights different research studies pertaining to communication being carried out at UW. See (http://alumni.uwaterloo.ca/alumni/pubs/magazine/fall2006/can_we_talk/)

Oct. 25, 2004: Ten minute interview with Cathy Alex of CBC Radio concerning the Canadian Early Childhood Language Project was broadcast nationally.

Dec. 5, 2003: The Canadian Early Childhood Language Project was featured in a full-length article in the local paper, The Record entitled When words come slowly.

Sept. 28, 2000: Research at the Centre is featured in an article in the University of Waterloo's Gazette newspaper. See an excerpt in the university's daily online bulletin at www.bulletin.uwaterloo.ca/2000/sep/27we.html

August 9, 2000: Research at the Centre is featured in an article in The Record, Waterloo region's daily newspaper.

Awards to Lab Members

June 2010: Together witih Co-PI Dr. Diane Pesco of Concordia University (Montreal), Dr. O'Neill has been awarded a two-year operating grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research that will fund the development of a French-Canadian version of the LUI and a longitudinal study to further investigate individual differences in the rate of pragmatic language development from 2-3 years of age.

May 2010: Dr. O'Neill has been awarded a UW Internal Seed Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council that will support a new line of work to develop a questionnaire to measure parental beliefs about young children’s communicative development

Mar. 2009: Dr. O'Neill has been awarded a two-year Research Development Initiative grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council that will support a new line of studies investigating parent and children's talk while playing with toys and reading books!

Nov. 2006: Mare Appleby, our Lab Manager, received a Staff Recognition Award from the University in recognition of the stellar work she does for the Centre!

June, 2006: The Canadian Institutes of Health Research have just awarded Daniela O'Neill a grant providing 3 years of renewed funding for the development of the Language Use Inventory!

June, 2003: The Canadian Institutes of Health Research have just awarded Daniela O'Neill a grant providing 3 years of renewed funding for the Canadian Early Childhood Language Project!

April, 2001: I am proud to announce that Cristina Atance has been awarded a 3-year fully-funded postdoctoral position at the newly established Center for Mind, Brain, and Learning in Seattle, WA under the direction of Drs. Andrew Meltzoff and Patricia Kuhl. It's a fabulous new interdisciplinary research center devoted to innovative research on early learning and the brain and housing researchers from Developmental Psychology, Brain Science, Education, Computer Science/Modeling, and Molecular Biology .

Dec. 5, 2000: Daniela O'Neill has been awarded a prestigious Premier's Research Excellence Award by Ontario's Ministry of Energy, Science, and Technology. This award will help support undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate researchers in the lab.
Mare staff recognition award

Other Exciting News to Share!

Dec. 2007: Our study on early storytelling abilities and their relation to mathematical ability (see August 2004 news) was rated in the top 4 downloaded articles in the journal First Language a yar after publication, and 3 years later, in Dec. 2007, remains the 14th top downloaded article.

Dec. 2006: The Atance & O’Neill (2005) "Preschoolers' talk about future situations" article remains the 34th most-downloaded article in First Language as of December 2006.

April 20, 2006: The Centre hosted our first Annual Evening Lecture Series, open to the community. Dr. O'Neill presented a talk to the community entitled “Children Learning to Talk: A Meeting of Minds.” We hope this will be the first of a long standing lecture series. We plan to host another evening lecture in the Spring of 2008.

Feb. 2005: Dr. O'Neill accepted an invitation to join the Curriculum Advisory Board for the Waterloo Regional Children’s Museum, to provide advisory support to Museum Director and Program Manager as to programming.

Winter 2005: Dr. O'Neill advised a high-school student, Radhika Shankar, for a science fair project investigating children’s false belief understanding. Her study led her to receive the silver award at the local science fair competition!

Dec. 2, 2003: To help launch the Canadian Early Childhood Language Project, the Centre hosted a visit by Kitchener Mayor Carl Zehr, Regional Chair Ken Seiling, and Dr. David Johnston, president of the University of Waterloo! It was a wonderful morning for the Centre, with many our research assistants helping out and several families present who have participated in the Canadian Early Childhood Language Project and other studies at the Centre. You can read about the visit in the UW Daily Bulletin at: http://www.bulletin.uwaterloo.ca/2003/dec/02tu.html

The visit was also featured in the University Gazette. Click here to view a copy of the article.

And here are some pictures!

zehr From bottom left to right: Regional Chair Ken Seiling, Charlotte, Daniela O'Neill, Mayor Carl Zehr, Lucas, Ariana and UW President Dr. David Johnston
UW President Johnston giving his opening remarks. From left to right: Amanda Nosko, Regional Chair Ken Seiling, Mayor Carl Zehr, and President Johnston.

September 27, 2003: The Waterloo Region Children's Museum opens to the public! Visit the Totspot on Level 1 and see the plaque acknowledging the consulting help of the UW Centre for Child Studies! Dr. O'Neill consulted with the museum on the Totspot since 1998 and is very excited to see it completed. It is designed for babies and toddlers and we are sure your child will enjoy visiting the space. Admission for children under age 2 is free. You can read about the museum and the involvement of the UW Centre for Child Studies in the Imprint Online

June 23, 2000: Pamela Wallin, a well-known Canadian journalist, toured the Centre as part of a visit to the University of Waterloo and in her new position as a member of the university's Board of Governors.

Pamela visits with a preschooler visiting Dr. O'Neill's Lab. Cristina Atance, a graduate student in the lab, is on right.

This page was last updated on June 28, 2011.