Donna Jackson-Maldonado. A life dedicated to joining theory and practice in language development research

AUZA, ALEJANDRA; ROJAS, CECILIA; SIMON-CEREIJIDO, GABRIELA; PÉREZ-PEREIRA, MIGUEL; AGUILAR MEDIAVILLA, EVA; ALARCÓN NEVE, LUISA JOSEFINA; RESTREPO, M. ADELAIDA; MARTÍNEZ NIETO, LOURDES; DIEZ-ITZA, ELISEO; ROSEMBERG, CELIA RENATA; EZEIZABARRENA, M. JOSÉ; ALMGREN, MARGARETA; SERRAT, ELISABET; GALEOTE, MIGUEL ANGEL; ARIAS, NATALIA; RESCHES, MARIELA; ANDREU, LLORENC

Revista de Logopedia Foniatría y Audiología

Elsevier

Año: 2023 vol. 44

0214-4603

Precedents and objectives: Dr Donna Jackson-Maldonado, researcher and professor at the Centrode Estudios Lingüísticos y Literarios of the Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro in Mexico,left us on November 30, 2021. In this article, we review her main scientific contributions relatedto the three fundamental axes on which she worked: language acquisition, language disordersand language assessment.Methods and results: Dr Jackson-Maldonado’s studies on language acquisition included groupsof premature babies, late talkers, and typical development children in bilingual and diversesocioeconomic conditions. Moreover, she studied atypical language development in childrenwith hearing loss, children with developmental language disorders and children with Downsyndrome and other syndromes. Finally, regarding language assessment, it should be noted thatshe led the Mexican Spanish version of the Communicative Development Inventories (CDI) thatwas used as a model for later adaptations in other Romance languages.Discussion and conclusion:Dr Jackson-Maldonado’s methodological approach combined rigourwith a creative and innovative scientific spirit, yet she integrated theory and clinical practicefrom its very beginning. She left us an immense research and personal legacy that we want tohonour in this paper.