Deborah A. Hwa-Froelich, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
In addition to her work as Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Saint Louis University, Dr. Hwa-Froelich is the founder of the International Adoption Clinic (IAC). The IAC is a developmental clinic specializing in providing intervention services for internationally adopted children and their families. The clinic is an outgrowth of her longitudinal research documenting postadoption English language acquisition, as well as memory, social, and emotional development of internationally adopted children. She has also studied the influence of culture, poverty, maternal-child interactions, maternal mental health, and disrupted development on children's learning.
Dr. Hwa-Froelich holds a master's degree in speech-language pathology from the University of Kansas, a graduate endorsement in early childhood special education from the University of Colorado, and a doctorate in communication disorders and sciences from Wichita State University in Kansas. She has published and presented extensively on the topic of international adoption development, child development, and the effects of cultural and linguistic diversity on communication development and disorders.
A recipient of the Angel in Adoption Award from the U.S. Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, Dr. Hwa-Froelich also received the Louis M. DiCarlo Award for Clinical Achievement from the American Speech-Language- Hearing Foundation, the Diversity Champion Award from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), and the Missouri Speech-Language-Hearing Association's Outstanding Clinician of the Year Award. She formerly served as the editor for Perspectives of Communication Disorders in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Populations for ASHA's Special Interest Division 14 and is a member of the Council for Exceptional Children and Division of Early Childhood.