About our authorRobert E. Owens, Jr., (Dr. Bob), PhD, is a New York State Distinguished Teaching Professor and Professor of Communication Disorders and Sciences at the College of St. Rose where he teaches courses in language development and language disorders. In 2016 he received the Honors of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. He is the author of: Language Development, An Introduction (8 editions); Language Disorders, A Functional Approach (6 editions); Program for the Acquisition of Language with the Severely Impaired (PALS); Help Your Baby Talk, Introducing the New Shared Communication Method and Queer Kids, The Challenge & Promise for Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual [...] Language Development text is the most widely used in the world and has been translated into Spanish, Korean and Arabic. He has also co-authored Introduction to Communication Disorders, A Life Span Perspective (5 editions), written a score of book chapters and professional articles and authored 2 as-yet unpublished novels which are sure to win a posthumous Pulitzer Prize. Dr. Owens is coauthor with Stacey Pavelko, PhD, of SUGAR, an easy, free, valid language sampling tool. In love with the sound of his own voice, Dr. Bob has presented over 225 professional papers and workshops around the globe. His professional interests are language disorders in infants, toddlers and preschoolers who are also some of his best friends. And he's a gran'pa!