I live not in dreams but in contemplation of a reality that is perhaps the future. - Rainer Maria Rilke,1 German lyric poet (1875-1926)
In honor of this special 30th anniversary issue of Topics in Language Disorders, I (N.W.N.) am departing from the usual coauthored format (Editor and Editor Emerita) for the "From the Editor" column. This allows me to add my accolades to those of Issue Editor, Dr. Li-Rong Lilly Cheng, and the outstanding group of contributors to this issue to celebrate the work of Katharine G. Butler, PhD, Editor Emerita, as well as this journal that she founded. It was Kay's vision in conceptualizing and founding Topics in Language Disorders and guiding its maturation that has made it a top-quality, peer-reviewed, scholarly journal. In founding the journal, Kay embodied Rilke's words about doing more than dreaming; rather, she contemplated a new reality and had the courage and skill to bring the journal to life. In doing so, she and her initial Editorial Board and publisher (then it was Aspen; today it is Wolters/Kluwer) took action to envision and to construct a future that could respond more effectively to the needs of people with language disorders.
Without the written word, events in the past and scientific clues for constructing a future have limited permanence. By devoting a scientific journal to topics in language disorders, Kay was assuring that the future could be contemplated systematically, and with scholarly review, with attention to what is known and needs to be investigated, and with critical reconsideration of what has been thought in the past in terms of how it fits with the current evidence. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) commented that "Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill."2 The scientific study of language disorders and the translation of research into practice depend on journals like this one to provide a forum for the contemplation, discussion, reconsideration, and critique of ideas that can advance thinking, research, and practice.
Kay served as the journal's sole editor for its first 25 years, with assistance from a list of Issue Editors that reads like a Who's Who in the field of language disorders in children and adults. It is due to Kay's vision and leadership that the journal is now entering its 30th year and going strong. Her ideas, mentoring, and collegial spirit have contributed to the professional perspectives of every one of the authors in this issue and every member of the Editorial Board. Each current board member either wrote an article or contributed an anonymous review, with suggestions that are reflected in this special extended issue. With Kay, I am deeply grateful for this level of commitment to keeping the journal peer reviewed (with the help of other topical experts acknowledged in Issue 4 each year) and reflective of the highest standards of scholarship.
The topics that Issue Editor, Lilly Cheng, outlined to be addressed in this special issue show her brilliance in pulling together pertinent themes that have relevance for contemplating the realities of the future, as well as the influential events of the past. She charged the authors to address topics that would provoke contemplation of the future and illuminate contributions from the past. She also invited authors to share from their personal experiences with Kay and the journal. Readers who have not had the experience of being mentored, prodded, encouraged, and supported directly by Katharine G. Butler, thus, will be able to experience vicariously through the pages of this issue: what it is like to receive encouragement in a middle-of-the-night fax message to "push through what sometimes seems overwhelming" (Wallach), to serve as a cofounder of the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities (Stark), to contemplate the detailed interconnections between oral and written language (Silliman), to conceptualize an interdisciplinary approach to improving reading instruction (Sawyer), to tackle difficult questions such as what is meant by comprehension (Snyder), to capture the worldview and Renaissance ideal of Homo universalis (Whitmire and Beck), to stimulate thinking about literacy that is free of narrow traditionalism (Westby), to value the contributions of scholars across time and across the globe, as well as across disciplines (De Montfort Supple and Soderpalm), to take leadership roles and to value diversity (Weddington), to embrace the rich tapestry of cultural heritage that makes up a pluralistic society (Cheng), and to support colleagues around the world to face the challenges of pioneering a new discipline where it was heretofore unknown (Kotby, El-Sady, and Hegazi).
This anniversary issue should stimulate readers to contemplate new ways to be relevant to the needs of students with language-learning disabilities in areas of both spoken and written language in their school-age years. Wallach, Silliman, Sawyer, Snyder, Whitmire and Beck, Westby, and Weddington, in particular, raise the level of contemplation of what the new reality might be as we head into the future. This is a future that could begin to be imagined only when the journal published its inaugural issue in 1980. At the time, scientific and clinical interest in language development and disorders was still in its infancy, as chronicled by Stark, even though, as highlighted by de Montfort Supple and Soderpalm, the new branches grew from deep roots that had been cultivated around the world. When the journal began, America, a land of immigrants, was coping with a new wave of immigrants, many from Southeast Asia or from Mexico who were learning English as a new language. Cheng traces the evolution of terminology and concepts about the processes of learning a new language and culture and the implications for professionals who work with people with language disorders. The article by Kotby and his colleagues allows readers to contemplate the process of starting essentially from scratch, with the help of supportive colleagues and the printed word, to build a new discipline of research and practice in a region where it previously did not exist.
Together, these contributions embody Kay Butler's vision and ability to see connections that cross intergenerational, interdisciplinary, and international boundaries. It is this spirit of welcoming new and challenging ideas that has characterized this journal for the past 30 years and that will continue to do so into the future. We invite you to contemplate that future is with us as we celebrate the past, and the woman whose vision and leadership have brought us to this place.
Nickola Wolf Nelson, PhD
Editor
With appreciation for my ongoing collaboration with
Katharine G. Butler, PhD
Editor Emerita
1From Selected Letters of Rainer Maria Rilke, downloaded January 4, 2010, from http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/38625.html[Context Link]
2Quotation downloaded January 4, 2010, from http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/9198.html[Context Link]