Pamela E. Hook, PhD
- Professor Emerita
- Communication Sciences and Disorders
Pamela Hook, PhD, has been a member of the Institute faculty since 1992, where she was a Clinical Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences.
She was also the coordinator of the written side of the in-house Speech, Language and Literacy Center where students are trained to teach children and adults to comprehend and use spoken and written language.
Dr. Hook retired in June 2012 and was accorded the status of Professor Emerita at the 2012 Commencement ceremony.
Dr. Hook serves as President of the Massachusetts Branch of the International Dyslexia Association from which she received the award for Outstanding Service. She also received the Nancy T. Watts Award for Excellence in Teaching from the MGH Institute in 2004.
She is presently a member of the Board of Directors for the Bay State Reading Institute, Hanson Initiative for Language and Literacy (HILL for Literacy), and Lexia Learning Systems.
She is also involved in two large-scale international studies:
- An intervention study with colleagues in Campinas, Brazil, that examines grade school Portuguese-English Language Learners' responses to computerized instruction in language and literacy
- A five-year project in Saudi Arabia that centers on the development of tests that can predict later reading and writing skills
- AB, French, University of Illinois
- MAT, Reading, Harvard University
- PhD, Communication Disorders/Learning Disabilities, Northwestern, University
Research Interests
Dr. Hook has been interested in the relationship between spoken and written language throughout her career, particularly in individuals with disabilities.
Her research includes efficacy studies on the use of computer programs to increase reading fluency in children with dyslexia as well as inner-city children who struggle with reading.
Hook, P., Christodoulou, J. (2011) Red Flags for Struggling Readers, Presentation: Federation for Children with Special Needs Conference, Boston, March 12.
Hook, P., Jacobs, C. & Maxwell, L., (2010) Differentiating Reading Difficulties in SLI/LLD vs. Dyslexia: Early “Red Flags”. Presentation: ASHA Convention, Philadelphia, PA, November 20.
Hook, P. & Haynes, C. (2009) Reading and writing in child language disorders. In R. Schwartz (Ed.), Handbook of Child Language Disorders. Psychology Press.
Bashir, A. & Hook, P. (2009) Fluency: A key link between word identification and comprehension, Language, Speech and Hearing Services in the Schools, 40(2), 196-200.
Hook, P. (2009) Increasing silent reading comprehension in 3rd-grade inner-city children: the role of fluency, strategy training and cognitive-linguistic skills, Society for Scientific Study of Reading, June, 2009.