In the Community

Oregon is among 22 U.S. states that have experienced recent and dramatic increases in immigrant populations. Among the obstacles immigrant parents face is unfamiliarity with English, as well as U.S. cultural norms.

The children often quickly embrace their new lives, and that often leads to stresses within families. The challenges that new families face not only put them at risk for any number of challenges, they also strain educational, health care and social systems.

"An ingenious idea" drew Jane Squires into the University of Oregon research world as a doctoral student in 1985.

That idea -- the Ages & Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) -- has since grown and expanded. Today, it is used worldwide for assessing the developmental, social-emotional and other key parameters of children through age 5.

When three professional organizations gathered in Portland in April, the University of Oregon's Department of Anthropology was on center stage as host of the joint annual meetings. Helping plan and carry on the show were eight UO faculty members and research associates, as well as 36 student volunteers -- some of whom also put their own research on display.