Jane O’Regan Kleinert is a Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorder. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Speech and Hearing from Bellarmine University in Louisville, KY, her Masters of Speech Pathology and Audiology from the University of Washington in Seattle, and her Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Science at the University of KY in 2005. She holds the Developmental Disabilities Certificate from the UK Human Development Institute as well. Dr. Kleinert is licensed and certified as a Speech-Language Pathologist with 40 + years of experience in service delivery and program administration in the areas of pediatrics and services to persons with severe developmental disabilities. She has been PI or Co-PI for several state and federally funded grants for improved intervention and communication services for students and individuals with complex communication needs and severe disabilities and teaches, lectures and publishes in this area as well.

Dr. Kleinert is currently  PI or Co-PI for 4 grant funded projects including the TAALC (Teaching Age-Appropriate Learning via Communication) project, a state SPDG grant from the Kentucky Department of Education designed to improve communication services and use of AAC for students with the most significant disabilities;  the TIES, National Technical Assistance Center for Inclusive Practices and Policies awarded to the University of Minnesota with a subcontract to the University of Kentucky Human Development Institute and funded by the U.S. Department of Education.  This center will provide technical assistance (TA) to state and local education agencies on how to implement and sustain inclusive practices and policies for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities in elementary and middle school programs;  and two OSEP personnel preparation grants including: SPEAC-IT project, a federally funded personnel preparation grant to education speech/language pathologist and special education teachers in communication services to students with significant disabilities, and the LINKS grant for education of master’s level speech/language students in the use of telepractice. She was the PI for the Kentucky Youth Advocacy Project, a grant from the Kentucky Council on Developmental Disabilities for teaching self-determination skills to students with disabilities and a past Co-PI for the PREPaRE grant, a federal grant to fund CSD, PT and OT students for work with children with disabilities in rural areas.  Her research focuses on communication programming and learning characteristics of students with significant disabilities who participate in the Alternate Assessment in the public schools; developing coaching programs for teachers and SLPs in the schools in order to improve communication services to students with significant disabilities, and the relationship between communication competence and self-determination for persons with developmental disabilities.

Teaching Areas

Early Intervention; Communication for Persons with Severe Disabilities; Pediatric Dysphasia and Motor-Speech Disorders; Pediatric Articulation and Phonology.

Personal

Jane and her husband Harold, who is the past Executive Director of Kentucky’s Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, the Human Development Institute also at UK, have three adult children. The Kleinerts have lived in Lexington since 1979.

Book Chapters

• Capilouto, G.J. & Kleinert, J. (in press). Assistive technology. In J. Solomon & J. O’Brien (Eds.), Pediatric Skills for the Occupational Therapy Assistant (4th ed.) St. Louis: Elsevier.
• Kleinert, J., & Effgen, S. Early Intervention, 2nd. Ed. (2012). In: Meeting the physical therapy needs of children, 2nd edition. Ed: Susan Effgen F.A. Davis Publishers.
• Kleinert, J., Kearns, J., & Kleinert, H. (2010). Toward symbolic language through academic curriculum. In H. Kleinert & J. Kearns (Eds.), Meaningful outcomes for students with significant cognitive disabilities: Alternate assessments on alternate achievement standards. Baltimore, MD: Paul Brookes Publishers.
• Kleinert, J. & Effgen, S. (2005). Early intervention. In Meeting the Physical Therapy Needs of Children. Susan Effgen, Ed. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Company.