{"id":201143,"date":"2018-10-23T12:38:21","date_gmt":"2018-10-23T16:38:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=201143"},"modified":"2023-07-11T12:42:22","modified_gmt":"2023-07-11T16:42:22","slug":"the-lasting-legacy-of-vivienne-dean-litt-at-the-neag-school-and-beyond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2018\/10\/the-lasting-legacy-of-vivienne-dean-litt-at-the-neag-school-and-beyond\/","title":{"rendered":"The Lasting Legacy of Vivienne Dean Litt at the Neag School and Beyond"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scholarships undoubtedly remain an essential source of support for individual students, but in fact they can also set into motion a wealth of other positive outcomes beyond funding an individual\u2019s educational journey. One such student scholarship is the\u00a0Vivienne Dean Litt Memorial Award<\/a>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0established in memory of the late Vivienne Dean Litt, former assistant director of the University Program for Students with Learning Disabilities (UPLD) at UConn.<\/p>\n

Much like Litt herself, who inspired countless students during her tenure at UConn, the Litt scholarship has had a multidimensional impact over the years on the UConn community, as well as the community at large \u2014 from shaping future career paths to sparking research efforts that will ultimately strive to help students with learning disabilities and their families \u2014\u00a0all while paving the way for others to pay it forward.<\/p>\n

Advancing Research on Gifted Children With Disabilities
\n<\/strong>Ashley Carpenter, a veteran schoolteacher and now doctoral candidate in the Neag School of Education\u2019s\u00a0educational psychology\u00a0program<\/a>, is the Litt Scholarship\u2019s most recent recipient. Putting the funding toward finishing her Ph.D., she has a research focus on\u00a0twice-exceptional children<\/a>, or \u201c2e\u201d children \u2014\u00a0those who are gifted and also have one or more special needs or disabilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis scholarship \u2026 takes the pressure off a little bit,\u201d says Carpenter. \u201cAs a graduate student, my husband and I live off my graduate assistantship and his salary. We have a child, so any bit of money will help our financial situation. It greatly alleviates stress.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe touched the lives of so many people in the Neag School \u2013 faculty, staff, students. We wanted her to be able to continue to touch those lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Martin Litt, son of the late Vivienne Dean Litt<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Ashley
Thanks to financial support through the Litt Award, Neag School doctoral student Ashley Carpenter is researching twice-exceptional children, those who are gifted and also have one or more special needs or disabilities. (Photo credit: Shawn Kornegay\/Neag School)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The scholarship itself, established to \u201cpromote and encourage the success of a student whose interests and character continue Vivienne\u2019s spirit and professional work with children and\/or adults with special needs,\u201d is near and dear to Carpenter. Her son is twice-exceptional.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew he was highly intelligent. Before he was 2 years old, he was talking like a 4-year old,\u201d she says. \u201cSomething would come out of his mouth, and adults would look at him, and say, \u2018Did he just say that?\u2019 He has ADHD and is about to be diagnosed with being on the spectrum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carpenter says she has found it challenging, as her son is capable of learning at such a high level, while his disability hinders his attention. He also has sensory issues. Luckily, through her doctoral program the Neag School, she works and conducts research with experts in this realm. In addition, she and her family live local to UConn, in Mansfield, Conn., where they have found knowledgeable, helpful educators.<\/p>\n

Carpenter\u2019s decision to focus her doctoral research on 2e children was based on two things. Her son was one of them. She also has had many students during her 14-year teaching career \u2014 she estimates around 25 percent \u2014 who were in a gifted program, but considered underachievers.<\/p>\n

Despite being identified by the state as having above-average ability, some of these students were still failing class. During her doctoral studies, Carpenter says, she has found very limited research on the topic. Ultimately, she hopes she can move the research forward in part to help parents like herself, who may feel isolated.<\/p>\n

\"Sean
Sean Madden, special education teacher at New London High School, stands outside his student classroom. In the background is a piece of art from one of his former students. (Photo credit: Shawn Kornegay\/Neag School)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018If It Wasn\u2019t For Her, I Would Have Quit\u2019<\/strong>
\nSean Madden \u201988 (CLAS) first met Litt at UPLD (now the\u00a0Center for Students with Disabilities<\/a>) when he arrived in Storrs. Having begun his academic career at the Avery Point campus, Madden found the Storrs campus large and had difficulty focusing due to his learning difficulties. Once he connected with Litt, he says, \u201cShe made the campus small.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was very good with organizing my time,\u201d says Madden. \u201cShe helped me pull out what I knew and transfer it on paper. She helped me with the writing. She taught me how to organize myself for school. She would sit you down and counsel you through what you had to do, and then give a lot of tips on how to do things differently. \u2026 If it wasn\u2019t for her, I would have quit. She kept encouraging me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Madden graduated and started teaching history, but his experience with Litt and others drew him to get certified in special education. \u201cI got hooked on teaching special education students,\u201d he says. \u201cI liked the relationship with the kids. In special education, we had small groups. I got to teach more subjects to a smaller group of students, versus just history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Due to Madden\u2019s affiliation with the Avery Point campus, he has usually given financially to the campus, along with Avery Point baseball, until he recently received a phone call from a UConn student requesting his support through the UConn Foundation.<\/p>\n

That phone call spurred a memory of Vivienne Litt. Deciding to see how he could give back in her honor, Madden came to discover the Vivienne Dean Litt Memorial Award.<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely wanted to give to her scholarship in recognition of how much she helped me in college,\u201d he says. \u201cNow that my kids are older, I wanted to give back. They are also interested in being teachers.\u201d
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cVivienne\u2019s joie de vivre and ability to see humor even in seemingly thorny events colored her approach to life and her work. [She] believed passionately that college students with disabilities had the ability to succeed and become independent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Joan McGuire, Former UPLD Director<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Joseph
Neag School Associate Dean Joseph Madaus (center), gathered with Joan McGuire and Stan Shaw during the 2018 PTI conference in Boston. (Photo courtesy of Joseph Madaus)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Litt\u2019s Far-Reaching Ripple Effect<\/strong>
\nJoseph Madaus<\/a>, Neag School associate dean for academic affairs and director of the\u00a0Postsecondary Disability Training Institute (PTI)<\/a>, now in its 30th year, also found vital support in Litt back when he was pursuing his doctorate at the Neag School.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was my first supervisor when I had a graduate assistantship at [UPLD],\u201d says Madaus. \u201cShe was this wonderful personality \u2026 friendly and vivacious, a smart, brilliant woman. She was also very kind. She had this sparkle in her eyes when she would interact with people [and] this ability to support the students wherever they were in a given point in the semester, within a week or a day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Litt built a lasting legacy, according to Madaus. \u201cShe believed in this whole group of students with learning disabilities who, at the time, were not widely accepted or \u00a0supported in postsecondary education.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hundreds of these students supported by Litt who have since gone on to become teachers and influence others \u2014 Madden among them \u2014\u00a0are \u201chaving a ripple effect,\u201d Madaus says. \u201cThey are spread out around the country from higher education positions to different school district positions and, in terms of policy positions, they are carrying on [the work].\u201d<\/p>\n

Joan McGuire, former UPLD director, remembers how Litt\u2019s \u201cunwavering belief in human potential undergirded her approach to working with students.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cVivienne\u2019s joie de vivre and ability to see humor even in seemingly thorny events colored her approach to life and her work,\u201d McGuire says. \u201c[She] believed passionately that college students with disabilities had the ability to succeed and become independent. She was uniquely talented as a learning specialist who could observe students in the learning process and accurately pinpoint skills that would play to their strengths and tap in to their perhaps yet unrealized creativity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, UConn Emeritus Professor Stan Shaw, who created PTI and UPLD, draws parallels between Litt with Neag School alum Chris Dailey, Hall of Fame associate head coach of UConn women\u2019s basketball.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe head coach or program director gets all the\u00a0headlines, while Vivienne and Chris are in the trenches every day solving problems, supporting staff, and dealing with myriad details,\u201d Shaw says.\u00a0\u201cThey\u00a0are the \u2018mom\u2019 in the room making sure everyone is doing their job and, sometimes, correcting anyone who fell short of their optimum performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Martin
Martin Litt (left) was among those who organized the scholarship in memory of his mother, Vivienne Dean Litt (right). (Photo courtesy of Martin Litt)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Litt passed away in 1997, it was McGuire, as well as Litt\u2019s two sons, Martin and Matthew Litt, and fellow colleagues and friends, who founded the Litt Memorial Award in her honor.<\/p>\n

\u201cWatching how others reacted to her was so gratifying. People just lit up when they were around her and felt truly heard and valued,\u201d says Martin Litt. \u201cShe touched the lives of so many people in the Neag School \u2013 faculty, staff, students. We wanted her to be able to continue to touch those lives, and we wanted to support the opportunities that the Neag School provides.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Interested in supporting a Neag School student scholarship?<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>Learn more here<\/a><\/em>.<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scholarships undoubtedly remain an essential source of support for individual students, but in fact they can also set into motion a wealth of other positive outcomes beyond funding an individual\u2019s educational journey. One such student scholarship is the Vivienne Dean Litt Memorial Award \u2014 established in memory of the late Vivienne Dean Litt, former assistant director of the University Program for Students with Learning Disabilities
\n(UPLD) at UConn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":201145,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1855],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[1879],"class_list":["post-201143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-neag"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-16 01:40:43","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201143"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":201146,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201143\/revisions\/201146"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/201145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201143"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=201143"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=201143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}