‘Little’ TV personality to discuss language bias

Author Amy Roloff will be the featured speaker Monday at Clark College during a daylong event, “History and Bias Encoded in Language.”

The keynote event will be a 7 p.m. readers’ theater presentation in Gaiser Student Center.

Roloff, known for her appearances on TLC’s “Little People, Big World,” is a longtime member of the nonprofit organization Little People of America and has served on its board of directors. The Amy Roloff Charity Foundation advocates for children and youth who face social, mental, physical, emotional or economic challenges.

She will discuss disability biases as well as biases in general.

Roloff’s dwarfism is the result of the most frequently diagnosed cause of short stature, achondroplasia. The genetic condition results in disproportionately short arms and legs.

Alpha Sigma Phi, the Clark chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa international honor society, will host the event. Members will narrate readings related to biases including race, appearance, disability, gender, sexual orientation and education.

From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the chapter will host bias awareness displays in Bauer and Gaiser halls and in the lobby between Foster and Hanna halls.

All events are free and open to the public. Clark is at 1933 Fort Vancouver Way. Directions and parking maps are at http://www.clark.edu/maps.