Access to the Experts Parent Sessions

Reading, Dyslexia, and the Brain
Stephanie Gottwald
Monday, February 13, 2012
(Snow date: February 27)
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Stephanie Gottwald is research coordinator at the Center for Reading and Language Research at Tufts University. She is the primary trainer for the RAVE-O program, a systematic reading fluency and comprehension curriculum. Ms. Gottwald holds a masters in linguistics and is completing a Ph.D. in language and literacy. She has conducted numerous workshops on reading fluency instruction and assessment and on reading disabilities for educators across the country and is the author of research articles on reading and reading disabilities.

Learning to read is a complex and dynamic process. For many children becoming a fluent reader and learning to enjoy reading is a necessary, but elusive goal. The latest research findings in neuroscience illustrate why reading is so difficult for so many of our children, but research also tells us that  ALL children can and must become readers. This presentation is designed to share with parents the brain research on reading disabilities and why we have to change the way we teach reading to give all of our students the opportunity to be literate.

Who's Ready for College?
How to Tell When your Kid is Worth the Investment
William R. Stixrud, Ph.D
Thursday, March 8, 2012
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

William R. Stixrud, Ph.D., is a clinical neuropsychologist who has been in private practice since 1985.  He is the director of The Stixrud Group, a group practice specializing in the neuropsychological assessment of children, adolescents, and adults with learning, attentional, social, and/or emotional disorders.  Dr. Stixrud is also a member of the Adjunct Faculty of the Children’s National Medical Center, and he holds a faculty appointment as Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Behavioral Sciences, and Pediatrics at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. 

Thousands of these kids (with and without learning differences) flunk out of college or are placed on academic probation in the first year, at great emotional cost to the kids and enormous financial cost to the kids and/or their families.  In this lecture, Dr. Stixrud will discuss contemporary life on college campuses and why so many students cannot handle college successfully, at least right out of high school.  (1) How to determine when a student is ready to begin college, (2) how to talk with children, starting in the ninth grade, about the kinds of skills, attitudes, and behaviors they will need to show in order to demonstrate their college readiness, (3) how having a learning disability and/or ADHD affects college readiness, (4) how to help kids get ready to be successful in college, and (5) what do to with kids who aren’t yet ready to go. 

Why is Math so Hard? Childhood Math Disabilities
Dr. Daniel B. Berch
Thursday, April 19, 2012
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Dr. Berch will discuss what constitutes a learning disability in mathematics, provide examples of specific difficulties that emerge in areas such as number sense and understanding fractions, and will describe the role that working memory plays in the development of these abilities. He will also explain how such dysfunctions may hinder the learning of broader quantitative skills important in everyday life, such as telling time and using money.

Dr. Daniel B. Berch is Professor of Special Education and Applied Developmental Science at the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education. He has published articles on children’s numerical cognition and mathematical learning disabilities and is senior editor of the book, Why is Math So Hard For Some Children? Dr. Berch was invited to serve as an ex officio member of the U.S. Department of Education’s National Mathematics Advisory Panel commissioned by President George W. Bush, and is currently a member of the National Center for Learning Disabilities Professional Advisory Board.