Overcoming Dyslexia"Transforming Dyslexia from a Liability to an Asset"

Hopkins School, New Haven, Connecticut
Monday, April 15, 2013

When: Connect and coffee at 8:30 am ~ Conference from 9:00 am until 2:00 pm ~ Lunch will be served
Where: Heath Commons, Hopkins School, New Haven, Connecticut
Who: Open to NEALS members (guests welcome to register as adjunct members.)

2013-spring-conferencePlease register by April 1, 2013 with Kathy Richards at richardk@belmont-hill.org or phone: 617-993-5279

Please send payment to: Kathy Richards, Belmont Hill School, 350 Prospect Street, Belmont, MA 02478

Invoice available at www.nealsonline.org ~ Annual membership (which covers all meetings, support, and mailings for the 2012-2013 school year) = $75.00 for Learning Specialists, $100.00 for adjunct members, and $250.00 per school (for up to five memberships)
Questions regarding membership: melissa@thestudentfirst.com or phone: 617-877-3414
We are grateful to Hopkins School for hosting our spring conference this year. We will take an in depth look at dyslexia and reading challenges in secondary schools and beyond. Our keynote speakers will be Sally E. Shaywitz, MD. and Bennett A. Shaywitz, MD., noted pioneers and leading experts in the field of dyslexia. A student panel from high school and college will be assembled to discuss the challenges of being a dyslexic student pursuing higher education.
Keynote Speakers
Sally E. Shaywitz, M.D. is the Audrey G. Ratner Professor in Learning Development at the Yale University School of Medicine and Co-Director of the Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity. A physician-scientist, Dr. Shaywitz, carries out brain imaging, cognitive and longitudinal studies of reading and dyslexia and consults on children and adults who are dyslexic; she is passionately dedicated to ensuring that scientific progress is translated into policy and practice. Dr. Shaywitz is the author of over 250 scientific articles and the highly acclaimed Overcoming Dyslexia” (Knopf, 2003). Dr. Shaywitz, an elected member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences is annually selected as one of the “Best Doctors” in America.

Dr. Shaywitz originated and championed the Sea of Strengths model of dyslexia which emphasizes a sea of strengths of higher critical thinking and creativity surrounding the encapsulated weakness in getting to the sounds of spoken language found in children and adults who are dyslexic. Her most recent work provides the long awaited empiric evidence for the unexpected nature of dyslexia.

Dr. Shaywitz’ awards include an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Williams College; the Townsend Harris Medal of the City College of New York; the Annie Glenn Award for Leadership from the Ohio State University; and the Distinguished Alumnus Award of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

She currently or has recently served on the National Board of Learning Ally and on National Board of the Institute for Educational Sciences of the US Department of Education. Dr. Shaywitz served on the National Reading Panel and the Committee to Prevent Reading Difficulties in Young Children of the National Research Council. Most recently, Dr. Shaywitz co-chaired the National Research Council Committee on Gender Differences in the Careers of Science, Engineering and Mathematics Faculty.

Bennett A. Shaywitz, M.D. is the Charles and Helen Schwab Professor in Dyslexia and Learning Development, Chief of Pediatric Neurology and Co-Director of the Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity at the Yale University School of Medicine. Both a child neurologist and neuroscientist, Dr. Shaywitz is a leader in applying functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to understand the neurobiology of reading and reading disability in children and adults. These studies identify a neural signature for reading disability, making a previously hidden learning disability visible, and for the first time demonstrate the brain basis for the lack of fluency in reading disability. Dr. Shaywitz is currently studying reading and reading disability in a disadvantaged population of middle-school children attending a charter school network. He is also using fMRI to investigate attentional mechanisms in reading and reading disability.

The author of over 300 scientific papers, Dr. Shaywitz’ honors include election to membership in the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Washington University. Dr. Shaywitz was selected, along with Dr. Sally Shaywitz, as recipient of the Lawrence G. Crowley Distinguished Lectureship at Stanford University; The Annie Glenn Award at Ohio State University; the Distinguished Lectureship at Bank Street College of Education; the Stoll Distinguished Lecture at Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Shaywitz currently serves, along with Dr. Sally Shaywitz, on the Board of Directors of the Park Century School and the Westmark School and on the advisory subcommittee for reading disabilities for DSM V, and has previously served on the Scientific Advisory Board of the March of Dimes; he has been selected annually for Best Doctors in America and America’s Top Doctors.