Inside This Issue Message from the Branch President 2 Institutional Member Spotlight: Stratford Friends School 6 2012 Conference Highlights: Presentation Summaries 10,14 Parents’ Corner 28

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Winter 2012/13

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Dr. Eric Tridas, the current President of the International Dyslexia Association, is a developmental pediatrician with thirty years of experience in the diagnosis and treatment of children with learning differences. During his keynote address at the annual conference of the Pennsylvania Branch of the IDA this October, Dr. Tridas pre-sented The Developmental Web, his comprehensive approach to identifying and then managing learning differences.

This approach consists of identifying all factors that contribute to a learning difference, using the identification process to pinpoint the type of impairment affecting a child, and then developing a prescription or plan to address the im-pairment. During his compelling presentation, filled with examples from his work with children and adults, Dr. Tridas focused on the first two aspects of the Developmental Web: factors that contribute to an impairment, and isolat-ing or identifying the impairment.

Dr. Tridas devoted most of his keynote presentation to a discussion of four major factors that contribute to a learning impairment. Of the developmental, behavioral, health, and environmental factors, developmental factors are most closely associated with a child’s learning. Understanding a child’s develop-mental profile is essential to identifying and managing learning impairments. Dr. Tridas presented a detailed information processing model that can be used to guide the creation of an indi-vidual’s developmental profile. In this model, visual, auditory, and tactile-kinesthetic information enter short-term working memory, under the direction of the mind’s “central executive,” and are processed in short-term and long-term memory in order to generate oral and written output. The effectiveness of this process for an individual learner can be assessed using measures of cognition, such as IQ tests, measures of attention, and measures of rate or speed of processing.

The developmental profile that results from this comprehensive assessment is used to identify learning impairments such as dyslexia and ADHD, and to describe an impairment’s unique features within a specific child. Visual-perceptual problems can affect reading and math ability in particular ways, for example. Prob-lems with tactile-kinesthetic input can negatively affect writing ability. Visual-spatial and phonological work-

(Continued on page 32)

The Developmental Web Eric Tridas Presents PBIDA Annual Conference Keynote Address

Keynote speaker Dr. Eric Tridas

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Letter from the President

Dear Readers,

The year 2012 has seen changes in IDA at the national level, all of which have been designed to strengthen the local branches and improve our capability to provide services to our members. The Pennsylvania Branch is challenged with a large geographically diverse area in Pennsylvania and Delaware to serve. While PBIDA currently has a very active group in the western part of the state, the Pittsburgh Regional group, and in the eastern part of the state, the greater portion of the state of Pennsylvania is underserved by PBIDA. PBIDA is currently working hard to increase its presence in Delaware. We would like to be able to support the need for information about dyslexia throughout our two states.

As a start to addressing this challenge, our PBIDA Board met for a retreat on a beautiful weekend last June. We began the weekend with a dinner Friday evening, which gave all Board members an opportunity to socialize and get to know each other better. On Saturday morning we began our work in earnest, and spent the day reviewing our needs and developing our goals. Over the course of the day, many impassioned speeches were made about the lack of awareness and understanding about dyslexia, about the lack of available services, and about the frustration of families seeking to find help for their children. Many outstanding ideas were presented as ways for the organization to move ahead.

By the end of the day, we had developed three work groups, each to address a target area that had been identified during the day as an area we particularly wanted to focus on. Work Group #1 would address Structure and Governance, including issues of finance. Work Group #2 would address Information and Referral, an area felt by all to be of critical importance in PBIDA’s effort to spread awareness of dyslexia, and to provide necessary information to individuals, both professional and familial, seeking support and services for reading disabilities. Last, Work Group #3 would focus on Outreach and Membership, looking for ways to expand our services throughout the state in order to reach more individuals and to provide more access to information and services.

During this process, I was once again struck by the dedication of your PBIDA Board members, the breadth and depth of their knowledge, their deep concern about the issues surrounding dyslexia, and their willingness to give time and talent to help ameliorate these issues.

We will use the findings from our work groups to plan our activities and develop our budget. As we move into 2013, the PBIDA Board will be revisiting the work of these groups, refining and developing further goals to improve the work of IDA throughout our state.

Julia Sadtler

President, Pennsylvania Branch of the International Dyslexia Association

Advertising in Focus Focus is published three times a year by the Pennsylvania Branch of the International Dyslexia Association. We welcome submissions of articles, Calendar of Events, The Heroes of Dyslexia, and advertising. Please submit to Tracy Bowes at dyslexia@pbida.org or (610)527-1548.

Advertising Rates: Full Page $150 Half Page $110 Quarter Page $70 Back Cover- Full Color $300

Please send payment to: PBIDA, 1062 E. Lancaster Avenue, Suite 15A Rosemont, PA 19010

IDA Disclaimer

The International Dyslexia Association supports efforts to provide individuals with dyslexia appropriate instruction and to identify these individuals at an early age. The Association and the Pennsylvania Branch, however, do not endorse any specific program, speaker, product, or instructional material, noting that there are a number of such which present the critical components of instruction as defined by IDA.

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Letter from the Editors

Marlyn Vogel Co-Editor

Nanie Flaherty Co-Editor

We hope many of you were able to attend the exciting annual PBIDA conference, The Many Dimensions of Literacy, at the Woodlynde School on October 5, 2012. For those who were not able to attend, you can read a summary in this Focus of Dr. Eric Tridas’ informative and pragmatic keynote speech, “The Developmental Web; A Neurodevelopmental Approach to the Diagnosis and Management of Learning Disorders.” You can also read summaries of some of the sessions. These articles should entice you to come to next year’s conference and experience a wonderful day of learning and networking! Also, in this issue, we have a new column, Parents’ Corner, in which we answer questions that parents commonly ask. We encourage you to send questions to us that we can address in future issues (dyslexia@pbida.org).

I (Nanie Flaherty) had the great pleasure of attending the IDA Annual Reading, Literacy and Learning Conference in Baltimore this fall. As always, I come away excited about the new research and the practical information I learned. I wanted to tell you specifically about Donald Shankweiler’s (Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Connecticut, Research Scientist at Haskins Laboratories) lecture, “Three Challenges in Becoming Literate,” because he integrated the latest research on dyslexia with practical applications from that research. This is only a sampling of his wonderfully informative lecture:

About reading instruction:

• Repeated exposure to whole words is ineffective.

• Learning to read is not like learning to speak: speech development requires immersion, not instruction. Phonemes are meaningless, and when learning to speak children are oriented to meaning. Reading requires specific instruction in phonology.

• Research shows that most children need direct instruction in phonological awareness. Therefore, teaching phonological awareness in Kindergarten helps all readers.

• But…phonological awareness is necessary but not sufficient. Learning to read also requires letter knowledge and vocabulary knowledge. The instructional focus must be on the engine of reading, decoding skills.

About reading fluency:

• Fluent reading requires fluent word identification.

• Research on rapid naming of objects and colors tells us that a fluency problem is neurological, not ‘just a reading problem.’

• Research shows that memory for word spelling is essential for fluent reading. Dyslexics have a specific deficit in

memory affecting the learning of letter sequences.

• Vocabulary knowledge in speech aids reading fluency, because it improves word identification.

About reading comprehension:

• Research shows that context does not help reading. In the early years (ages 7-9), skill in reading words and nonwords predicts reading comprehension.

• Memory and comprehension for what one has read is conveyed by grouping words. Grouping is conveyed by prosody in speech---but not in reading. Listening to children read passages (not word lists, not single sentences)

aloud is very informative, because you can hear prosody and thus know if they understand what they are reading.

• Making the sentence structure visible by grouping words (e.g. changing print type, making print bold) benefits fluency in reading aloud, but we don’t know yet if it benefits comprehension. Does a good reader generate internal

prosody?We do not know.

About the neurology of reading:

• Skilled and unskilled readers differ only on memory for (1) verbal nonsense words and (2) meaningful visual sequences. They do not differ in memory for faces, visual designs, or design sequences.

• Eye fixations are a result, not a cause, of reading difficulties.

• Neural regional activity in speech and print overlaps more (in the left frontal region) in skilled readers than in unskilled readers.

We think this is very exciting! Come to the IDA (New Orleans, November 6-9) and the PBIDA (October 4) annual con-ferences in 2013 and learn more; the new research on reading is exciting and informative.

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Conference Photos: 1. Julia Sadtler, Penny Moldofsky, Eric Tridas, Chris Fulco 2. Conference Speaker Frances C. Sutherland, Ph.D. 3. Conference Speaker Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D. 4. Lunchtime networking 5. Conference speaker Nancy Hennessy, M.Ed. 6. Conference Speaker Dee Rosenberg, M.A., LDT/C 7. Conference Chair Penny Moldofsky. 8. Conference Speaker Susan L. Hall, Ed.D. 9. Barbara Wilson, Penny Moldofsky and Evan Guinessya , Woodlynde senior. Photography by Meghan Mclaughlin, Matty Sweet.

On October 5, 2012, approximately 400 people gathered at Woodlynde School for the 34th Annual Conference, The Many Dimensions of Literacy. Some highlights:

♦ Eric Tridas, M.D., IDA President and Medical Director of the Tridas Center , gave a wonderful talk on The Developmental Web: A Neurodevel-

opmental Approach to the Diagnosis and Man-

agement of Learning Disorders.

♦ Irene McHenry, Ph.D., Founder of Delaware Valley Friends School, was honored with the Janet L. Hoopes Award.

♦ Attendants chose from eighteen sessions; many

commented that they found it difficult to choose sessions given the many interesting choices.

♦ More than thirty exhibitors filled the Exhibit Hall. (See page 24 for photos)

♦ At lunch, attendants met old and new friends;

some gathered outside on the beautiful day and others met with colleagues in rooms designated specifically for tutors, psychologists, parents and so on.

PBIDA wishes to thank the Woodlynde School and the conference chair, Penny Moldofsky, for all their support and hard work in putting together this won-derful event!

PBIDA 33rd Annual Conference

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The tenth arcle in a series that spotlights a PBIDA Instuonal Member in each issue.

For nearly 36 years, Stratford Friends School (SFS) has been successfully turning struggling students into students who embrace learning and discovery. The school is a leader and pioneer in the education of children who learn differently, providing a full-academic program, small classes, and multisenso-ry teaching for elementary and middle school children with lan-guage-based learning differences.

The mission of SFS is to educate children with language-based learning disabilities through a multisensory program that cele-brates students’ strengths, builds self-esteem, and develops self-advocacy. Our approach to education is both intimate and multi-sensory. We know that in order for children with dyslexia and language disabilities to become competent readers, communica-tors, and learners, small group settings are the most effective. Our intensive program provides a student teacher ratio of 6:1 in ele-mentary classes and 12:1 in middle school.

At SFS we save lives. Children with learning differences are children at risk in and outside of school. At SFS, children discover and celebrate their strengths as students and as individuals.

The school provides a full academic curriculum enhanced by the arts, athletics, and community service. Creative, skilled teachers offer students special learning techniques and generate enthusiasm for reading and study in all areas. Teachers work closely with parents to bring resources of family and school together, giving each child every possible educational advantage and drawing from within each child his or her very best abilities and talents.

A Brief History of the School

SFS was founded in 1976, to help close a startling gap in the educational resources available for bright children (ages 5-13) with learning disabilities. Lauded as the "first innovation in Friends education in 100 years," SFS was the first Friends school in the nation founded specially for children with learning disabilities. The school’s many accomplishments include:

• Development of a curriculum of multisensory teaching methods for special needs students that has become a regional and national model.

• Helping to found three other Friends elementary schools (in New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey) and the Philadelphia region’s only Friends school for children in grades 7-12 with learning differences.

In 2010, we moved to our current facility in Newtown Square, allowing us to expand our core program to include 7th and 8th grades.

Our Current Program

The academic program of SFS remains closely aligned with our mission of educating children through a structured, multisensory program. Our reading program is Orton-Gillingham based Take Flight®. It is a sequential, structured, multisensory curriculum that focuses on developing a student’s reading skills through phonemic awareness, phonics and fluency. The daily instruction involves visual, auditory and kinesthetic activities to support new learning as well as to reinforce prior learning. Instruction that is delivered using different modalities ensures that the different learning styles of the individual students are used to establish successful learning. The small class size creates an environment that is caring and supportive, allowing teachers to individualize instruction to meet the needs of each student.

In teaching mathematics, we use Making Math Real®--an innovative, hands-on method of learning that integrates key cognitive development such as symbol imaging, detail analysis, and sequential processing, within every lesson and activity. Students who struggle with math receive the underlying development that supports the acquisition of the basic tools to do math.

The multisensory structured methodologies of Making Math Real deliver all instruction via the three processing modalities: visual, auditory and kinesthetic-motoric. Best instructional practices require linking all incoming infor-mation across the three channels to maximize successful processing.

(Continued on page 10)

Stra�ord Friends School is located at 2 Bishop Hollow Road, Newtown Square, PA 19073

Stratford Friends School

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S.T.E.P.S. CURRICULUM AT STRATFORD FRIENDS SCHOOL

In a world as dynamic and rapidly changing as ours today, we must prepare and equip our students with broad-ranging tools and skills to become global learners in the 21st Century. This work is not only academic in nature, but involves the emotional and social skills to learn to adapt and be flexible in our environment.

S.T.E.P.S. (Self. Teamwork. Emotions. Peer Relationships. Skills.) is a structured curriculum developed at Stratford Friends School (SFS) that focuses on building and strengthening students’ social-emotional balance. Not only do we focus on academic skills, but we also foster the development and growth of our students emotionally, socially, and physically. The integration of this curriculum is aligned with the school’s mission and approach to teaching the whole student and celebrating students’ strengths. All children possess unique strengths and abilities. At SFS we recognize this and continue to develop these skills – whether they are artistic skills, leadership skills and team-building abilities, or athletic abilities.

Every student attending SFS, from the 5-year-olds in our Blue Team through our 8th graders, participates in S.T.E.P.S. class. Meeting students at their developmental level, classes are planned to address specific objectives and goals throughout the year. This curriculum changes throughout the year to integrate feedback from students, parents, teachers, and administration, and to address specific team and group goals.

Under the heading S.T.E.P.S., all goals broadly address the self, teamwork, emotions, peer relationships, and skills. S.T.E.P.S. goals generally include: increasing self awareness, developing self-advocacy skills, respecting and recognizing the feelings and perspectives of others, and learning and using social problem solving and social pragmatic skills (skills for making and keeping friends, specific problem solving strategies, and self-management and self-regulation skills). In addition, individual students work towards specific goals and progress is monitored and discussed with students throughout the year. The goals of the class build on each other from one team to the next.

The objectives that address these broad goals begin with identifying one’s own and others’ feelings; considering other people’s points of view; and developing thinking skills for themselves including generating various solutions to problems, considering consequences, and selecting the best idea. Students continue to develop skills, such as advocating for themselves and appropriately asking for assistance, learning specific problem solving strategies, and developing and using skills to make and keep friends. Specific friendship skills include sharing possessions and space, offering to help others, accepting other's mistakes, being positive and enthusiastic, building good sportsmanship skills, listening to others, cooperating with others in a group or team, and giving and receiving positive feedback. By explicitly teaching, discussing, modeling, and role-playing these skills, students become more aware of how their actions affect others’ feelings and their thoughts about them. Throughout the program, students are developing social pragmatic skills including: using language for different purposes, increasing awareness of verbal and non-verbal language, changing language according to the needs of a listener or situation, and following “rules” for conversations and storytelling. Students also learn and use self-management and self-regulation skills to achieve school and life successes; these include the use of breathing techniques, relaxation scripts, and iPad applications.

Ultimately, as educators and parents we want to move away from solving our student’s problems. By guiding students to solve their problems through understanding the sequencing of a specific situation, by building their awareness of how others may feel and of their own feelings, and by engaging in conversations with peers, students become better able to generate possible solutions to prob-lems, to pick the best option, and to evaluate whether a particular solution works. Students become problem solvers themselves and become better equipped to apply decision-making and problem solving skills to deal responsibly with daily academic and social situ-ations.

Structured and guided activities, cooperative games, role plays, problem-solving sce-narios, discussing and analyzing videos, stories, and discussions, are utilized to achieve the goals and objectives of S.T.E.P.S. class. While students learn and practice this work in S.T.E.P.S. class, there is constant effort to generalize these skills outside of the classroom to various aspects of the student’s life and environment – inside and outside of school. S.T.E.P.S. class is just one way that SFS builds students’ self-esteem and strengths to become efficient self-advocators, effective problem-solvers, and global learners.

Michelle Gagliano, PsyD, CSP, MBA, School Psychologist

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STRATFORD FRIENDS SCHOOL IPAD INITIATIVE

Stratford Friends School (SFS) has a history of leading and pioneering efforts in the field of language-based learning disabilities. Founded in 1976, SFS was the first Quaker school in the world dedicated to working with children that have language-based needs. Today, we continue that pioneering spirit with the incorporation of iPads into our curriculum, once again leading the way.

Twelve years into the 21st Century, we still often hear schools talk about creating 21st Century learners. Now that we are more than a decade into the century, we are no longer creating 21st Century Learners, we are teaching 21st Century Learners. These are our students. The difficulty we see too often in schools is that 20th Century teaching techniques are being applied to our 21st Century Learners. This does not serve students well as they have to prepare for life beyond school. Typically, these discussions are likely to begin at the high school level. That is too late. Thinking about the future as it relates to students and their needs now, even at the elementary age is vital to their success later in life--college and beyond.

The speed with which kids process information outside of school is incredible--even for those with auditory or visual processing delays. Information moves at the speed of light, and kids are keeping up--outside of school that is.

As soon as a student walks into a school building--any school--s/he is required to slow down their thinking/processing. This is 20th Century teaching and it is becoming more and more foreign to our students. Education is behind the "real world" in terms of access to information. Not only is it time for schools to catch up, it's time for schools to engage stu-dents at their level (and speed).

This fall, SFS deployed iPads to all of our students, from 5 year-olds on our Blue Team to our 8th graders--everyone has an iPad. No longer can we look to the future. We have to look at the present and the needs of our students to inform our instruction. In order for our students to be prepared for the future, they need the technology that is available now.

Our purpose for implementing a one-to-one iPad program is to provide students with access to information and to meet them educationally where they are met every day outside of school. Just as our program is designed to meet students where they are in terms of their academic needs, iPads help us to meet them where they are in terms of their ability to process and access information. Likewise, providing iPads enables teachers to reach students via different learning styles (visual, auditory, tactile) all at the same time. The iPad becomes a mobile, self-contained, individualized classroom of sorts. Applications, homework, and yes even games, can be customized to meet each individual student's needs and learning style.

Here we are, meeting students’ needs while also meeting them in the 21st Century. Being caught up in this way does not mean our work is complete. Presently, iPads are the most effective device to provide our students with multisensory, technologically advanced programming. However, as the future draws nearer, that may change. As a result, we must be able to change to continue meeting the educational needs of our students. Thinking this way is what enables SFS to continue its pioneering spirit, moving education forward for students with language-based learning disabilities.

Timothy P. Madigan, Ph.D., Head of School

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Our science and social studies programs are integrated into school-wide themes, during which the entire school concentrates on one topic. We provide a multicultural curriculum that includes the study of people from around the world and of many different backgrounds. A sense of community is established as students have opportuni-ties to teach each other (both within a team and across teams) and to share in group projects. School trips and hands-on experiments as well as art projects and related music curriculum round out the thematic teaching of science and social studies.

Our new one-to-one iPad initiative provides one more multisensory tool to enhance communication within the school community, support individualized instruction, and capitalize on students' skills and interests in technol-ogy.

Our core academic program is complemented with art, music, and S.T.E.P.S. classes for social and communica-tion building skills, as well as classes as diverse as metacognition and woodworking. We also offer a number of afterschool activities, including soccer and cross-country, chess club, cookie club, art club, dramatics, and Girl Scouts.

Lydia Driscoll, Development Associate

No one questions the need for automaticity and fluency in reading; however, few people recognize and promote these

same goals for mathematics. Yet, there are no more critical factors in developing mathematical competence and confidence. A younger student who has not attained automaticity for multiplication facts by the fourth grade will experience difficulty with factoring in algebra. An older student who has not automatized basic algebraic processes will struggle to attain competence in calculus. Students demonstrate mathematical automaticity when they have internalized the necessary basic facts and can retrieve them accurately, in a timely fashion, and without undue mental/cognitive effort. Students display mathematical fluency when they are able to proceed smoothly through the appropriate problem solving process without having to stop at the end of every step to identify what needs to be done next. Without automaticity, fluency is impossible.

An investigation of the areas in which students commonly lack mathematical fluency provides the basis for developing a comprehensive list of essential math concepts across grade levels that require automatizing. Some concepts on this list will involve current grade-level instructional materials; however, others are likely to be considered remedial. Once such a

list is created, basic assessment tools are required that will document each student's current level of proficiency. Generally, these are informal in nature, quick to administer, and can be created easily by a classroom teacher, especially if no more formal assessment tools are available. For example, I utilize my "Highly Complex, All-Inclusive Fraction Evaluation" with students of all ages. It consists of just four basic fraction problems, yet it tells me everything I need to know! The next step in the process of developing automaticity and fluency is perhaps the most critical: convincing everyone involved in the importance of the goals and of the methods to be utilized. Administrators, teachers, parents and especially students must recognize why precious class time and resources are to be allocated to this task. Each student should set individual goals and track his or her improvement, and not all students should be expected to be working toward the same goal. Automaticity practice should be separated from regular classroom learning to emphasize its importance. Progress should be continually evaluated and encouraged and individual goals should be altered accordingly. When concepts and facts are expected to be automatized at the time of initial instruction, teachers should create "gateway tests" - those which require students to demonstrate proficiency BEFORE they are allowed to move on to subsequent concepts. Finally, automatized facts should be reinforced regularly.

This process - designed to identify, promote, practice, evaluate, and reinforce automaticity - should be a part of excellent mathematics instruction at all grade levels. It can be easily incorporated into classroom instructional time and is flexible enough to assist ALL students, especially those who struggle to learn math.

(Stratford Friends, continued from page 6)

2012 PBIDA Conference Highlight: Presentation Summary

Mathematical Literacy and Fluency: How Informal Diagnostics Can Help!

Ginny Renzi-Blair, M.Ed.

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Bryn Mawr FP

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Eastern Region News

Collaboration with Reach Out and Read of the Children’s Hospital of the

University of Pennsylvania:

On April 28, Reach Out and Read of the Children’s Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and PBIDA co-sponsored a presentation Opening the Doors to Reading for All Children. The presentation, designed for pediatricians and for parents, featured a slide presentation on the warning signs for reading problems, on the process for getting the preschool and school-age child help, and on specific activities parents can do with their preschool child in the home to foster literacy skills. The

presenters included Wendy Ross, M.D. (developmental pediatrician), Trude Haecker, M.D. (Medical Director, Quality Improvement for CHOP Care Network, Medical Director for Reach Out and Read for CHOP and Greater Philadelphia; Clinical Associate Profes-

sor of Pediatrics at CHOP), and Nanie Flaherty (clinical psychologist).

Trude Haecker,

Reach Out and Read

Collaboration with Delaware Valley Friends School: Drs. Bennett and Sally Shaywitz

PBIDA and DVFS co-hosted Drs. Bennett and Sally Shaywitz on October 18 at DVFS. The presentation covered the latest neurological re-search on dyslexia. The Shaywitzes spoke passionately about the need to have legislation at both the national and state level which documents dyslexia as a ‘medical prob-lem’ which must be remediated. The Shaywitzes have been instrumental in stimulating the fast development of a bipartisan congressional caucus, and applaud IDA’s support of legislation at the state level. For more information on this presentation, see Drs. Sally and Bennett Shaywitz Speak on Translating Scientific Pro-gress into Policy and Progress in this issue of Focus (p. 23)

Mary Ellen Trent, Bill Keeney, Benne� Shaywitz, Julia

Sadtler, Nanie Flaherty, Betsy Boston, Bob Mueller.

In front, Sally Shaywitz.

AIM ACADEMY Half Page AD

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Wendy Ross, MD, a board member of PBIDA, and a developmental and behavioral pediatri-cian, was recognized in People Magazine’s Heroes Among Us for her Autism Inclusion Re-

sources programs, and specifically for her program to help children adjust to airports and to the flying experience. Believing that autism is a social disability and understanding the frus-trations and challenges that families face, Dr. Ross works with community settings, such as museums, airlines and airports, to facilitate access to the community for families and children with autism. Her programs have been highly successful in improving the quality of life for these families who often struggle to participate in community activities or travel with their children because of their disabilities.

Dr. Ross, who is board certified in general pediatrics as well as in developmental and behav-ioral pediatrics, addresses the developmental needs of children from birth to young adulthood. She specializes in issues such as developmental delays, learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorders, sleep disorders and development of toilet training skills. Dr. Ross is the Director at the Center for Pediatric Development in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

In her work with PBIDA she has played a crucial role in educating the community about risk signs for language based learning disabilities and the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD.

We all wish to congratulate Dr. Ross for her important work with families and children, and for her far reaching educational programs.

You can learn more about Dr. Ross and her Autism Inclusion Resources Program at her websites:

www.centerforpediatricdevelopment.com and www.autismir.com.

PBIDA- A Hero Among Us

SAVE THE DATE!

PBIDA’s 35th Annual Fall Conference October 4, 2013

Woodlynde School, Strafford, PA

Keynote Address by G. Reid Lyon, Ph.D. Dr. Lyon is a Distinguished Scholar in Neuroscience and Cognition at the University of Texas, Dallas where his research is

focused on brain-behavior studies of PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury among combat veterans and reasoning and problem solving

behavior. He recently completed his academic career at Southern Methodist University where he served as a distinguished

professor of Education Policy and Leadership and as the Associate Dean of the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education

and Human Development. Dr. Lyon was a research psychologist and the Chief of the Child Development and Behavior Branch

within the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from

1991 to 2005. He has worked closely with the White House, the U.S. Department of Education, and Congress on the development

of evidence-based education policy, and has testified numerous times before U.S. Senate and House committees, addressing issues

related to the role of neuroscience in education, the need for scientific research to guide educational practices and policies,

evidence-based teacher education, early childhood development, learning disabilities, reading development and reading disorders,

the re-authorization of Head Start, and the re-authorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). In 2006, Dr.

Lyon was named one of the ten most influential people in American education during the last decade by the Editorial Projects in

Education Research Center (Education Week) for his work in ensuring that scientific research occupies a central role in

educational practices and policy. Dr. Lyon has authored, co-authored and edited more than 130 peer-reviewed journal articles,

books, and book chapters on developmental neuroscience, learning differences and disabilities, reading and reading difficulties,

and educational policy. He currently serves as the Co-Editor in Chief of the IDA Annals of Dyslexia.

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2012 PBIDA Conference Highlight: Presentation Summary

CLASSROOM LANGUAGE DYNAMICS ™

Topics and Techniques for Teachers

Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D.,

Director, Soifer Center for Learning and Child Development,

Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Classroom Language Dynamics ™ is a means of becoming a hybrid teacher - one possessed of the art and love of teaching, integrated with the “what works and why” of neuroscience. CLD focuses on teaching teachers what they need to know about brain research and when, how, and why to use it, creating a potent classroom language dynamic for teachers and students.

A hybrid teacher may be trained in the theory and practice of general education, special education or any particular content area, but is one who has incorporated into his or her skill set and pedagogy a cognitive-linguistic mindset and methodology. CLD has been designed and created by language and speech pathologists who have been deeply immersed in the diagnosis, remediation and education of children with typical intellectual potential but varying degrees of disruption in their language systems. In Vygotskian terms, language is a crucial mechanism for thought, such that as young children begin the process of mastering their native language, cognitive processes and behavioral growth are facilitated by linguistic mediation. At another, higher level, language skills are foundational for literacy development.

In contemporary American educational policy, every effort is made to include this population as well as other analogous populations of children with specific instructional needs within settings of “neuro-typical learners.” Such decisions create an environment for both students and teachers that is fraught with challenges. The goal of CLD is to provide teachers with broader knowledge of learning styles and patterns as well as more focused approaches and techniques. By doing so we have found that teachers become more profound in their understanding of how children learn, more flexible in applying their knowledge base, more supple in integrating new theory with practice and more confident in their abilities to teach children of diverse learning needs. CLD’s clinical orientation based on neuroscience, linguistics, cognitive-linguistic dynamics, literacy, affective influences on cognition and the appreciation that language is the vehicle that drives any curriculum, allowed for the development of a multi-part teacher training program, that effectively facilitates a culture of collaboration and lifelong learning within a school. CLD enables teachers to develop diagnostic eyes and ears along with a meta-cognitive and meta-linguistic awareness of how they teach and the influence of that knowledge and practice on students’ learning.

Hybrid teachers have the skills to understand the dynamic between cognition and emotion, in order to enable them to teach and therefore empower children with the knowledge of their own learning patterns and the role of their emotional responses. Hybrid teachers teach children how to develop the skills to work “smarter”, not just harder, which is founded in fully realized strategy instruction. A hybrid teacher focuses on how a student learns the curriculum and learns from the curriculum, not primarily on how much of the curriculum is presented and evaluated. Hybrid teachers engage students in the process of thinking about teachers’ thinking as well as their own. Thus, “why did I ask you that question?” and ‘”how did you determine that answer?” become readily answerable questions for students. Hybrid

teachers have mastered skills that make the educational experience of the “included” learner as positive as may have been originally imagined when the concept of “inclusion” was born and simultaneously enhance the learning of the all the children in the room.

Classroom Language Dynamics ™ is composed of three major components, Professional Staff Development, Proactive Student-Centric Intervention and Educational Community Support. These components are interdependent but can be adapted according to the needs of the educational community.

Professional Staff Development includes seminars, in-service workshops on a wide array of pertinent, interrelated topics, teacher observation and feedback, and one-to-one mentoring. The goals of the Professional Staff Development activities have varied formats depending upon need. All share the following goals:

• Expand awareness of educators as to the role of language and cognition in academic success;

• Facilitate the teachers’ understanding of the quality of students’ language and learning abilities on academic performance.

• Guide teacher understanding on the influence of their own language and use of meta-cognitive (Continued on page 18)

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Brain training using programs such as Memory Booster, CogMed, Jungle Memory, Cognifit, and others has received an increasing amount of attention over the last several years. An article in the October 31 issue of the New York Times, for example, describes the experiences of several people who enrolled in intensive, and expensive, training programs, often delivered through interactive computer tutorials, that are designed to im-prove the brain’s ability to manipulate and remember information. Creators and users of programs like Cog-

Med and LearningRx have claimed that memory training leads to improved cognitive ability, with some claim-ing that this translates into better grades in school and alleviation of symptoms related to learning disabilities and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

These programs focus on training working memory, the brain system we use to store and manipulate infor-mation for a short period of time as we complete mental tasks, some of which can be very complex. When we encounter a new word while reading, for example, we hold the word and its various parts in working memory as we try to figure out how to pronounce it and what it means, drawing on background knowledge (knowledge of letter-sound correspondences, word roots, and affixes), context, and perhaps a mental dictionary, as we work on the word. An important feature of working memory is that its capacity is limited. In order to work on a task in working memory, we must be able to focus our attention on the task, ignoring or inhibiting tasks that are competing for our attention.

Working memory is involved in all academic tasks, and problems with working memory contribute to various cognitive disorders such as learning disabilities in reading, writing, and math; language impairments; and

ADHD. The premise behind many brain or working memory training programs is that improving working memory will lead naturally to improvements in cognitive abilities and alleviate symptoms associated with cognitive disorders.

Is this a valid assumption? Is working memory training effective? Researchers Monica Melby-Lervag and Charles Hulme of the University of Oslo and University College London investigated these questions by con-ducting a meta-analysis of over 20 studies of working memory training. Their results, published recently in the journal Developmental Psychology (advance online publication; doi:101037/a0028228), suggest that the

claims for working memory training may have gotten ahead of the research.

Meta-analyses, when properly executed, provide the best evidence for the effectiveness of educational inter-ventions. Rather than relying on results from just one study, a meta-analysis can statistically combine results from many well-executed experimental studies. Researchers Melby-Lervag and Hulme combined results from 23 reliable experimental studies in their meta-analysis of working memory training.

After completing their meta-analysis, these researchers concluded, first of all, that for a wide range of students, including those with and without learning differences, working memory training can improve performance on working memory tasks given immediately following the conclusion of training. These include both visuospa-tial (nonverbal) and verbal working memory tasks. Learners completing these tasks must remember verbal or nonverbal material while at the same time completing either cognitive or hands-on tasks. Of the various types of programs used for working memory training, CogMed seems to work better than other commercial pro-grams (such as Cognifit and Memory Booster) and better than the programs that researchers developed specifi-cally for their research studies.

Unfortunately, however, many of the immediate gains found for working memory training are not maintained over time. Gains on verbal working memory tasks disappear altogether after an average of nine months. While slight gains on visuospatial tasks are maintained after about five months, these results are based on a very small number of studies and are, therefore, not yet convincing.

(Continued on page 32)

Does Brain Training Work?

Results from a Recent Meta-Analysis of Working Memory Training Studies Research Notes: Summaries of Recent Research with Practical Implications

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strategies on various learning styles, challenges and difficulties;

• Encourage new understandings regarding student behaviors and learning styles;

• Expand skill sets, methods and techniques for responding to various learning styles

• Enhance educators’ inherent observational skills regarding learning challenges;

• Move towards a “common language” for referral, diagnosis and remediation;

• Give teachers the skills and confidence to comfortably refer children for observation and intervention;

• Enhance collaboration between teachers and special education staff;

• Continued professional development with expansion of skill sets, methods and techniques for teachers and special education professionals.

Upon completion, participating educators have gained a deeper understanding of various teaching and communication techniques and are able to assess the impact on individual students of differing teaching and communication methods. Most importantly, they have learned how to adopt approaches to reach all learners more effectively.

Proactive Student-Centric Intervention includes classroom-based student intervention, short-term direct student intervention and supplemental remediation services. This program is designed to address the needs of students with language-based learning challenges. By including both general and special educators with cognitive-linguistic mentors, it enhances and coordinates the learning and pedagogy of both general and special educators. Multi-level observation and screening procedures are used to identify a student’s specific challenges and diagnose and remediate as appropriate. When progress at any one level is insufficient, the student is escalated to the next level. Via the “common language” for identification, referral, diagnosis and remediation, coupled with standardized forms but flexible procedures by need, the children are helped earlier than before. There are several goals that address the needs of both the student and the teacher:

• Proactively assess students early and often to attenuate language-based learning challenges before greater gaps or

deficits accrue;

• Rapid intervention once language-based learning challenges are identified;

• Individualized attention with every student receiving as much intervention as necessary, with escalating degrees of intensity based on need;

• Offers teachers the skills, procedures and support necessary to freely refer children for observation and intervention;

• Enhances teachers’ inherent observational skills taking them to a new level of understanding regarding relevant

student behaviors and learning styles;

• Appropriately apportion responsibility among teachers, special educators and cognitive-linguistic mentors;

• Efficiently diagnose and remediate mild to moderate language-based learning challenges.

Educational Community Support provides programs that address special education needs at a larger group level, working within the mission of the school. There are four components of the Educational Community Support including group/grade discovery and support, articulation support, special education department services and special education program review. The goals of the Educational Community Support are simple and direct.

• Connecting special education staff with students through creation of standardized procedures that have them collaborating with teachers on observation, diagnosis and remediation;

• Facilitating a team approach among teachers (regular and special education) psychologists and cognitive-linguistic consultants/mentors.

A cognitive-linguistic approach to diagnosis, remediation and education is the foundation of Classroom Language Dynamics ™. Sharing this philosophy of learning and teaching with educators has enabled The Soifer Center team to reach more and more students, heighten the awareness of an increasing number of educators and facilitate the change in school cultures from sole emphasis on product to appreciation of process. Teaching teachers to think and teach from a multi-disciplinary orientation has made teaching more dynamic and learning more active and successful.

(Classroom Language Dynamics, continued from page 14)

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On October 15, members of the Pittsburgh Region of PBIDA presented the simulation, Experience Dyslexia, to a group of parents, teachers, and administrators at the Pleasant Hill Elementary School in Stuebenville, Ohio. Experience Dyslexia is a lively hands-on program which leads participants to experience some of the challenges and frustrations faced by people with dyslexia. The simulation consists of six sessions that present different language-related learning tasks encountered in the classroom, and some strategies to address the difficulties. As always, those in attendance found the experience thought provoking. Teachers reported that they learned through their own experience how hard the students with dyslexia are working in their classes even though they may not be showing success. They also reported that they realized how distress-ing it was for a child to be told to try harder when he or she is already trying as hard as possible. Teachers said that they planned to change the ways they respond to children who are finding schoolwork difficult. Parents who participated felt that the simulation experience helped them understand the difficulties that their children are having; this new understand-

ing meant that they wanted to know how they could get help for their children.

The Pennsylvania Branch of the International Dyslexia Association Pittsburgh Region and Total Learning Centers will be co-sponsoring two workshops for parents and professionals in 2013.

• Effective Communication: Team Building and Advocacy Strategies, February 8, 2013, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm Does your child have an Individual Education Plan (IEP)? How do you help in building your school team? This presentation will teach you to look beyond power and anger when analyzing parent/professional relationships and teach you “win-win” strategies. This is a great workshop for school personnel and parents alike. Learn when and how to adjust your communication style for maximum results.

• Working Memory - Effects on Reading, March 8, 2013, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm Did you know that working memory weaknesses are the main reason students have difficulty with reading comprehen-sion? Without good memory, reading is incredibly difficult. Learn strategies you can use at home to improve your child’s memory and ways to make reading much easier. The old way to improve memory involved creative ways to remember specific bits of information. New brain research actually improves the brain’s ability to remember. These workshops are $20 each or $60 for all 4. All profits go to the Pittsburgh Region / Pennsylvania Branch of the Interna-

tional Dyslexia Association .

Hillside School Half Page

Pittsburgh Region News

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Irene McHenry, Ph.D. Recipient of the 2012 Hoopes Award

This award was established in 1993 in memory of Dr. Janet L. Hoopes, a dedicated Board member and Professor Emeritus at Bryn Mawr College. It is presented at the Annual Fall Conference to an individual or individuals in Pennsylvania or Delaware who have made a significant contribution to the education of youngsters with learning differences.

It was with great pleasure that The Pennsylvania Branch of the International Dyslexia Association pre-sented the 2012 Janet L. Hoopes Award to Irene McHenry, Ph.D., founder of Delaware Valley Friends School.

Irene McHenry, PhD is the Executive Director of the Friends Council on Education, an international network of Friends schools. She is a licensed psychologist and school consultant. Dr. McHenry is the founder and founding Head of Delaware Valley Friends School, a co-founder of Greenwood Friends School, and a founding faculty member for Fielding Graduate University’s doctoral program in Educational Leadership and Change.

In 1986 Dr. McHenry pioneered a new approach to working with a Delaware Valley population whose educational needs were not being met: adolescents with learning differences, including attention-deficit disorder, language-based learning disabilities and other learning differences. At that time there were several lower and middle schools options for students with LD, yet there was not an Upper School available for them.

Dr. McHenry integrated cutting-edge thinking about dyslexia and related learning differences with traditional Quaker values and research-based academic interventions. She initiated an outdoor education program that emphasized leadership and team building skills. She led the faculty in developing an extensive arts curriculum, a “no cut” athletic team policy, an “Effort Grade” system, and state-of-the-art assistive technology. Most importantly, she forged a community of caring, respect, safety, and positive accomplishment for students who may have been deprived from experiencing academic success and engaged membership in a learning community.

DVFS (or “DV” to the students) opened 25 years ago in 1987 at Harcum Junior College. There were 21 students, 4 full-time and several part-time faculty. The first van driver was – Irene! In 1997 DVFS moved to its current location, the former Paoli Elementary School. DVFS currently has 182 students and 63 faculty, administrators and staff. It has an average of 98% student enrollment in universities. The Class of 2012 achieved a 100% enrollment and includes recipients of a Presidential Scholar Award and a National Achievement Scholarship – all due to Irene’s vision and leadership of a dedicated staff with an energetic board of trustees.

Dr. McHenry has been teaching mindfulness skills as a clinician and workshop leader for years. She designs and leads professional development programs for administrators, faculty, aspiring leaders and trustees in schools across the country.

Dr. McHenry is the author/editor of numerous publications including Learning Strategies Handbook: Using Strengths to

Manage Learning Difficulties; Tuning In: Mindfulness in Teaching and Learn-

ing; Readings on Quaker Pedagogy; Governance Handbook for Friends

Schools; and Conflict in Schools – Fertile Ground for Moral Growth.

Dr. McHenry has taught at Lincoln University, Friends School Haverford, William Penn Charter School, and Fielding Graduate University. She is the board president for the Council for American Private Education and a trustee for Haverford College. She has served on the boards of Gladwyne Montessori School, The Shipley School, Friends Center Corporation, and Friends Education Fund of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting.

Dr. McHenry received her B.A. from Susquehanna University, her M.S. from Bucknell University, and her M.A. and Ph.D. from Fielding Graduate Universi-ty.

We encourage readers to submit nominations for the 2013 Hoopes Award. Individual or groups

of individuals in Pennsylvania or Delaware who have made a significant contribution to the edu-

cation of youngsters with learning differences may be nominated. Please provide the name of the

nominee, a brief statement as to why you think this person or group should be nominated, and

your name and contact information.

Irene McHenry, Ph.D. (R) was present-ed the 2012 Hoopes award by Charna Axelrod (L). Dr. Axelrod was the 2006 Hoopes honoree.

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Thank You to Our Members (Data as of 11/30/12)

William Abbs Katharine Adams Demo Agoris Emily Jane Allen Cynthia Allen-Fuss Medsger Amanda Beverly Anderson Maureen Anello Donna Antonucci Lorraine Ball Robin Barack Edith Barnes Kelly Barton Jean Bay Janet Becker Martha Benoff Carolyn Berenato Maria Bereschak Kathleen Bergeson Bryna Berman Beverly Bernstein Lauren Biase Liz Bielunas Martha Biery Nancy Blair Debra Bogen Christina Bogler Mary Jo Bolger Frances Bordogna Karen Borland Elizabeth Boston Jeannie Bowman Mindy Bramer JoAnn Brenner Cindy Brickley Sarah Brodie Ida Brooks Patricia Broskey Debra Brown Karen Burns-Mannke Rahmanda Campbell Kathleen Carlsen Deborah Casey Jayne Cawthern Paula Cerrone Catherine Chipman Josita Churla James Cianciulli Karyn Cirulli William Clark Joyce Clayberger Cathy Clements Joan Coffin Mary Jane Colen Laurie Conboy

Jodi Cook Pam Cook Marianne Cook Ellen Coulston Sherry Crane Sharon Crissman Anne Crudden Janet Curran Judith Deiboldt Tina DeLong Johnette DeRose Marguerite DeSanctis Pamela Desch David Dieck Barbara Dietz Josephine DiMaio-Cleary Joseph Dobson Cindy Dodds Marcia Dodge Howard Dolgin Linda Donahue Dawne Dorf Jane Dunn Jennifer Dupre Erin Eighmy Barbara Einhorn Sara Erlbaum Nadine Espenshade Johanna Evangelou Rebecca Evans Kay Eyler Teresa Faircloth Vickie Feinstein Christina Ferrell Carl Fertman Clairmarie Field Harris Finkelstein Andrea Fiorentino Elissa Fisher Anne Fishman Eugenie Flaherty Debbie Flaks Kimberley Flounders Lisa Frankel Jean Fridy Casey Friedman Kathy Friend Chris Fulco Gerard Fulda Deb Fulton Jean Furey Jennifer Gallo Richard Ganley Carrie Gardner Irene Gaskins

Debra Geise Hendrika Geradts Allison Gilboy Jill Gill Gail Gillespie-Crane Karen Gingerich Marianne Glanzman Melissa Glidden Elizabeth Glover Ann Gluck Bonnie Gold Amy Goldberg Phyllis Goldberg Laura Goldman Lisa Goldstein Rebecca Goldstein Joyce Goodman Katherine Gordon-Clark Natan Gottesman Barbara Goyne Linda Granato Charlotte Granito Kathy Keafer William Keeney Karen Kelly Anna Kent Jennifer Ketler Timothy King Evelyn Klein Julie Klingerman Jacqueline Klinvex Marie Koals Marie Koethe Demetra Kontoulis Marianne Kramer Roberta Krauss Marjorie Kraut John Kruidenier Judith Krysa Helen Kuhn Linda Lamantia Sallie LaMorgia Marsha Landis Lindsay LaRivere Stacey Latronica Pat Lazzaro Bill Leahy Patricia Lear Sandra Leavy Nancy LeCron Colleen Lelli Christine Leonard Yvonne Levant Jennifer Lillenstein David Lillenstein

INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERS

PROFESSIONAL AND INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS

AIM Academy Benchmark School

Bloomsburg University Children's Dyslexia Center (Pittsburgh)

Delaware Valley Friends School

Hillside School Reading ASSIST Institute

St. Joseph's University Stratford Friends School

The Campus School of Carlow University

The Janus School The Pilot School

The Quaker School at Horsham West Chester Friends School

Woodlynde School

Susan Line Boswell Katherine Lord Elizabeth LoVerso Mary Lynch Maggie Lyons-Johnson Abby Machamer E. Madden Christine Madden Angela Magazu Maria Malone Nancy Maloney Ariel Mankin Amy Mann Helen Mannion Denise Marks Jennifer Marsh Marilyn Mathis Susan Maxwell Judith Mazer Dennis McAndrews Elizabeth McBride Amy McCann Ruth McCarrier Susan McCarter Karen McCarthy Karen McColley Heather McGinn Emilie McIlvain Anne McKee Lauren McLeod Patricia McMahon Phillip Medsger Kim Meiss Melissa Merritt Dianne Mikolaczyk Mark Miller Stephanie Miller-Berman Penny Moldofsky Barb Monserrat Dorothy Moore Susan Moroz Edward Moss Robert Mueller Patricia Mueller Carol Muhs Denise Murphy Mary Ann Muzzi Sue Muzzi Vita Nemirovsky Shelley Ochterski Cheryl Oeschger Christina Oldt Edith Overtree Lisa Palish Franca Palumbo

Maria Paluselli Irene Papanicolaou Jacob Parker, O.D. Amy Paterson Marcie Patton Jennifer Pearson Michelle Peduto Susan Petty Kimberley Phillips Patricia Platt Michael Plazony Binnie Polonsky Allyson Potter Diane Price Beverly Prince Ellen Reese Cynthia Reese Diane Reott Leslie Rescorla Nicholette Risley Carol Roberts Patricia Roberts Patricia Robinson Deborah Rodes Thomas Rondeau Alexis Rosenfeld Wendy Ross Rosette Roth Gale Rowland Gail Rudenstein Nancy Ruhmel Julia Sadtler Rebecca Sample Aletha Samuels Elizabeth Sands Jill Saull Hollis Scarborough Deborah Scharf Nancy Scharff Catherine Schermann Jami Schnell Susan Segal Sheen Sehgal Diane Seider Jean Semder Christine Seppi Carrie Shady Margaret Shaw Nancy Shew Melinda Shorday Elisabeth Simon Dana Sinclair Henrietta Singleton Janet Smith Cindy Snyderman

Rachel Sobel Cynthia Solot Sarah Sora Barbara Spaeth Jessica Spatz-McNeary Robert Staples Karen, Staub Ellarose Steinberg Jenine Steltz Clara Strausser Donna Streisfeld Jill Summerill-Fretz Candace Sussman Maura Sutherland Frances Sutherland Lisa Sweeny Marybeth Talbot Gerri Talley Linda Tessler Karla Thompkins Mary Thompson Virginia Titus Mary Ellen Trent Daphne Uliana Lisa Unger Carol Utay Susan Vatnick Marlyn Vogel George Vosburgh Leslie Wallace Bobbye Waslosky Janine Watkins Cherie Watts-Broach Laura Webster Nancy Weigel Eleanor Weigle Leann Weinberger Laura Wengerd Renee Wesner Sarah West Peter Wiley Jean Wilson Beverly Wilson Maria Winig-Becker Brenda Wise Leonard Wise Carol Wolf Linda Zager Christine Zalewski

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Drs.SallyandBennettShaywitzSpeakonTranslatingScienti�icProgressIntoPolicyandPractice

On October 18, 2012, PBIDA and Delaware Valley Friends School were delighted to co-sponsor Sally E. Shaywitz, M.D. and Bennett A. Shaywitz, M.D. Their talk was part of PBIDA’s Dyslexia Month Awareness activities and also commemorated DVFS’s 25th Anniversary. Drs. Sally and Bennett Shaywitz, prominent researchers in dyslexia, were recently presented with IDA’s Samuel Torrey and June Lyday Orton Award. Approximately 125 attendees were fortunate to hear the Shaywitzes’ presentation, Dyslexia: Translating Scientific

Progress into Policy and Practice – It’s Time!, prior to their presentation of the same talk on October 25th at the 63rd Annual International Dyslexia Association conference in Baltimore. In fact, on October 18th , Dr. Bennett confided to some local attendees that PBIDA and DVFS allotted them more time than IDA, and they were concerned about what topics to eliminate. During their PBIDA talk, the Drs. Shaywitz covered many timely topics. They reviewed the major scientific findings further defining dyslexia in the 21st century and the importance of translating these into early identification, research-based interventions, and better policies for both adults and children living with this reading disorder. In her book Overcoming Dyslexia (Knopf, 2003), Dr. Sally Shaywitz introduced readers to the Shaywitzes’ 1983 longitudinal study of dyslexia as they followed a large group of youngsters entering kindergarten in Connecticut. As Dr. Sally Sjaywotz said at DVFS, “twenty-nine years and going strong!” because the Shaywitzes continue to follow these adults and now their children. This longitudinal study, and subsequent research from their Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity, shows that dyslexia occurs in every language and affects one in five children in the United States. Boys and girls are equally affected and dyslexia is persistent, not merely a developmental lag. Dr. Bennett Shaywitz introduced their recent research regarding the use of Atomoxetine, more commonly known as Strattera (1.0 – 1.4 mg per day), versus a placebo, for students with dyslexia. In a randomized, double blind trial with a 16-week open-label extension phase, 10 to 16 year old pediatric patients, were studied. Fifty-eight had dyslexia only, 124 had ADHD and dyslexia, and 27 were diagnosed with just ADHD. Their reading skills were evaluated using the

Woodcock Johnson III, CTOPP, GORT-4, and the TOWRE. The results showed that the overall reading scores of the dyslexic students taking Strattera improved. The Shaywitzes will continue to follow the study of “pharmacotherapy” as a treatment for the reading disabled population. Dr. Sally Shaywitz concluded the evening with a call to action regarding dyslexia legislation at both the national and state levels. It is their opinion that, as written, our current laws provide only a definition of Special Education, not a definition of dyslexia as a medical diagnosis. “It is inexcusable to miss dyslexia as a diagnosis,” said Dr. Sally Shaywitz, who went on to call dyslexia a “cradle to career” challenge. She challenged attendees to contact the founders of the new Congressional Dyslexia Caucus, U.S. Representatives Pete Stark (California) and Bill Cassidy (Louisiana), both parents of children with dyslexia. Details about this caucus may be found at http://www.interdys.org/CongressionalDyslexiaCaucus.htm. Mary Ellen Trent, DVFS, Director of Admissions

L to R: Laura Brown, Esther Nyaga, Treacy Henry (Development Offices), Pritchard Garrett (Head of School), Sally Shaywitz, Bennett Shaywitz, Bob Mueller (CFO), Mary Ellen Trent (Director of Admissions), David Calamaro (Assistant Head of School and Academic Dean).

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AIM Academy

Benchmark School

Bridge to Learning

Bryn Mawr College Child Study Institute

Children’s Dyslexia Centers

Center School

Decoding Dyslexia of Pennsylvania

Delaware Valley Friends School

Eagle Center for Learning

Freedom Scientific, LSG

The Gow School

The Hillside School

Hill Top Preparatory School

The Janus School

The Kildonan School

Kurzweil-Intellitools, a member of Cambium Learning Group

Learning Ally

The Lewis School of Princeton

Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes

L'Instruction: Center for Learning and Enrichment

McAndrews Law Offices, P.C.

McC Design Works Jewelry

95 Percent Group Inc.

Pennsylvania Branch of the International Dyslexia Association

The Pilot School

The Quaker School at Horsham

Reading ASSIST Institute

Sopris, a member of Cambium Learning Group

Stratford Friends School

Theraplay, Inc.

Tridas E-Writer

Video Verite

Wilson Language Training

Woodlynde School

Exhibitors at PBIDA’s 34th Annual Conference

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Benchmark FP AD

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Calendar of Events JANUARY

Benchmark School Admissions Open House, January 3, 9:00 AM-11:00 AM. Register at www.benchmarkschool.org or Linda Lattif, 610-565-3741, x144, LindaLattif@benchmarkschool.org. Woodlynde School Open House, January 8, 8:45 AM, To register, visit www.woodlynde.org/openhouse. AIM Academy Parent Open House, January 16, 9:00 AM-11:00 AM. Register at kkeesey@aimpa.org. Jennifer Jackson Holden, Psy.D., Presents: Children Who Learn Differently: The Impact on Family Life, AIM Academy, January 17, 6:30 PM-8:30 PM. Register at kkeesey@aimpa.org. Dr. Tamar Chansky Presents: Freeing Your Child from Anxiety and Negative Thinking, Woodlynde School, January 31, 7:00 PM. Free; registration required. Contact ratka@woodlynde.org to register. Wilson Just Words, January 28-29, 8:30 AM—3:00 PM, AIM Academy. Register at kkeesey@aimpa.org. RAVE-O Program, AIM Academy, January 31-February 1, 8:30 AM-4:30 PM. Register at kkeesey@aimpa.org.

February AIM Academy Parent Open House, February 3, 1:00 PM-3:00 PM, Register at kkeesey@aimpa.org. Benchmark School Admissions Open House, February 7, 9:00 AM-11:00 AM. Register at www.benchmarkschool.org or Linda Lattif, 610-565-3741, x144, LindaLattif@benchmarkschool.org. Wilson Fundations Level K/1, February 11, 8:30 AM 4:00 PM, AIM Academy. Register at kkeesey@aimpa.org. Woodlynde School Open House, February 12, 8:45 AM. To register, visit www.woodlynde.org/openhouse.

March Benchmark School Open House for Professionals, March 6, 8:30 AM-10:30 AM. Register at www.benchmarkschool.org or Linda Lattif, 610-565-3741, x144, LindaLattif@benchmarkschool.org. Benchmark School Admissions Open House, March 7, 9:00 AM-11:00 AM. Register at www.benchmarkschool.org or Linda Lattif, 610-565-3741, x144, LindaLattif@benchmarkschool.org Dr. Kate Cain, Access to Experts 2013 Speaker Series, AIM Academy, March 9, 9:00 AM-3:00 PM. Regis-ter at kkeesey@aimpa.org. Woodlynde School Open House, March 12, 8:45 AM. To register, visit www.woodlynde.org/openhouse. AIM Academy Parent Open House, March 13, 9:00AM-11:00AM. Register at kkeesey@aimpa.org. Wilson 3-day Overview, AIM Academy, March 18-20, 8:30 AM-3:00 PM. Register at kkeesey@aimpa.org.

April Benchmark School Open House, April 4, 9:00 AM-11:00 AM. Register at www.benchmarkschool.org or Linda Lattif, 610-565-3741, x144, LindaLattif@benchmarkschool.org. Woodlynde School Open House, April 9, 8:45 AM. To register, visit www.woodlynde.org/openhouse. AIM Academy Parent Open House, April 16, 9:00 AM-11:00 AM. Register at kkeesey@aimpa.org. Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg Presents: Building Resilience in Our Children and Adolescents, Woodlynde School, April 18, 7:00 PM. Contact ratka@woodlynde.org to reserve your space. Wilson Just Words Introduction, AIM Academy, April 22-23, 8:30 AM-3:00 PM. Register at kkeesey@aimpa.org. Louisa Moats, Access to the Experts 2013 Speaker Series, AIM Academy, 9:00 AM-3:00 PM. Register at kkeesey@aimpa.org. Wilson Fundations Level 2, AIM Academy, April 29, 8:30 AM-3:00 PM. Register at kkeesey@aimpa.org.

May Benchmark School Open House, May 2, 9:00 AM-11:00 AM. Register at www.benchmarkschool.org or Lin-da Lattif, 610-565-3741, x144, LindaLattif@benchmarkschool.org. AIM Academy Parent Open House, May 8, 9:00 AM-11:00 AM. Register at kkeesey@aimpa.org. Ron Yoshimoto, Access to Experts 2013 Speaker Series, AIM Academy, May 9, 9:00 AM-3:00PM. Regis-ter at kkeesey@aimpa.org. Woodlynde School Open House, May 14, 8:45 AM. To register, visit www.woodlynde.org/openhouse Benchmark School Open House, May 23, 9:00 AM-11:00 AM. Register at www.benchmarkschool.org or Linda Lattif, 610-565-3741, x144, LindaLattif@benchmarkschool.org.

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Evaluation Process

My child is struggling in school. The teachers do not seem to understand why and he is be-

coming very frustrated. We think he should be tested so we can understand why he is strug-

gling so much. I would prefer the school not be involved in the testing and we cannot afford a

private evaluation. Are there places we can go that are more affordable?

While a family may prefer not having the school involved, there are a number of factors to consider in pursu-ing a private evaluation. Among these is the fact that if the family has a private evaluation, public schools still need to conduct their own evaluation.

First, the school ultimately is responsible for the child’s educational program and for the determination that the child is eligible for special education services. In order to carry out this responsibility and to provide special education services, the school must complete its own evaluation. PBIDA recommends that if parents are wor-ried about their child, they first meet with the school to convey their concerns. For an excellent video on how to request an evaluation from the school, see the website of the National Center for Learning Disabilities, Fea-tured Video How Do I Request an Evaluation? (www.ncld.org).

Second, in order to complete an evaluation the school district will issue a Permission to Evaluate form seeking the parents’ permission for the evaluation. The parents also can ask for an evaluation and it is important to put this request in writing. The Pennsylvania Education Law Center, Students with Disabilities (www.elc-pa.org), has samples of such letters, as well as other informative material. We advise parents to sign the Permission to Evaluate form as soon as possible and to keep a copy for their records. Once the school receives the signed Permission to Evaluate, the district has 60 calendar days, excluding the summer, to complete the evaluation, with the time line starting upon receiving parental consent, in writing, for the evaluation.

Third, the school’s evaluation must assess all areas of the child’s disability or suspected disability (i.e. social and emotional status, general intelligence, academic performance, communication, and motor) and will often consist of standardized testing, curriculum based assessments, a classroom observation and input from parents and teachers. In addition, the evaluation may, where needed, include behavior checklists or rating scales, speech and language assessments, or occupational or physical therapy assessments. For more information on what constitutes an appropriate evaluation, see Fact Sheets, Testing and Evaluation on the website of the Inter-national Dyslexia Association (www.interdys.org).

Fourth, once the school’s evaluation has been completed, the school district will issue an Evaluation Report (ER) which will contain the results of the evaluation as well as the determination of whether your child has a disability, and, if so, whether he or she requires specially designed instruction. If the child meets both of these criteria, he or she will be eligible for special education.

With the above in mind, in some circumstances a parent may want a second opinion, or a private evaluation, in order to gather further information and to develop expertise about their child’s disability, strengths, weak-nesses and effective educational interventions. Yet, it is important to remember that there is great variability in the quality of evaluations by evaluators in schools and in the private sector.

The institutions listed below are universities or private psychological services which offer reduced fees for evaluations. The information about each of these services has been provided by the individual institutions. It is important for parents to determine if the type of services each institution offers will answer their questions about their child. The IDA Fact Sheet mentioned above will aid parents in their decision-making (Testing and

Evaluation Fact Sheet at http://www.interdys.org).

The Psychological Services Clinic of Chestnut Hill College

215-242-7726

Fee: Sliding Scale

Monday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Tuesday from 9 a.m.-1 p.m., and Friday from 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

(Continued on page 30)

Parents’ Corner

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• Assessments of learning disabilities in reading, writing, expressive and receptive language, and mathematics; Atten-

tion Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and processing problems.

• Comprehensive batteries include tests of cognitive abilities, academic achievement, behavior, learning skills, and

memory. As deemed necessary, personality testing also may be included. Evaluation process includes clinical in-terviews and gathering of information from schools.

• Services are confidential, and information is shared only with the consent of the individual client or from the parent or guardian of a minor.

• Full batteries require a total of 6-10 hours, conducted over several sessions. In some cases, abbreviated batteries might be appropriate and would require less time.

• Psychoeducational assessment reports are completed within 4 weeks from the final session of testing Growth Opportunities Center Huntingdon Valley/Holland/Narberth Diane Sizer, PhD at ext. 269 215-947-8654 Fee: Sliding Scale • Comprehensive psycho-educational evaluations, performed by psychologists, for children and adults. • Evaluations include assessment of cognitive functioning (intelligence, memory, executive functions, including at-

tention), perceptual processing, educational achievement (reading, math, writing), social and emotional concerns, and personality functioning.

• Process includes comprehensive interviews, 6-8 hours of testing, feedback session(s), and a comprehensive report. La Salle University Community Psychological Services 215-951-1006 Fee: $350.00 • Assessments for children and adults are completed on site and at a base level consisting of biopsychosocial history,

psychological/diagnostic interview, and cognitive and achievement testing. Additional batteries and measures as appropriate to the presentation and understanding the presenting problem, are administered.

• The evaluation process, which includes approximately 4 to 5 testing sessions, development and supervision of the report and feedback session, averages 8 to12 weeks.

• The total cost which can be paid over the course of this timeframe is $350. La Salle Speech and Language Clinic Maureen Costello Director of the Speech and Language Clinic Fee: $150 • Speech-Language-Hearing Science graduate students, with supervised clinical experience, from La Salle University

Speech-Language-Hearing Community Clinics complete speech and language evaluations. • Students in clinical practicum receive one-to-one supervision from licensed and certified speech-language

pathologists as they provide diagnostic and therapeutic intervention across the entire spectrum of communication disorders.

• The La Salle University Speech-Language-Hearing Community Clinics are used primarily as an educational train-ing facility, so the fees are reduced, and a sliding scale may be offered based on financial need.

PCOM (Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine) Center for Brief Therapy 215-871-6487 Fee: $870 • The Center for Brief Therapy provides comprehensive psycho-educational and psychological evaluations for both

adults and children at an affordable price. • Evaluations gather information on an individual’s level of intellectual functioning, unique learning style, personality

(Parent’s Corner, continued from page 28)

(Continued on page 31)

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characteristics, present academic achievement, career and vocational interests and aptitudes, and social/emotional needs, while incorporating the impact of situational and environmental factors.

• Clinicians collaborate with the referral source, educational institution, parents/guardians, and treating clinicians dur-ing the assessment process.

• Staff is trained to utilize current research findings published by the National Institute of Health & Human Services (NIH) in their conceptualization and diagnosis

• Reports are thorough and include clear, “user friendly” recommendations targeted to improve the client’s learning, attention, interpersonal, emotional, behavior and/or academic success.

• Student clinicians collaborate with their licensed psychologist supervisors to create report.

Psychoeducational Clinic of Temple University 215-951-1006 Fee: $350/Sliding Scale • Assessments consist of a biopsychosocial history, psychological/diagnostic interview, cognitive and achievement

testing. Additional batteries and measures are included as deemed appropriate to the presentation and understanding the presenting problem.

• Evaluation process, which includes testing, development and supervision of the report and feedback session, occurs over an 8 to 12 week time period. This includes 4 to 5 evaluation sessions with the child.

• For an intake interview or for more information about evaluations, email schooltesting@temple.edu. University Neuropsychological Assessment Center (Widener College) Mary Lazar PsyD 610-499-4273 Fee: $600-$1800/sliding scale • Practicum students and predoctoral interns of the Institute for Graduate Clinical Psychology's doctoral program are

supervised by four licensed psychologists with extensive training and experience in neuropsychology.

(Parent’s Corner, continued from page 31)

(Continued on page 32)

Thank You to our Donors for their GenerosityThank You to our Donors for their GenerosityThank You to our Donors for their GenerosityThank You to our Donors for their Generosity

Please support PBIDA during the 2013 United Way

drive by selecting donor option number 7011for

Philadelphia and number 1328032 for Pittsburgh.

Maria Bereschak Kathleen Carlsen Kathleen Craven

David Dieck Drueding Foundation

Mr.and Mrs. Allan Glanzman Marianne Kramer Penny Moldofsky

Ellen Reese and Gary D. Stein Patricia Roberts

Julia Sadtler Nancy Scharff

Christine Craig Seppi Cindy Solot

Linda Tesser Marlyn Vogel

Carol Wolf

In Honor of Eugenie W. Flaherty Nancy Newman Mary Ellen Trent

United Way Donors

Bank of America Frederick and Sally Brodie

J. Barton Harrison Christina M. Kurtz

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In addition, working memory training does not improve children’s or adults’ abilities on non-working memory tasks, such as reading (decoding), math, and attention. This is an extremely important finding. Presumably, students would participate in working memory training to, ultimately, improve their performance on other aca-demic and cognitive tasks. There is no evidence for transfer of even the immediate benefits of working memory training to other academic or cognitive tasks. The article’s authors conclude that “brain booster” or working memory training “cannot, based on the evidence to date, be recommended for treatment for develop-mental disorders (such as ADHD or dyslexia).” Overall, working memory training has no effect on students’ verbal ability, reading (word and nonword reading), arithmetic, or attention (on an inhibition task).

Melby-Lervag and Hulme also note that more work specifically with children with ADHD or a learning disa-bility in reading may eventually lead to the development of successful working memory training that affects reading or attention skills directly. They point out, however, that effective approaches now exist for reading instruction and it is not clear how indirect approaches could be more efficient or effective. At a minimum, time spent on unproven approaches is time taken away from instruction already shown to be effective.

John Kruidenier, Literacy and Technology Consultant, Kruidenier Education Consulting

(Does Brain Training Work,, continued from page 15)

ing memory issues are key to understanding reading difficulties, and motor memory and functioning also af-fect writing. Dr. Tridas demonstrated how the vast array of information about contributing factors can be orga-nized using the Developmental Web.

In the conclusion to his keynote address, Dr. Tridas briefly discussed how profiles containing developmental, behavioral, health, and environmental information can be used to develop educational, behavioral-cognitive, medical, and environmental management plans for an adult or child with a learning difference. An educational management plan for a child’s weakness in reading, for example, might consist of intensive, multi-sensory re-medial work with a lot of repetition. It would also use the child’s strengths, in technology for example, to help circumvent the weakness. This aspect of the Developmental Web was presented in greater depth during Dr. Tridas’s morning breakout session, following his keynote address. In this breakout session, he demonstrated how the Developmental Web can be used to understand and manage ADHD and dyslexia. PowerPoint slides for this breakout session, along with those for the keynote address, are available on the PBIDA website.

John Kruidenier, Literacy and Technology Consultant, Kruidenier Education Consulting

(Summary of Keynote, continued from page 1)

• Upon completing child’s assessment, graduate students/psychologists will help parent work with child’s school to consider and implement recommendations.

• Consolidation of information gathered into a comprehensive report followed by meeting with family to discuss evaluation results.

• Referrals to other professionals (i.e. speech, occupational, psychologists and physicians), when appropriate • Identification of resources, such as books, websites, and support groups that are relevant to the problem. We would like to thank Carol Wolf, Director of Admissions at the Center School in Abington, Pennsylvania, for her research in answering this question for our first Parents’ Corner column. We also encourage our readers to send to PBIDA (dyslexia@pbida.org) other questions and issues for which you would like information. Marlyn Vogel and Nanie Flaherty, co-editors of Focus

(Parents Corner, continued from page 31)

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PBIDA Member News!!!

We introduced this new Focus feature, Member News!!!, in the spring 2012 issue; in this column we highlight

significant contributions by PBIDA members.

PBIDA in Parents Express

• Read Defeat dyslexia by catching it early in the August 24th edition of Parents Express (http://www.server-jbmultimedia.net/MontgomeryNewsSS/sitebase/index.aspx). PBIDA president Julia Sadtler and Board Members Nanie Flaherty (psychologist), Franca Palumbo (special education lawyer) and Wendy Ross (developmental pediatrician) were interviewed by Mindy Toran, Correspondent for Montgomery News, for this informative article. The take-home message is that dyslexia can be identified at a young age and that the student with dyslexia should receive an appropriate research-based reading intervention program with built-in assessments to monitor progress.

Philadelphia School District Event

• Two PBIDA members, Renee Boyce (Philadelphia School District Intervention Coordinator for the Office of Specialized Services, past PBIDA Board member) and Tracy Johnson (Motivational Speaker, Advocate for Individuals with Learning Differences) organized a wonderful presentation at the Philadelphia School District. On October 4, 2012, approximately 100 people (a capacity crowd!) attended a showing of Jour-

ney into Dyslexia and a lively panel presentation afterwards.

Journey into Dyslexia presents profiles of dyslexic students and adults who share their experiences of strug-gling in school and then succeeding in life. Academy Award winning filmmakers Alan and Susan Raymond examine the complexities of this differently structured brain and misperceptions about dyslexia. Philadel-phia’s own Tracy Johnson is one of the several adults featured in the film.

The impressive panel included Belinda Miller (Philadelphia School District Acting Deputy Chief, Office of Specialized Services), Gary Feldman (Philadelphia School District Coordinator of Psychological Services), Dr. Richard Cooper (Coordinator of Disability Services and Learning Specialist, Harcum College), Barbara Wilson (Co-Founder and President, Wilson Reading System), Susan Raymond (Co-Producer and Director of Journey into Dyslexia), and Rita Rysak (Lexia Trainer).

The audience, a mix of parents, teachers, students and members of the community, had many questions for the panel after seeing the film.

Given the high level of interest and the capacity crowd, the School District plans to hold a similar event in the future.

The purpose of Member News!!! is to present information on

PBIDA member activities which will expand the knowledge of the

Pennsylvania and Delaware community. Examples include

publications (books, articles, newspaper pieces), media and other

material of interest and utility to this community. Please email us

proposed materials and any questions you may have

(dyslexia@pbida.org).

L to R: Rita Rysak, Susan Raymond, Barbara Wilson, Tracy Johnson, Gary Feldman.

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