Learning
Disabilities Association of Kansas
“Not
All Great Minds Think Alike”
37th Annual Conference
Marriott
Hotel
10800 Metcalf
Overland Park, KS 66210
913-451-8000
Or
800-228-9290
Thursday, November 8, 2007
7:30 PM to 9:30 PM
and
Friday, November 9, 2007
8:30AM to 3:45 PM
Thurs.,
November 8, 2007
7 - 9 P.M.
Free
& Open to the Public –
Parent
Perspectives: Video & Discussion
Friday,
November 9, 2007
Our
Keynote speaker is Nancy Mather
Morning General Session
Let’s Hang on to Our Hats:
What We Know about LD
This session will
focus on the fundamental facts we know about learning disabilities. The
discussion will include: the history of LD assessment; the need for
comprehensive assessment of LD, including assessment of cognitive and
linguistic processes; the importance of identifying strengths and weaknesses
for selecting instructional interventions; the varied causes of reading
disability; the need to have different options for service delivery; the
dilemma of high functioning individuals with LD; the necessity of carefully
selected accommodations; the importance of using differentiated instructional
methodologies; and the need for highly trained, competent LD teachers.
Afternoon
General Session
The
Building Blocks of Learning: An Informal Assessment for Students with Learning
and Behavioral Challenges
The presentation
will explain a simple model or framework (Mather & Goldstein, 2002) for
understanding and explaining children’s learning and behavioral difficulties to
parents and teachers. Ten factors that affect school performance will be
discussed.
AM Breakouts
1. Response to Intervention in Kansas: What Is It
and How Does It Work?
In Kansas, we have several components in place of
what is now termed Response to Intervention (RtI) in
the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, both in practice
as well as policy. One of the main components of RtI
is the use of a tiered approach to service delivery. This component encourages
school systems to revisit and redesign their approach to literacy instruction,
with an emphasis on prevention, formative use of data, and flexibility in
service delivery. This presentation will provide an overview and examples of
how RtI is being defined and implemented in Kansas schools, as well as the impact on an
initial evaluation when a team suspects an exceptionality.
Dawn
Miller, Ph.D. currently
serves as the Co-Director of the Kansas Instructional Support Network. Her work
involves providing training and technical assistance to districts in the area
of response-to-intervention. She has worked in Kansas for the last 13 years as a school
psychologist and professional development provider.
2. Documentation, Accommodation,
Procrastination
For students with
learning disabilities, a big factor in their successful transition from high
school to postsecondary education is to know what to expect. This
presentation will be a free-flowing question and answer session that will be helpful to
students, parents and especially high school teachers. Need some ideas for IEP
transition goals? Want to learn more about how a student's rights and
responsibilities change as they leave high school and enroll in post secondary
education? Interested to know the characteristics of a successful college student
with LD? Please come with your questions
if you would like more information regarding transition to post secondary
education.
Andrea Blair, M.Ed., Disability Support
Services, Kansas State University
Andrea has been
working in the field of learning disabilities for over twenty years. She has
been a resource room teacher and currently works with K-State students with LD
and/or ADHD. She has served on the board of the Learning Disabilities
Association of Kansas for the last 10 years.
Andrew Shoemaker, M.Ed., Disability
Resources, University
of Kansas
Andrew
has a master’s degree in Special Education with a concentration in
postsecondary disability services. He has worked with college students with LD
for 10 years.
3. Raising a
Child with Dyslexia and ADHD: The Parent’s and the Professional’s Perspectives
Nancy
Mather, Ph.D. will offer a personal saga of the experiences encountered
raising an adopted child with dyslexia and ADHD. Discussion will center upon
both positive and negative school experiences that seemed to help or harm
development.
4. How Working Memory Training Helps Children with ADHD
Cogmed Working Memory training is a clinically
proven software-based intervention for children with attention deficits.
Specific topics to be discussed:
·
What is
working memory?
·
What
are the signs of a working memory problem?
·
How
effective is Working Memory Training, and what is its research support?
·
How
does the Working Memory Training Program work?
Avner
Stern,
Ph.D. Licensed
Psychologist (KS & MO), is currently a partner with Behavioral Health
Specialists in Overland
Park, Kansas. He was formerly director of Attention
Deficit and Learning Disability Services, Saint Luke’s Health System. He earned
his doctorate from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1978. He completed
the one-year Postgraduate Diagnostic Program at the Menninger
School of Psychiatry and Mental Health Sciences. He was Director of Doctoral
Intern Training and Clinical Services at the University of Missouri-Kansas City
Counseling Center. His specialty areas include the evaluation and management of
attention deficit and learning disabilities, and diagnostic assessment in
children, adolescents, and adults.
5. Designing Interventions
for Tier 2 Readers
In this workshop
participants will learn to apply a framework used to design interventions for
Tier 2 readers. The framework will provide a model for planning reading
interventions to fit the learners' needs.
Karla Reed, M.S.Ed. is a reading
specialist and national DIBELS trainer who has been teaching for 18 years at
various grade levels, working with struggling readers in pull-out and inclusion
models. Karla also provides coaching and modeling for classroom teachers. She
has won the Kansas Impact Award and the 2006 Milken
National Educator Award.
PM Breakouts
6. The Effect of a Response
to Intervention Model in Improving Early Reading Proficiency
Michelle evaluated
three models, one of which was a standard protocol RTI model, on student
outcomes including the improvement of oral reading fluency. This study
contrasted three similar elementary schools by assigning different levels of
data collection and use for decision making. Were universal screening, progress
monitoring, and systematic early intervention using an evidence-based reading
program able to improve reading outcomes and reduce special education referral?
Michelle Colvin, Ed.S. is a special education coordinator with the Wyandotte
Comprehensive Special Education Cooperative and is completing her doctorate in
school psychology at the University of Kansas. She has been a school psychologist for
over eight years and was previously a special education teacher at the high
school level for ten years.
7. Identification of
Learning Disabilities for Post-Secondary Students
The concept of discrepancy
or unexpected underachievement is the foundation of LD and is required for a
DSM-IV diagnosis of a learning disorder. However, there are different ways to
evaluate whether a discrepancy exists and whether a discrepancy indicates a
disorder or not, as well as other requirements for diagnosis. Participants will
learn how to interpret adult tests used for DSM-IV learning disorder diagnoses
and how to link post-secondary accommodations to assessment results.
Julia Shaftel, Ph.D. is the Director of the Center for
Psychoeducational Services in the School of Education at the University of Kansas. She earned her Ph.D. in School Psychology
at KU in 1999 and completed her doctoral internship in the Center for Learning
Disabilities at the Menninger Clinic in Topeka. Prior to becoming a school psychologist,
Julie taught for nine years as an interrelated resource teacher in grades K-12,
working with students with mild to severe disabilities in self-contained,
pullout and fully inclusive environments.
8. You’re Not Alone
A panel of parents
and professionals will share their stories of working with children with
learning disabilities and discuss their own personal experiences with learning
disabilities. Marcia will ask each teacher and parent on the panel to tell
their most frustrating situation and how they were able to resolve it. Maybe
you will hear a solution to one of your biggest challenges.
Marcia Williams is a parent of four daughters, one has a
diagnosed learning disability and two have attention deficit disorder. Marcia
has been involved with LDAK for nearly 20 years both at the local level
and at the state level.
9. NVLD/Asperger Syndrome: Searching for the
Boundaries
Nonverbal Learning Disorder and
Asperger Syndrome are sometimes used interchangeably, but are they really
the same disorder? This session will explore similarities and differences.
Findings from recent research will be shared and the implications for schools
and educational interventions will be discussed.
Michele Berg,
Ph.D. has over 30 years of
experience in the field of learning disabilities. She is the Director of the
Center for Learning Disorders at the Family Service and Guidance Center in Topeka, Kansas. Dr. Berg formerly founded and directed the Center for
Learning Disabilities at the Menninger Clinic. Dr.
Berg specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of complex learning disorders
in children and adults and has a special interest in nonverbal learning
disorders.
10. “The Rol of Orthografe in Dislexia” (The Role
of Orthography in Dyslexia)
Nancy Mather, Ph.D. will discuss how difficulties with
orthography impact reading and spelling development. She will: (a) define and
explain orthographic awareness, (b) review the characteristics of poor
orthographic awareness, (c) review past and current ways to assess orthography,
and (d) discuss accommodations and interventions.
Please visit the vendors in the main corridor.
CONFERENCE REGISTRATION
Member
registration (postmarked prior to Oct. 20th) $120.00
Non-member
registration (postmarked prior to Oct 20th) $155.00
______Additional family member with one full paid
registration $50.00
______*Administrator or Regular education teacher
with one full paid registration $75.00
______Full-time student with Advisor signature (includes
LDAK membership) $75.00
All registrations postmarked after
Oct. 20 (includes LDAK membership) $160.00
*Make checks payable to LDAK*
Lunch
is included for pre-registered attendees
If
paying with a PO
Pre-registered full-time students with student ID: #
Prior to Oct. 20th District
Site
Advisor University Billing
address:
Student ID #
Must have
advisor’s signature and student identification
(please
include photocopy of I.D.)
Session Preferences - enter number
of session in space Contact person:
Friday 1st choice
Friday 2nd choice
Friday 3rd choice Phone
Thursday evening: yes no Did you include PO#?
(Indicate above if
you plan to attend)
*Special offer for
administrators and general education teachers: Any registered special
education teacher may bring an administrator or general education teacher for a
special registration fee of $75 each!
(This fee does include lunch if
pre-registered.)
**A limited number of parent scholarships are
available-contact Marcia Williams, 785-273-4505**
Cancellations
must be post marked by Oct. 20th to receive partial refund of 65.00.
Cancellations
post marked after Oct. 20th will not receive a refund. Paid registrations are transferable.
Questions?
Contact: Marcia Williams at marciasu@aol.com or by phone: (785)
273-4505.
Conference
Location:
Overland Park Marriott,
10800 Metcalf,
Overland Park, KS
(800) 228-9290 or (913) 451-8000
Reservations for the Event will be made by
individual attendees
directly with Marriott reservations
at 1 (800) 228-9290 or (913) 451-8000.
Guests should ask for the Overland Park Marriott and identify
themselves
with the Learning Disabilities Association.
The
Overland Park Marriott is holding a block of rooms through Oct. 29th for our
participants. The conference rate for a room is $99.00 plus tax. Please mention you are with the Learning
Disabilities Assn. of Kansas Conference when making your reservation. Remember to reserve your room by Oct. 29th.
The
Overland Park Marriott offers an indoor pool, hot tub, and exercise facility.
Please
reserve your room early to get the conference rate. You
can reserve your room by calling Marriott reservations at 1-800-228-9290 or
913-451-8000. Reservations received after October 29th will be
on a space available basis.
Learning
Disabilities Association of Kansas Non-Profit Organization
PO Box 4424 U.S. Postage
Topeka, KS 66604 PAID
Topeka, KS
Permit
No. 496
FOR
INFORMATION CONTACT: Marcia
Williams at marciasu@aol.com or by phone: (785) 273-4505