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Spring 2016 -- Edited by Sue Morbey and Anne Eaton
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Hello,
All of us on the NHIDA Board of Directors hope that 2016 has gotten off to a great start for you. It certainly has gotten off to a fast start for us!
In January NHIDA offered a
Project Read webinar
that was very well received -- so well received, in fact, that we'd like to make it an annual January event. What better way to learn and earn professional development credits at that time of year when driving can be a nightmare?
Activity related to
HB1644, NH’s dyslexia bill
, reached a fevered pitch this winter as the bill successfully made its way through the House Education Committee and a subsequent vote on the floor of the House. It is such a shame that in 2016 so many people in our world still do not understand what dyslexia is and what it takes to help individuals with dyslexia learn to read. The next step occurs on Wednesday,
March 2nd
, as the House Finance Committee (read more........)
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UPDATE ON NH DYSLEXIA BILL - HB1644
Efforts to enact a dyslexia law in NH
gained serious momentum this legislative session. Thanks to the efforts of Decoding Dyslexia NH and a dedicated group of legislators, with the support of a cadre of equally dedicated individuals and organizations, HB1644 was born.
HB1644 de
fines dyslexia and provides for early screening for dyslexia in public schools and monitoring of students' reading progress in later grades. It establishes a Reading Specialist position within the NH Department of Education to create a resource guide about dyslexia and evidence-based, multi-sensory instruction for school districts and parents.
The Reading Specialist will also work with the Council on Teacher Training to help our colleges and universities better prepare teachers-in-training to recognize students with dyslexia and to understand what constitutes effective, evidence-based reading instruction.
As the NH Association of Special Education Administrators pointed out in their testimony, dyslexia is not just a special education issue Dyslexia is an education issue. Not all students with dyslexia reach the threshold for special education eligibility, and all children need options about how they learn. This needs to include options about how they learn to read.
On January 12th the House Education Committee heard testimony on the bill and later voted 11-8 to send it to the floor of the House. There the bill passed by an equally narrow margin (186-172).
The bill's next stop on March 2nd is the House Finance Committee Division II where its $100,000 annual cost (salary and benefits for the Reading Specialist position) will be carefully scrutinized and evaluated. Given NH's fiscal conservatism,
even this modest price tag could prove to be a stumbling block. On the floor vote, four of the seven members of this committee voted "nay".
NHIDA will continue to advocate for this modest investment that we believe will help school districts better meet the needs of students with dyslexia and will save NH money in the long run.
We encourage you also to contact the legislators on the House Finance Committee to express your support of the bill.
For the names and numbers of House Finance Committee (Div II) members, click here.
For testimony submitted by NH Association of Special Education Administrators, click here.
For more information about the steps NHIDA has taken to support the bill, click here.
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Orton Oak status is conferred upon individuals who have been IDA members for 25 years or longer. NHIDA is proud to recognize its
Orton Oaks.
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Orton Oak, JEAN TUCKER, has been an IDA supporter for more than 25 years. Like an oak tree in her steadfastness, she's been a strong advocate for quality reading instruction and a mover-and-shaker in the fields of reading research and instruction.
Jean graciously agreed to an interview with NHIDA. We think that the information and viewpoints she shares are priceless.
(Read more.......)
For Jean's recent article, "
The Promise of 30 Years of Research
,"
Click here
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NHIDA FALL CONFERENCE
J
oin us at SERESC in Bedford, NH
on Friday, Sept. 23, 2016
for an engaging, interactive, lively presentation by
Ronald Yoshimoto
, a much sought-after master trainer in the Orton-Gillingham Approach.
Multi-sensory structured literacy teachers who have attended Ron's fast-paced, entertaining workshops rave about the experience.
Rejuvenate your teaching strategies by attending this hands-on workshop and come away feeling re-energized!
We look forward to seeing you at SERESC in September.
REGISTRATION OPENS SOON
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RON YOSHIMOTO
M.Ed, M.S.W., Fellow/AOGPE
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Ronald Yoshimoto has been in this field for over 30 years as a teacher, educational diagnostician, social worker, principal (of a private school for dyslexics for 18 years), resource teacher for the department of education of Hawaii, and consultant and trainer.
He
is trained in OG, Alphabetic Phonics, Slingerland, Project Read (all strands), LiPS, Visualizing and Verbalizing, Spalding and (read more.....)
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SPELL OF LANGUAGE
(SPOL) Program
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This
new program from Jean Tucker and colleagues Culver and Zack-Swasey has just been released. SPOL provides explicit instruction for teachers in how to teach the vowel classification system, decoding, spelling, sentence-writing, and morphology, plus it provides lesson plans that can be easily individualized by the teacher.
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"The Relation between Alphabetic Basics,
Word Recognition, and Reading"
Did you know that reading words like "stagger" or "tiptoe" activates motor areas of the brain involved with controlling the legs and feet, while reading words like "chop" or "carve" activates areas controlling the hands?
This
fascinating piece by
researcher and author Marilyn Jager Adams, Ph.D.
explores the amazing interactions among regions of the brain during the activity of reading and discusses the ramifications for reading instruction.
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"Understanding Dyslexia and the Reading Brain in Kids"
In this article, Holly Korbey features a discussion of dyslexia by researcher Maryanne Wolf, including the value of Rapid Naming Tests. Called the
RAN/RAS test
(Rapid Automatized Naming/Rapid Alternating Stimulus), t
hese tests time students as they name letters, numbers, colors, and objects, tasks that are like a mini-version of the circuit that develops later in the brain for reading. While RAN/RAS cannot diagnose a reading problem, it is recognized as
one of the single best predictors
that there’s something different in how the brain puts together letters with their name, providing a red flag that certain students may need further evaluation.
If you liked that article by Holly Korbey,
to find other articles she has written about dyslexia at the MindShift news feed.
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VIDEOS
What Is Dyslexia?
One of our favorite videos about dyslexia, this TedEd lesson explains how this difficulty processing language exists along a spectrum and represents just a functional variation in the brain which requires a different, multi-sensory approach for being taught to read.
click here
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Dyslexics In The Classroom
In this short video, some very successful adult dyslexics share their experiences – successes and struggles – in the classroom.
click here
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Stephen J. Cannel Learning Center videos
This series of videos by actor, mystery novel writer, and television writer,
Stephen J. Cannel,
talks about dyslexia and his experiences as a dyslexic child and adult.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
The Greenwood School and
Stern Center partnership
announces its
2016 Symposium Series
at
The Greenwood School
Putney, Vermont
March 18, 2016:
Dyscalculia
presented by Anita Long, Ed.S.
April 15, 2016:
Dyslexi
a
presented by Melissa Farrall, Ph.D.
May 13, 2016:
Dysgraphia
presented by Melissa Farrall, Ph.D
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NHIDA and
Nashua Community College
present
"Every Child Reading -
Dyslexia: Characteristics and Effective Intervention"
7:00 PM Thursday, April 14th
at NCC
505 Amherst Street,
Nashua, NH 03063
Free and Open to the Public
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Southern Kennebec Child Development Corp.
brings you
Wrightslaw Special Education Law and Advocacy Conference
A Wrightslaw training program with Peter Wright, Esq.
April 28, 2016
at the Agusta Civic Center, Agusta, ME
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Why are these kids jumping for joy? Because their teachers have been trained
in a multi-sensory, structured literacy approach.
Upcoming Teacher Training Opportunities
Orton-Gillingham 60 hour Associate level training
with Beth McClure, AOGPE Fellow
in Pembroke, NH
July 5-9, 2016 8:30-3:00
and
July 11-15 8:30-4:30
Orton-Gillingham Classroom Educator Training
at the Stern Center, Williston, VT
June 20-23, 2016
Orton-Gillingham Associate Level Training and Practicum
at the Stern Center, Williston, VT
July 11-14 and, 18-20, 2016
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NHIDA Board of Directors and Advisory Council members
at 2015 Fall conference
Left to right: Valerie Leuchter, Anne Eaton, Sue Morbey, Bette Nelson, Shannon Dixon-Yandow, Rebecca Nelson-Avery, conference speaker Marilyn Jager Adams, Claudia Golda-Dominquez, Leslie Benton-Norris, Beth McClure, Caryl Patten, Audrey Burke, Renee LeCain, Michael Patten
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Drawings for these two gift baskets were held during the 2015 conference --
one to thank all the attendees for supporting the efforts of NHIDA with their attendance at the conference and the other to thank NHIDA members in particular.
The gift basket on the left was a wine and chocolate basket that included a gift certificate to NHIDA's 2016 conference.
The basket on the right was filled with classroom supplies.
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On-line Informational Resources
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Become a member of IDA today!
The benefits of membership vary according to membership level,
Are you a service provider?
Become a member at the professional level and have your name/business included in NHIDA's provider list.
Providers click here
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