Events

Events sponsored by Decoding Dyslexia CA (DDCA) are indicated on the events calendar.  Local events held by other organizations may also be listed that may be of interest to our members. DDCA does not endorse any specific program or company.

Aug
4
Fri
Orton‐Gillingham Approach: A Teacher/Tutor/Parent Workshop for Dyslexia and Literacy Instruction
Aug 4 – Aug 5 all-day

Event: 15‐hour Workshop on the Orton‐Gillingham Approach

Instructor: Nancy Redding, M.Ed., FIT/AOGPE, CDT/IDA Location: 365 1st St., Los Altos, CA, 94022

Dates and Times: August 4 and 5, 2017; 8:30am to 5:00pm daily Registration Deadline: July 20, 2017

Cost and Registration Info: $285 per person, payable to Meyers Learning Center, P.O. Box 428, Redwood Estates, CA 95044

What’s Included: Materials, professional/engaging instruction, Certificate of Completion from Orton‐Gillingham Academy (“Subscriber” level), coffee/tea, refreshments

This introductory course will familiarize participants with the signs and symptoms of dyslexia, as well as the tenets of the Orton‐Gillingham approach to literacy instruction. It meets the requirements of the Subscriber Course of the Academy. Topics will include:

  • Neurological basis of dyslexia and reading disorders
  • Efficacy of structured, sequential, multisensory literacy instruction The foundations and history of the Orton‐Gillingham Approach
  • Phonological and phonemic awareness
  • Stages of Reading and Spelling Development
  • The design and rational of the OG lesson plan
  • Case studies and sample lessons
  • History and Structure of English Language

About Meyers Learning Center:

Meyers Learning Center offers private tutoring to a diverse student population, from elementary to adult‐age students. Our experienced, reliable, and caring educators individualize their teaching to each student’s needs. Tutoring occurs at our downtown Los Altos learning center, in students’ homes, at another convenient location (e.g., school or library), or online. In addition, we provide workshops, school programs, and presentations to community audiences.

Nancy Redding, M.Ed., is a Fellow‐in‐Training with AOGPE. She has 40 years of experience with OG, both in tutoring students of all ages, and in conducting teacher training. She has worked as a learning specialist at the elementary, high school, and college levels. Nancy is the co‐author along with Marcia Henry, of Patterns for Success, an OG based reading and spelling program designed as a supplement to OG instruction. She has presented at many workshops and conference and has been active in International Dyslexia Association, both on the local and national levels.

*This special workshop is open to the community!

Download flyer HERE

Sep
29
Fri
Dyslexia & AB 1369 @ UC Merced
Sep 29 @ 8:30 am – 3:00 pm

Learn about:

  • Dyslexia
  • New Laws & Guidelines
  • Assessments & Intervention

Presenters:

  • Jeff Gilger, Ph.D., UC Merced
  • Kathy Futterman, Ed.D., CSU East Bay

Registration includes lunch.

For more information, click HERE for the flyer.

Oct
7
Sat
NorCal IDA Event: “The Science of Teaching Reading: What Students with Dyslexia Need to Learn and Why” with Margie Gillis @ Children's Health Council, Palo Alto
Oct 7 @ 9:00 am – 3:00 pm

 

Learn about engaging and effective strategies for teaching all readers

Learn how you can impact policy around reading instruction

Great for teachers, specialists, parents and administrators

There is a science to teaching reading and students with dyslexia need teachers who have that knowledge and experience applying it. Participants will learn engaging techniques for teaching a Structured Literacy approach – a method of instruction that teaches the structure of language while using key pedagogical principles to ensure that students master what they’re learning.

Dr. Margie Gillis is the president of Literacy How, Inc. She founded it in 2009 to provide professional opportunities for teachers on how best to implement research-based reading practices in the classroom. She is the co-founder and former president of Smart Kids with Learning Disabilities.

Oct
9
Mon
Dyslexia & Phonological Processing 101 @ Online Event
Oct 9 @ 12:00 am – Oct 15 @ 11:45 pm


Parents, Advocates and Teachers – join us for a FREE one-hour introductory webinar on Dyslexia and Phonological Processing with an emphasis on one of the most widely used and popular assessments for reading-related phonological processing skills –
the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP-2).


This pre-recorded webinar will be presented by international dyslexia expert Dr. Richard Wagner, Ph.D., Principal Investigator of NICHD Florida Learning Disabilities Research Center, Associate Director, Florida Center for Reading Research and Co-Author of the CTOPP-2.  Dr. Wagner is also a member of the CA Department of Education’s Dyslexia Work Group that are producing statewide dyslexia guidelines to be released in August.

This webinar is intended for parents, guardians, teachers and advocates.

Participants must pre-register for this free 1 hour webinar.

Webinar will only be available for viewing during the following specified times:

October 9th at 8:00 a.m. (PDT) through October 15th at 11:00p.m. (PDT)

On October 8th, you will receive an email with the link and a password to access the webinar.

Click HERE to download the flyer.

Sponsored By:

Decoding Dyslexia CA is a grassroots movement driven by California families, educators and professionals concerned with the limited access to educational interventions for dyslexia and other language-based learning disabilities within our public schools.  We aim to raise dyslexia awareness, empower families to support their children, and inform policymakers on best practices to identify, remediate, and support students with dyslexia in CA public schools.

 

Susan Barton is the founder of Bright Solutions for Dyslexia and is recognized internationally as an expert in dyslexia.  She is in the Hall of Honor at the headquarters of the Internaitonal Dyslexia Association.  Her goal is to help parents, teachers, and others understand dyslexia so they can provide the appropriate help for dyslexics.  

 

 

 

Sep
20
Thu
Structured Word Inquiry @ Marina Village Conference Center
Sep 20 @ 9:00 am – Sep 21 @ 3:30 pm

Both days will draw on classroom/tutoring lessons across the grades to help teachers/tutors make sense of English spelling and ways to bring that understanding in their own educational contexts. Both days will be driven by the participants questions and both will have investigations teachers will engage in, but there will be more time for digging into activities on Day 2 with the basics in place. The basic story will be something like this:

Day 1: 
– A general introduction to the big picture of English orthography and SWI
– Working with word morphological and etymological word families
– Making sense the interrelation of morphology, etymology and phonology by working with matrices, word sums (spelling-out-loud and writing-out-loud), grapheme-phoneme correspondents and synchronic and diachronic etymology
– How to draw on SWI in the process of reading instruction, and to deepen understanding of key concepts and terms in any subject area. 
– Brief description of the research

Day 2:
– A revisiting of the key concepts of Day 1, but now with much more time for activities. 
– More time for activities
– much more time for the details of “writing-out-loud” and “spelling-out-loud”, bigger investigations 
– more time learning how to work with Etymonline to inform SWI investigations
– more practice on grapheme-phoneme-correspondences and the interrelation with morphology and phonology
– a more detailed account of the research
The point is that people can get an introduction on Day 1 if they can only commit to one day. Day 2 is hugely valuable to have time to process the concepts and terms of Day 1 and to refine understanding.

Flyer

Sep
22
Sat
IEP Clinic – Help with Your Child’s IEP @ California State University, East Bay Concord Campus
Sep 22 @ 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm

The Northern California/ East Bay LDA affiliate is excited to work with our sponsors, California State University East Bay Department of Educational Psychology and Decoding Dyslexia CA, for our fourth IEP Clinic! This will be our second clinic held at the Concord campus of CSUEB.

Join Michael Rosenberg, M.A., and our entire Northern California/East Bay Learning Disabilities Association (NCEB LDA) team for a FREE IEP clinic. There will be an overview on IEPs and help for your child’s IEP.

Michael Rosenberg will address what an IEP entails and how to interpret the information. Furthermore, Rosenberg will address specific questions related to your child’s IEP and address concerns. Some of the areas that will be covered by Rosenberg are the following:

  • Timelines & Assessments
  • Assessment Plans
  • Classroom Accommodations/Modifications
  • IEP Agenda
  • IEP Goals
  • Collaboration
  • LRE
  • Related Services

A CD will be provided with information related to Parents Rights under IDEA and Assessmento to Transportation.

We hope you will join our IEP clinic to better assist your child’s IEP and to grasp a better understanding of your child’s IEP.

***Reminder: Admission is FREE

We strongly suggest you RSVP to this event by September 7th in order to help us prepare. Registrations are on a first come first served basis. Spaces may fill quickly.

Download and print the flyer.

Speaker Bio:

Michael Rosenberg, M.A. —

Training and Advocacy Chair, NCEB LDA

As former Executive Director of Area Board 3 on Developmental Disabilities, Michael provided advocacy services for more than 1.6 million people, training opportunities to the community, and represented parents who have children in special education as well as families and adults’ service by the regional center system. He has helped countless numbers of families achieve success by being an advocate and negotiator, as well as lecturing in the areas of education, community, family support and legislation. Michael has spent more than two decades assisting families.
Michael Rosengerg

Sep
29
Sat
Structured Word Inquiry @ Athena Academy
Sep 29 @ 9:30 am – 3:30 pm

Register for the class directly through the instructor:  peterbowers1@mac.com

Full day workshop!  Who is this workshop for?

This workshop is appropriate for teachers and tutors new to SWI and those who have attended workshops and worked with SWI for some time.  Those who have attended Pete’s workshops multiple times know that revisiting these introductory sessions is particularly rich for deepening understanding and confidence in their instructional practice.  The content addresses instruction of children of all ages and abilities.

Download the Flyer for more information

Oct
24
Wed
International Dyslexia Association Annual Conference 2018 @ Foxwoods Resorts
Oct 24 @ 8:30 am – Oct 27 @ 5:00 pm

IDA’s Annual International Conference is the premier professional development conference dedicated to dyslexia. The conference brings in experts from all over the world to educate attendees on the latest research, remediation, and more.

The Reading, Literacy & Learning Conference is held for both professionals and families and is attended by some 2,500 teachers, educators, and administrators, reading specialists, researchers, university faculty, psychologists, physicians, tutors, and parents.

The four-day conference includes the following:

  • Four general sessions with keynote speakers
  • Full- and half-day pre-conference symposia
  • Over 100 sessions
  • Exhibit Hall
  • Networking opportunities
  • Social events
  • Visits to local schools
  • And much more!
Sep
14
Sat
Students with Dyslexia: Essentials of Assessment @ California State University, East Bay - Valley Business and Technology Center - 124
Sep 14 @ 8:00 am – 12:30 pm

This half-day workshop will focus on the assessment of dyslexia. Dr. Mather will address the definition of dyslexia; the importance of assessing cognitive and linguistic processes, including phonological awareness, orthographic coding, processing speed, and rapid automatized naming. In addition, she will discuss several challenges inherent in the assessment of dyslexia, including: early identification, twice exceptional students, and co-occurring disorders, such as ADHD and language impairment.

This event is intended for school psychologists, speech and language professionals, resource specialists, special education and general education teachers, school administrators, educational therapists, and all credentialing candidates in these fields as well as professional advocates. This event is open to the general public, however, it should be noted that it will be somewhat technical in nature.

California State University East Bay and Decoding Dyslexia CA support best practices with respect to dyslexia as outlined by the California Dyslexia Guidelines. Net proceeds from this event will be used to host future CSUEB events to increase dyslexia awareness.

Registration opens at 8:00 a.m. Workshop is 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Dr. Mather’s Bio:

Nancy Mather is a Professor Emerita at the University of Arizona in the Department of Disability and Psychoeducational Studies. She is a coauthor of the WJ IV and has coauthored two books on the interpretation and application of the WJ IV: Essentials of WJ IV Tests of Achievement and Woodcock-Johnson IV: Reports, Recommendations, and Strategies. She has published numerous articles, conducts workshops on assessment and instruction both nationally and internationally, and has coauthored several books linking assessment and intervention, including Learning Disabilities and Challenging Behaviors (3rd ed.), Essentials of Assessment Report Writing (2nd. ed.), and Essentials of Dyslexia: Assessment and Intervention.