Reading Horizons to Host Second-Annual Online Dyslexia Summit

(Salt Lake City, UT) October 10, 2018 — To help teachers identify, accommodate, and support students with dyslexia, Reading Horizons is hosting its second-annual Online Dyslexia Summit on Thursday, October 18. During the event, top dyslexia experts will showcase the latest research and best practices to address the needs of the 10-20% of students who have dyslexia.

Free registration is open until the summit begins at 10 a.m. MT. The summit starts with presentations from prominent authors of books researching the importance of identifying and accommodating students with dyslexia.

Louise Spear-Swerling, a professor of special education and area coordinator of the graduate program in learning disabilities at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, CT, and author of The Power of RTI and Reading Profiles: A Blueprint for Solving Reading Problems, will be speaking about using case studies to understand dyslexia.
Dr. Mark Seidenberg, a Vilas Research Professor in the department of psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and author of Language at the Speed of Sight: How We Read, Why So Many Can’t, and What Can Be Done About It, will be holding a Q&A and live recording of an episode of the podcast Podclassed.

Following the speaking sessions, three Reading Horizons reading specialists will hold a panel discussion. Panelists include:

Shantell Berrett, MA: Using her experience as a dyslexia specialist, English teacher, reading/dyslexia tutor, and mother of a child with dyslexia and dysgraphia, Berrett provides consulting support for schools across the nation.
Donell Pons, M.Ed., MAT, SPED: A reading and dyslexia specialist, as well as a certified dyslexia screener and consultant, Pons started her career in education when her youngest son was diagnosed with dyslexia.
Laura Axtell, M. Ed: An educational specialist with Reading Horizons and host of the podcast Podclassed, Axtell has spent the last year working with experts to develop a free dyslexia screener for districts across the country.

Other speakers at the summit will include acclaimed artist Madalyne Marie Hymas; dual-language teacher Scott Mills; and John Therrien, author of Learn About Dyslexia: Noah Teaches, a book that explains dyslexia to kids.

“Legislation that would require teacher coaching for identifying and supporting students with dyslexia hasn’t quite reached every state,” said Tyson Smith, the president and CEO of Reading Horizons. “With the number of students struggling to read, this summit is for educators who want to strategically provide an equal opportunity for every student to reach their full potential.”

Summit attendees will earn up to 5.5 hours of professional development credits. All registrants will receive links to each presentation following the live broadcast. Interested educators can watch a video of last year’s summit here.

About Reading Horizons
For more than 30 years, Reading Horizons has dedicated its time and efforts to perfecting a reading system that makes learning to read simple and enjoyable for beginning and struggling readers. All of Reading Horizons’ products are based on a method that provides explicit, systematic, sequential decoding instruction. The Reading Horizons method has been proven successful for beginning readers, struggling readers, and students learning English. For more information, please visit ReadingHorizons.com.