The LDA Podcast

Today, LDA’s Education Committee Chair Kristina Scott Quinlan interviews author and literacy consultant Katie Garner about teaching strategies for new or struggling readers. Garner tells us that the social and emotional parts of the brain are the first to develop, and teaches how to take advantage of these already-built highways and connections to teach reading and writing skills. For more resources from LDA, visit ldaamerica.org

"There's no ceiling to what we can do." Toby Baker’s educational experience was far from easy. She has self identified as having ADHD and a learning disability, and she frequently moved around to different schools throughout K-12. When it came time to go to college, her teachers and advisors tried to dissuade her, but she went anyway.  Now she talks to us about her dissertation about the perception and success of post-secondary students with LD, and the importance of self advocating to get the resources you need to succeed.  For more resources from LDA America, visit ldaamerica.org

In this episode, we get the chance to sit down with licensed psychologist Dr. Vincent Alfonso, and First Vice President of LDA Monica McHale-Small. Both discuss the definition of a learning disability and how it differs from learning difficulties, talk about the latest neurological research, and call for more federal funding for learning disability research.  For more resources from LDA, visit https://ldaamerica.org/

"Whenever you’re dealing with a difficult situation or you’re trying to have a difficult conversation, when you spend a few moments really trying to see it from your child’s perspective and validate where they’re coming from, you change that whole tone of what that conversation is going to look like." This week we talk about parenting strategies with John Wilson, the executive director of SOAR, a non-profit school, adventure camp, and gap year experience for youth with learning disabilities and ADHD. John talks about practicing social interactions with kids at home, letting children have a say about their home schedules, and the importance of the first five minutes after you arrive home from work. For more resources from LDA, visit ldaamerica.org

“It starts with each of us and our own willingness to grow and be lifelong learners, and extend that to our children, and then extend that to our neighbors...working with our schools and making certain that our schools are inclusive and that the programs that are offered in our school buildings..." Dr. Cynthia Stadel is an educational consultant out of Portland, Oregon and has worked in federally funded literacy programs for adults on probation and parole.  In our discussion, Dr. Stadel discusses how students with disabilities and students of color are more likely to be affected by the school to prison pipeline, and speaks on what communities and families should be doing to help these students to succeed. 

78 year old Ann Johnson went through school without knowing what a learning disability was. It wasn’t until she was testing students with learning disabilities that she realized the term may apply to her. Johnson talks about navigating her life with a learning disability, and offers advice based on her own experiences. 

Dr. John King Jr, former U.S. Secretary of Education, and President and CEO of the Education Trust, talks about the role education has played in his life, and touches on topics such as diversifying educators, improving the student teaching experience, and allocating resources to the students that need it most. A special thanks to Learning Disabilities Foundation of America for making The LDA Podcast possible.