LDA does not endorse or assume responsibility for any service, treatment, method, or product provided by this newsletter. Such listings are presented solely for the reader’s information.
Thank you so much for making our 2nd annual conference, Successful Strategies for Home and School: body and mind,
a grand success!
Extra special thanks to our fabulous presenters, Pamela Compart, Jessie Norris Taylor, Joye Newman, Selene Almazan, Rebecca Resnick, Ken Stefano, and Sarah Wayland, and our president extraordinaire, Bonnie Massimino.
We have included pictures from the event throughout the newsletter.
Our fabulous keynote, Pamela Compart
Please join us for our next event on
June 14 at 7:00 pm
at the Rockville Library
for a presentation on Processing Speed.
Presentation Description:
Many of our children struggle with slow processing speed; but what does this mean, exactly? In this lecture, we will describe what is meant by the term “processing speed†and discuss its role in learning and attention problems. We will discuss strategies for supporting children with slow processing, as well as useful accommodations.
Bios:
Lauren McGrath, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the School of Education and director of the L.E.a.R.N. Lab at American University. Her research focuses on cognitive risk factors for developmental disorders, particularly learning disabilities. Her work is cross-disciplinary, utilizing perspectives and methods from neuropsychology, cognitive neuroscience, child clinical psychology, and education. By integrating current findings in neuropsychology with educational practice, her work aims to translate research on learning disabilities into novel intervention strategies.
Doug Fagen, Ph.D. is a clinical child psychologist who earned his doctoral degree at the University of Rochester. He has worked with students with learning and emotional difficulties for over 15 years. Upon completing his doctoral work, Dr. Fagen served as a postdoctoral fellow at The Forbush School, a private day school for students with severe emotional difficulties in Baltimore, Maryland. He has been at The Lab School of Washington since 1999, and currently serves as the Head of the Psychological Services Department at The Lab School.
Dr. Fagen has a special interest in working with adolescents with learning and emotional difficulties, and their families. He has longstanding interests in issues of intrinsic motivation, the use of mindfulness practices to promote mental health, and the challenges of parenting in the information age.
Our own Edith Peter mans the Healthy Child Project exhibit
Are you feeling confused and lonely thinking about you or your child's learning disabilities?
We’re here for you and for all others who need to talk to a friendly voice. No phone call or email goes unanswered. Contact us at the Helpline – ldamc@ldamc.org or 301-933-1076
Please renew your membership to LDAMC and support our community! THANKS!
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LDAMC is a totally volunteer run, non-profit organization. We provide as many programs, events, and resources as we can FREE of CHARGE to the community, but we need your help. How can you get involved and meet fellow members of LDAMC?
We need you to volunteer! Volunteers are currently needed in a variety of areas. Please visit our website (www.ldamc.org) or contact us at ldamc@ldamc.org for information about these and other volunteer opportunities with LDAMC.
Come to a meeting! We always post the upcoming dates and times of our board meetings. Our board meetings are open to all members. Please contact us at ldamc@ldamc.org for more information.
Special Education Advisory Committe (SEAC)
Are you a teacher or parent of a special needs child in MCPS? Consider sharing your voice and experience with SEAC.
The Special Education Advisory Committee is comprised of parents, MCPS staff, and representatives of Montgomery County community groups that advocate for children with special needs and serve to advocate for, and advise, the Department of Special Education.
Meetings are held every fourth Tuesday and are open to the public. For more information, check this site.
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Discount With Membership
COLLEGEWEBLD - Receive a 15% discount for a subscription if you are an LDAMC member!
CollegeWebLD is an online searchable database of the disability support services at 400+ colleges in the US, created by Judy Bass, founder of Bass Educational Services, LLC.
Judy Bass is offering LDAMC members a 15% discount on an annual subscription. Interested? Go to the website www.collegewebld.com and sign up! Contact Judy at judy@basseducationalservices.com and tell her you are an LDAMC member to receive your discount code.
Bass Educational Services is also looking to solicit a few professionals and parents that would be interested in acting as beta-testers for the program Beta-testers would get use of the product in exchange for their feedback.
Anyone who receives this newsletter is well aware how expensive special education services (outside public education) can be. This is one reason LDAMC strives to make the services we offer our community affordable and sometimes even free of charge. Many of the LDAMC volunteers who organize our programs and provide our services are parents of children with special needs who understand the financial constraints very well.
Many schools and community organizations offer scholarships and grants for families who need, yet can't afford, the services provided. We often try to provide information on these opportunities in this newsletter. This month we are thrilled to announce that LDAMC, in partnership with Bass Educational Services, is offering a new scholarship for rising Juniors considering college. For more information, see below.
Are you a rising junior in Montgomery County with a documented learning difference? Do you know a student who is? LDA-MC is partnering with Bass Educational Services, LLC, an educational consulting firm that specializes in students who learn differently, to offer a scholarship for college planning services to a student with demonstrated financial need who has a documented learning difference.
If you could benefit from professional guidance through the college planning process, including a personalized list of colleges that would be a good fit for you, you need to apply for this scholarship!
Applications will be available at the LDA-MC conference on April 30 and online at www.ldamc.org and www.basseducationalservices.com beginning May 1. Submission deadline is July 15, 2016.
College Planning Scholarship Award includes:
College readiness assessment
Assessment of learning style and career interests
Assistance in obtaining accommodations for ACT
Mock Interview session
Development of a personalized list of appropriate colleges
Detailed description and explanation of disability services and/or programs at each college
The countdown to college can start with summer breaks. Summertime can be used to enhance a transcript or resume or discover a passion. At any grade level, there are lots of things to do.
If your child has never been on a college campus, find some local ones and do a drive-through. If possible, park in the center of campus, then visit the student union, dining hall, and any classroom buildings that are open. Try to go while summer school is in session, so if your child is brave enough to approach some students, she can ask questions. If she is too shy, just looking around at the campus is a start. Take time to look at several different types of campuses- a city location with an enclosed campus and another one right on the streets of the city; a suburban campus that may be nestled among residences or one that sits adjacent to a college town; and a rural campus, that is miles away from stores, restaurants, and a larger community.
Another use of summer break is to take a college course. Have your child look through the local community college summer catalog for an interesting course. Sometimes it can be accepted by your local high school as credit toward graduation. Talk to your child’s counselor, or better yet let her ask the counselor. If your school system offers summer school, let your child take a course that may be more difficult to take during the regular school year. Having the summer to devote to one hard subject may reduce stress or allow for a lighter load during the school year.
Summer jobs are hard to come by in these tight economic times, but volunteering can be a big payoff. Colleges always look for students who give time to the community, so finding a community service project is an ideal summer endeavor. Planning a community service project promotes initiative and leadership skills, something else colleges look for. Taking on an unpaid internship in an area of interest is another way to spend summer break. Finding out she likes or doesn’t like a career path may save money and time later on, especially when you are paying for a college education.
What to do on a rainy summer day? Explore college websites and take their virtual tours!
This time of year we are always looking for the best deals. Thanks to the competitiveness of the Internet, many creators of electronic device software are making their applications available for free.
Now the smartphone in your hand is equivalent to the PC you used to have in your office. Therefore, mobile processing is fast becoming the primary solution as we automate our lives.
We know that these technological solutions are not for everyone but just like the banking industry transformed their processing with ATM and credit cards, the rest of the processes we have come to love will change as well. I tried to donate to charity a full 29 book volume of an encyclopedia recently and was told to recycle it.
Now a nice problem to have is which of the millions of software solutions (apps) we should use. Take the time to scroll through some of these for your particular device. Each has a link to their respective store where you can download and install. I have listed some of the critical ones that you most likely have on your device to simplify your life:
This is a great resource for iPhones and similar Apple devices:
This is a great resource for everything else – Android Devices:
WhatsApp is one of the most essential apps you can install on your iOS device, especially if you have friends and family across the world.
Rather than using up your SMS allowance by sending text messages, WhatsApp lets you send messages over any Wi-Fi or mobile data connection instead. You can also send and receive photos with no size restrictions, and if you're using Wi-Fi (or you have unlimited mobile data) they won't cost you any extra to send. (Page #5 for Apple – Page #2 for Android)
Google Photos: There are probably hundreds of photo apps around, but Google Photos stands out as it gives you unlimited storage for photos and videos, all for free. But with basic editing tools and the ability to make collages and albums this is more than just photo and video storage, it aims to be your first and last stop after taking a picture. To achieve that it will need a few more features, but it's well on its way. (Page #7 for Apple – Page #10 for Android)
Snapseed is Google's own photo editor that's been designed from the ground up to make tweaking your snaps as easy and fun as possible on a touchscreen device. Although the interface is simple enough to use with just your fingers, there's a lot of depth to this app as well. You use tools to tweak and enhance your photographs to make them look the best they ever have, as well as playing around with fun filters that can transform the photos you've taken on your smartphone or tablet. (Page #8 for Apple – Page #7 for Android)
Google Maps - It's no secret that Apple Maps doesn't have the best reputation, although it has got better in recent times. Fortunately, Google Maps is a free download, and a far better solution than the old Google Maps app as well, thanks to the inclusion of turn-by-turn navigation and - in some cities - public transport directions. It's an easy way to supercharge your iPhone's mapping capabilities and one of the first apps you should grab for the iPhone 7 when it launches.
(Page #11 for Apple – Page #14 for Android)
Photo Editor is a good one. The interface is clear, and it contains all the tools you'd expect: filters, enhancements, cropping, and the ability to fire that picture of your frothy coffee/amusing dog/current skyline to Flickr, Tumblr, Facebook, or Twitter. (Page #71 for Apple – Page #87 for Android)
There are many, many more available, and if you would like to sign up for my free newsletter of what's new, potential virus hacks, and other damaging things – just send me an e-mail or click here.
Bonnie Massimino, President
Sarah Summerlin, Vice President
Phyllis Forman, Recording Secretary
Richard Bell-Irving, Treasurer
Ruth Brodsky, Past President
Committee Chairs
Bonnie Massimino - Helpline volunteers, Media, Membership, Professional Resource lists, Programs
Kathy Ryan - Calendar, Yahoo, LDA-MD Sec.
Edith Peter - LDA-MC rep. to LDA-MD Sarah Summerlin - Newsletter
Abby Kuntz-Smith - Membership
LDA of Montgomery County, MD, Inc.
LDAMC has served the community since 1965. We are a 501-c-3 non-profit registered in Maryland. LDAMC’s mission is to provide awareness, advocacy, and education about Learning Disabilities. We are a volunteer organization, affiliated with LDA-MD and LDA of America. Elected officers and a Board of Directors, under the guidance of the national organization, determine local policies and procedures.
