As we completed our last trip for the year, we took a look back at 2016 and were astonished about how much we had accomplished around this country and abroad. We thought it would be fun to share with you so that we can all celebrate the dyslexia movement and the increase in awareness in so many different venues.
2016: A Year in Review
January 2016
We had the honor of providing a presentation in partnership with Decoding Dyslexia – NJ which was generously hosted by The College of New Jersey (TCNJ). We spoke about dyslexia, advocacy and structured word inquiry.
The very next day, we were very excited to present at the Auditory Oral School of New York/Strivright to Succeed in Brooklyn. That was a fascinating experience where we had the opportunity to talk with teachers, SLPs and parents about dyslexia and appropriate interventions.
February 2016
In February we began a training for teachers, school psychologists, Speech and Language therapists, administrators and charter schools in Reno, sponsored by the Nevada Department of Education, that was also used four more times in Las Vegas by the time summer arrived.
The topic of assessment and screening for dyslexia was addressed with a wonderful group of trainees at the Apple Group in Arkansas. We accomplished this via teleconferencing and it was a success.
March 2016
March was very exciting as it marked the beginning of Dr. Kelli’s tenure as the Dyslexia Consultant for Arlington Public Schools. Dr. Kelli visited the district in March and began her report and recommendations that would be published in July 2016.
March also brought the first training in Las Vegas sponsored by the Nevada Department of Education.
April 2016
April was a very special month because Dr. Kelli’s book, Dyslexia Advocate! How to Advocate for Students in the Public Education System was released.
At DTI we never stop training, learning and thinking. So, off we went to San Francisco to attend Wordstock with Gina Cooke. We spent the weekend talking and learning about words, word origins, phonology and geeking out about morphology.
Dr. Kelli and DDCA (among a panel of SLPs) presented a workshop explaining California’s new law AB1369 at the CSHA conference in Anaheim.
We were off to another round of training in Las Vegas!
May 2016
We were lucky enough to participate in the passing of the California PTA dyslexia resolution on May 7, 2016 in San Diego. For some reason, when the resolution passed we were all tears, uncontrollable tears of gratitude and joy.
May had us flying, one more time, to Las Vegas sponsored by the Nevada Department of Education.
July 2016
In July DTI was lucky enough to present a full day workshop about dyslexia at the annual International Literacy Association (ILA) in Boston along with a regular session where we presented our Dyslexia for a Day simulation kit. We’ll be back for another full day workshop in 2017 in Orlando!
From Boston, Dr. Kelli was honored to be invited to attend Dyslexia Hill Days in Washington D.C. where she met with many Decoding Dyslexia parents as well as Learning Ally and the amazing Ameer Baraka. It was three days filled with meetings with legislators and even a lock-down thrown in for good measure.
September 2016
This was a fun month because we were able to be participants, not presenters, in a training in central California where we were happy to learn from Dr. Nancy Mather.
October 2016
October started with Dr. Kelli flying to Austin to be the keynote speaker at the Central Dyslexia Conference where up to 800 teachers and educators attended. They were a fabulous crowd.
Then it was off to the annual International Dyslexia Conference in Orlando. We were excited to meet up with old colleagues, turned friends at this conference.
November 2016
November was the crowning jewel for DTI. We were invited to speak to a school district in a suburb of Chicago which had a phenomenal turnout of 150 teachers.
Then we were off to Toronto, Canada where Dr. Kelli was invited to keynote a conference that was hosted by Decoding Dyslexia – Ontario and the local IDA branch. This was the perfect way to wrap up a very busy travel season. Canada is just starting their journey and we are proud to be part of that journey.
I don’t know about you, but I am exhausted just reading through that list. However, it is gratifying to know that all those miles in the air, all the bad airport food and the constant adjustment to time zones paid off because we know that at least one student’s life is better.
Okay, 2017, where you will you take us?
