Oct 7: Fantastic Conference on Reading and Language Difficulties

Hi Everyone,

Next week, October 7, SPELD NSW is holding a conference about the latest international research on Reading and Language Difficulties.

SPELD is a non profit organisation that is a terrific first port of call for parents who are concerned about their child's reading or writing.

Learn more about SPELD and the conference, visit http://www.speldnsw.org.au/

And parents, on a personal note I'd like to add...when we first learned that my older son had a reading difficulty, I was told about SPELD so checked out the website. When I saw that SPELD was the Specific Learning Difficulties Association, I thought that SPELD wouldn't apply to our situation as our son didn't have a 'learning difficulty' so I didn't investigate it further.

Only later did I learn that SPELD is a fantastic resource for people who are concerned about their child's reading. I let my own definition of 'learning difficulty' cloud my perception of what this amazing organisation can offer. It has as phone line for parents to call and get information or advice. A library. And a list of tutors as well.

I'm now working with SPELD to put together a Parent Forum for early 2010 on the issue of reading difficulties.

Interestingly, one of the things we talked about in a planning meeting was the barrier some parents can have around the terms 'reading difficulty', 'learning disability', etc. One of our members, Fran, suggested we should use the term 'reading difference' because that's really what's going on with kids who have a difficulty learning to read or spell!

Treasure reading!

Karen :-)