Data, including NAEP scores, graduation rates and college completion rates indicate that despite their potential, students with SLD are often not succeeding. Special schools can play an important role and should be part of a solution, and can partner with public schools in a number of ways to improve outcomes for all students. 

In this virtual panel, Dr. Douglas Fuchs, Emeritus Nicholas Hobbs Chair of Special Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt University, will provide an overview of the current state of special education for students with SLD.

We will then hear from four panelists who practice in schools focused on facilitating success for students with learning and disabilities. Next, discussant Dr. Elizabeth Talbot, Professor and Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development in the School of Education at William and Mary, will offer summary remarks on practices and policy implications. The event will conclude with time for questions from the audience.

This panel will be recorded, and the recording will be made available to LDA Members. 

You can sign up HERE

Understood’s recent research found that over 40% of parents don’t know that learning and thinking differences are caused by biological variations in the brain. Instead, many mistakenly attribute these differences to how a child is raised, environmental factors, or excessive screen time. This stigma can keep kids from getting the support they need.

Through My Eyes is available at no cost on mobile, tablet, and desktop, including Chromebooks for classroom use. It doesn’t require any special technology. To access it, simply visit U.org/ThroughMyEyes.

Visit the platform HERE

See it all at https://dys4dys.org

In a recent article published in the journal Neuron, neurobiologists Blake Richards and Paul Frankland challenge the predominant view of memory, which holds that forgetting is a process of loss—the gradual washing away of critical information despite our best efforts to retain it. According to Richards and Frankland, the goal of memory is not just to store information accurately but to “optimize decision-making” in chaotic, quickly changing environments. In this model of cognition, forgetting is an evolutionary strategy, a purposeful process that runs in the background of memory, evaluating and discarding information that doesn’t promote the survival of the species.

Read all about it HERE

The latest data from the 2024 Nation’s Report Card is a sobering indictment of the state of American education. While slight improvements in math scores offer a glimmer of hope, the continued decline in reading proficiency — particularly among fourth-graders — is cause for urgent concern. To frame this solely as an education crisis is to miss the broader implications: This is, in every sense, a public health emergency.

As a pediatrician, I’ve long understood that literacy is not just an academic skill — it’s a vital developmental sign. In the exam room, alongside questions about sleep, vaccines, and nutrition, I ask about reading routines. That’s because brain development in early childhood is not a passive process. It’s actively shaped by human connection, responsive interactions, and, perhaps most powerfully, the simple act of reading aloud.

Read the full post by Terri D. McFadden, MD, FAAP HERE

While dyslexia is a learning disability, it doesn’t just affect one’s academic life, the impact of the disability pervades a person’s socio-economic life and their relationships too.

Due to a lack of awareness, learning disabilities are often associated with only academic impairment, which is why their impact on other aspects of life often goes unnoticed or is not understood very well, even by people who’ve been diagnosed with them.

Read the full article HERE