Dyslexia Conference Set for Mississippi College

Mississippi College annually hosts dyslexia conferences.

Up to 43 million Americans struggle with dyslexia, a learning disability making it difficult to read, write and spell.

Experts in the field will visit Mississippi College for a conference to discuss research, strategies and ways for young people to better cope with dyslexia.

Leaders of the Mississippi College Dyslexia Education and Evaluation Center will orchestrate the September 27-28 meetings on the Clinton campus.

The MC center is teaming with the School of Education and the Mississippi chapter of the Academic Language Therapy Association to sponsor the event. As many as 300 dyslexia therapists, parents, teachers, school administrators and students are expected to attend.

“This will offer participants a chance to hear from nationally recognized experts in the field,” says Jan Hankins, the center’s director.

Instead of two dyslexia conferences hosted each year at the Christian university, there will be one program in 2019. The upcoming conference will be expanded and extend over two days.

“We hope everyone will take advantage of this unique training opportunity,” Hankins said.

Dyslexia is a huge issue. An estimated 80 percent of American students with learning disabilities have dyslexia. The International Dyslexia Association estimates that 15 to 20 percent of the American population has some of the symptoms of the learning disorder. It impacts many children as well as millions of adults.

The keynote speaker on Friday is educator Rick Lavoie, an administrator of residential programs for children with special needs since 1972.

A consultant on learning disabilities, Lavoie has lectured at schools such as Harvard, Syracuse, Alabama and Georgetown. He’s appeared on news programs like ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Rick has delivered his message to more than 500,000 parents and professionals across the USA.

The keynote speaker Saturday is Jennings Miller, a fellow at the Academy of Orton Gillingham Practitioners and Educators. She runs a private reading therapy practice and trains teachers.

Other conference speakers include Mississippi College math professor Melinda Gann. She’s the secondary mathematics education coordinator on the Clinton campus. Kathy Henley, an evaluator at the MC dyslexia center, will also conduct one of the breakout sessions.

Cost of the conference is $75 per day or $130 to cover both days. The Fall conference begins with registration and check-in from 7:15 a.m. until 8:15 a.m. on September 27.

Pre-registration ends on September 12. Contact Shirley Tipton at tipton@mc.edu or 601-925-7667 for more details.