Here is a phrase that always puzzled me: “Kids have it so easy.”
Really? Because do you actually remember being a kid? School can be extraordinarily stressful, full of bullying, insular social cliques, and tons of homework. When someone says that kids have it easy, they are usually remembering their own childhood through rose-tinted glasses. The reality is quite a different story. Being a kid can be stressful, and that’s assuming that they aren’t struggling with reading, writing, learning, or executive functioning challenges on top of everything else. For those kids with learning disabilities, trying to navigate their school work on a day-to-day basis can be overwhelming if they aren’t being given the proper academic support.
For many years now, I have worked with both adults and children coping with a wide variety of learning disabilities. Over that time, I’ve seen assistive technology start to progress at a rapid pace. Accessibility tools that were prohibitively expensive just a few years ago now come standard issue with every smartphone. This can be an absolute blessing for those who need a little bit of help with their learning challenges. The problem is that these learning tools are often not used to their full potential. Both parents and children need to learn the ins and outs of how these smart devices can revolutionize their learning outcomes and help them overcome the academic challenges they face.
On April 28th, I will be a featured speaker at the Successful Strategies for Home and School Conference, hosted by LDAMC (The Learning Disabilities Association of Montgomery County) and the Learning Disabilities Association of Maryland (LDAMD). The conference will be starting at 9:00am sharp and continue to 3:30pm (basically a school day!). The day will be split into two half-day sessions, one featuring Dr. Rebecca Resnik talking about how the emotions of students can help improve their learning outcomes, and the other featuring me, Joan Green! In my session, I will be helping you zero in on the tools and strategies that modern technology has given us to help manage learning disabilities in students. By properly utilizing the technology that they already have in their pocket (their smartphone), students will be better able to face the academic challenges they confront every day. I will also be talking about the free Google productivity suite, GSuite, and many of the apps and extensions that can help support students with learning disabilities.
There is more to the conference than our talks. There will also be vendors on site throughout the day offering materials and programs for LD/ADHD remediation. Attendees of the conference will also receive Continuing Education credits, thanks to a partnership between LDAMC and the Thrive Center. General registration is now open for the conference, being held at Universities at Shady Grove Conference Center at 9630 Gudelsky Drive, Rockville, MD. You can register for either a half-day or a full-day. My session, Using Technology to Help Students Thrive, will be held in the second half of the day.
If you have any questions about the conference itself, you can contact LDAMC at programs@ldamc.org or call them at 301-933-1076. If you have any questions for me about my session, you can contact me directly at joan@innovativespeech.com. If you’d like to learn more about what we do at Innovative Speech Therapy, I invite you to visit us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. If you’re looking for a speech or technology specialist to help improve your communication, productivity, reading, or writing, then please visit this page and we can set up a free 15-minute consultation!