The LDA Podcast

Jeremy Didier is an ADHD coach, parent, immediate past president of CHADD's board of directors, a clinical social worker, and addiction counselor. Jeremy explains the importance of recognizing ADHD, shares how parents can support their neurodivergent children, and discusses her own ADHD diagnosis that came later in life. 

Katrina Huels, founder and CEO of Applied Harmony, discusses how burnout can impact educators and administrators. 

Breanna Raborn is a speech language pathologist specializing in pediatric private practice. Breanna discusses NVLD, and how speech language pathologists can help improve social communication and understanding of receptive and expressive language. 

Ryan Buggy of The Reading League is a PhD student in cognitive psychology, and is currently using eye tracking technology to study how the brain processes language. Ryan discusses the cognitive processes that impact reading and language and what the latest eye-tracking research can tell us about how we read. Based on this research, Ryan also shares best practices for educators and practitioners. ...

Carlin Graveline Ku discusses developmental language disorder, and shares how language skills and reading skills intersect. Carlin explains why DLD is hard to identify, and the importance of understanding the root cause of difficulties in reading.  Read Untangling DLD and Dyslexia 

Dr. Sarah Oberle and Mitch Weathers, co-authors of “Executive Functions for Every K-3 Classroom: Promoting Self-Regulation for a Strong Start” discuss the increased need of support in working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility in K-3 students, and the unique considerations and strategies needed for the primary population. 

Carolyn Skowron discusses her lived experience with Nonverbal Learning Disability, which can impact visual-spatial abilities and social abilities. Carolyn shares advice, talks about the obstacles and social-emotional challenges that those with NVLD face, and more! Visit Carolyn’s website: https://www.carolynsophia.com/unbreakable  

Zero Barriers in STEM Education is a new, free educational resource from the Smithsonian Science Education Center that gets students to investigate barriers to accessibility in their community by using social science tools.  Khadijah Thibodeaux, a Senior Science Curriculum Developer at the Smithsonian Science Education Center, shares the process of creating the guide, which includes over 60 perspe...

Amy Margolis and Prudence Fisher are two nonverbal learning disability researchers who are pushing to get NVLD included in the DSM, and proposing a rename: Developmental Visual-Spatial Disorder.  Amy and Prudence discuss the signs of NVLD, how it differs from other diagnoses, and how a lack of understanding and awareness can lead to those with a visual-spatial disorder not getting the key support...

We’re joined by Kelli Fetter, founder of Handwriting Solutions, to talk all things dysgraphia! Kelli talks with us about how dysgraphia is so much more than just ‘messy handwriting,’ how to balance building handwriting skills with accommodations, pervasive dysgraphia myths, and more.  Learn more about Handwriting Solutions at handwritingsolutions.org .  

Owen Small, a research assistant at Trinity College Dublin, shares how ADHD and dysgraphia impact his day-to-day in adulthood.  Owen discusses how the self-knowledge from a diagnosis helped to reduce his stress around handwriting and productivity, provides insight into the ‘tides’ of motivation that can accompany ADHD, and shares advice for fellow individuals with LD. 

Dr. Paul Morgan is a researcher investigating disparities in disability identification and treatment during childhood. His research has found that students of color are likely to be under-identified for special education services despite a prevailing narrative that over-identification is always the issue.  Dr. Morgan discusses the methodology of his studies, the importance of investigating a fulle...

Santina Taglialatela, a recruiting coordinator who was recently diagnosed with dyscalculia, shares her experience of living with dyscalculia as an adult.  Santina discusses some lesser known challenges that are caused by dyscalculia, managing and advocating for your learning disability in the workplace, the grieving process that can occur after getting a diagnosis later in life, and more! 

Dr. Steven Feifer, a neuropsychologist who has authored 3 diagnostic achievement assessments, talks with us about the importance of understanding the different cognitive processes involved in reading, math, and writing to answer why a student is struggling. Dr. Feifer will also be a keynote speaker at our 63rd Annual International Conference in St. Louis, and shares how his presentation will focus...

Dr. Angela Thompson and Dr. Julia Carroll join us to discuss their recent research paper: Seeing, Being Seen, and Being Able to See Dyslexia in English Schools: Parent and Teacher Perspectives.  Dr. Thompson and Dr. Carroll discuss how parents and teachers perceive inclusion for dyslexic students differently, including of lived experiences and school structure in their research, and the importance...

We talk with Stefan Bauer, the Co-Founder and CEO of Marker Learning, an AI support for psychologists and educators designed to help more students to receive an evaluation. Stefan discusses his own difficulty in getting an evaluation growing up, how his diagnosis of dyslexia provided him with a roadmap to success, and the highlights of being able to pay it forward by creating Marker Learning.

When teachers struggled to support her daughter with dyslexia, Kirsten Bronkovic became inspired to create an 3D experiential platform to build empathy and understanding about neurodiverse students. Kirsten, CEO and Co-Founder of EmpathEd, joins us to discuss obstacles educators face when trying to understand neurodiverse students, how misconceptions can cause harm, and how neurodiverse individual...

Kelly Tanzi, a fourth grade writing teacher with a background in special education, shares how incorporating the arts into learning can create a powerful multi-dimensional learning experience for all students.  Kelly discusses how incorporating arts projects can give students who struggle with reading and writing more agency in how they present their knowledge, and can hook the interest of relucta...

Dr. Julia Carroll, the lead researcher of "Toward a Consensus on Dyslexia," discusses why a consistent definition of dyslexia is so important, and the findings of the study. Highlights of the study include involving individuals with dyslexia, the large role cognitive processing plays in dyslexia, the need for interventions tailored to the individual, and more. Dr. Carroll also discusses...

Aaron Wolf is a neurodiversity advocate, actor, director, media host, cofounder of film production company Howling Wolf Productions, and the founder of I Am Able, a nonprofit dedicated to neurodiversity awareness.  Aaron discusses his experience with neurodiversity, what led him to create I Am Able, and how his natural creativity drove him to become a storyteller of neurodiverse experiences.  http...

“I think the most radical thing you can do in education is speak up, listen, and to make room for love because every learner has a powerful story, and it's one that can be told and received when we offer the right tools to do so.” -Caroline Weaver We sit with LD advocate and researcher Caroline Weaver to discuss her interdisciplinary capstone project that creates an intersection of lived expe...

We sit down with Dr. Jeff Karp, a distinguished chair at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, professor at Harvard Medical School and MIT, and upcoming keynote speaker at our 62nd Annual Conference. Dr. Karp discusses his experience with learning disabilities, and how he began ‘thinking about thinking,’ and using pattern-recognition to begin to thrive. Dr. Karp shares some of his “Life Ignition Tools,” d...

Dr. Jan Wasowicz, a speech language pathologist and board certified specialist in child language, discusses Developmental Language Disorder, the signs of DLD, what an ideal evaluation would look like, and more.  Resources: Join the SPELLTalk listserv We Need to Keep (But Revise) The Specific Learning Disability Construct in IDEA www. DLDandme.org www. RADLD.org

In this second part of our conversation with Dr. Jan Wasowicz, Dr. Wasowicz delves into what an ideal intervention for developmental language disorder would look like, how language screeners are no longer a common practice in schools, and how interprofessional collaboration between speech language pathologists, school psychologists, and special education teachers is essential to effectively identi...

Neurodiversity Alliance Ambassadors Lydia Pinto and Shoshana Holt-Auslander join us to talk about their journeys of becoming learning disability advocates, and how their current graduate school research projects are benefiting the disability community. Lydia and Shoshana also discuss defining success for themselves, the importance of sharing neurodiverse experiences to erase stigma, and more!