Monday, June 15, 2009

My visit to the Dyslexia Center at Scottish Rite

A couple of weeks ago I had a chance to visit the Lukes Waites Center for Dyslexia and Learning Disorders at the Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas. I requested a meeting with their staff as part of my research in this area, trying to learn best practices in terms of diagnosis and treatment from the experts in the field. During my visit, I met with Dr. Jeffrey Black (Medical Director), Ms. Gladys Kolenovsky (Administrative Director), Dr. Monte Davenport (Diagnostics Services Coordinator), Dr. E. Vennecia Jackson, Ms. Tricia Quisenberry (Outreach Coordinator) and Ms. Evelyn Madu (Dyslexia therapist instructor). We had a very informative 90-minute meeting, where we discussed the TEA Dyslexia Handbook, different diagnosis and treatment methods and the importance of continuous monitoring after the kids leave a Dyslexia program.

The staff at Scottish Rite indicated that implementation of an effective assessment and treatment program is closely tied to the right and continuous training and level of experience of the staff making the assessments and treating the condition. It is important that the staff working to diagnose and treat the students keeps up with the latest research findings, as many changes in the field have occurred in the last 20 years. Dr. Black provided to me a list of great sources of information in the area of reading intervention, including www.fcrr.org and www.centeroninstruction.org.

The staff at Scottish Rite is very interested in partnering with school districts in DFW to make sure we provide effective programs to all our kids. They are a great resource for training and staff support. Also, since the hospital’s inception in 1921, no patient family has been charged for services. The hospital operates solely on voluntary gifts from generous individuals, corporations and foundations. We are extremely lucky to have Dr. Black and his staff in our backyard.

1 comment:

  1. Truly, the staff at TSRHC Dallas increases the body of knowledge about dyslexia and testing for its characteristics every year. I love the fact they partner with area school districts to provide ongoing support as willing districts provide effective programs to children with Dyslexia.

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