Discussion Announcement

On September 22-23, 2008, the Learning Disabilities Discussion List is hosting a guest discussion of The Dyslexia Research Registry: Making the Difference in Reading Research! with Dr. Megan (Dixon) Bakan, Research Associate, Florida State University. Please read the discussion information below.

Guest's Bio:

Megan (Dixon) Bakan holds a Ph.D. from Florida State University in Cognitive Psychology. Her research areas included reading, spelling, phonological and orthographic processing and learning disabilities in adults and children. Megan obtained her Master's degree from Wright State University (Dayton, Ohio) in Applied Behavioral Science. Her studies focused on teenage pregnancy and gerontology. Her Bachelor's degree is from Xavier University (Cincinnati, Ohio) in Psychology with a Business minor.

Megan became interested in literacy and reading disabilities when working as the Volunteer Coordinator at the Miami Valley Literacy Council in Dayton, OH. Through one-on-one tutoring and assisting tutor-student pairs she became aware that many adult learners appeared to have learning disabilities that impaired their ability to learn to read and spell. During this time, she conducted research with Dr. Laura Weisel using PowerPath and EMDR.

Volunteering as a tutor and tutor trainer in adult literacy has continued to be a passion of Megan's throughout her career. She has also created and conducted family literacy workshops for Literacy Volunteers of Leon County (Tallahassee, FL).

Currently, Megan is a Research Associate for the Dyslexia Research Registry and Learning Disability Center at Florida State University, funded by The National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development. The Dyslexia Research Registry operates in conjunction with the Florida Center for Reading Research. The primary purpose of the Dyslexia Research Registry is to facilitate research in the understanding of dyslexia by recruiting families who are interested in volunteering for projects studying reading disabilities. Families are then invited to participate in research studies. Current studies include Molecular Genetic and Behavioral Studies of Profoundly-Impaired Readers.

Outline for the Discussion

• Florida Learning Disabilities Research Center
  Richard Wagner, PhD, Florida State University
• Northeast Learning Disabilities Research Center
  Laurie Cutting, PhD, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD
• Colorado Learning Disabilities Research Center Richard Olson, PhD, University of Colorado
• Texas Learning Disabilities Research Center
  Jack Fletcher, PhD, University of Houston

1. What is the purpose of the regional Learning Disabilities Centers?
2. How do they function?
3. What specific services are offered to adults and children with undiagnosed or diagnosed dyslexia through the Learning Disabilities Centers?

1. What is the DRR's relationship to the LD Center at Florida State University?
2. How does the DRR facilitate research in the understanding of dyslexia?
3. How does the DRR recruit families who have a child with severe reading disabilities and who would like to participate in studies of dyslexia?
4. What opportunities do families receive to learn about each research project and then to participate?
5. What opportunities are there for educators and other professionals to be involved in reading research and assessing individual's reading related skills?
6. What assessments are used by the DRR?

1. Who is Dr. Richard K. Wagner and what is his role with the DRR?
2. Why is more research needed to understand dyslexia?
3. What aspects of reading development have been the focus for research?
4. What aspects of reading development have been researched by Dr. Wagner's lab?
5. What tests have been developed to assess dyslexia?
6. What intensive remedial instruction for children with severe reading disabilities are being provided?
7. In the past decade, why has there been a greater understanding of how children and adults learn to read and why some individuals have difficulty learning to read?

1. What genetics research is now being done?
2. How do the family environment and heredity each play roles in genetics?
3. Is research looking for a 'dyslexia gene?"

1. Online
2. Assistive Technology
3. Other

1. How do I follow up if I want more information on DRR?

Reading List

• Dyslexia News and Research
• Shaywitz, Sally E. and Shaywitz, Bennett A. Shaywitz, The Neurobiology of Reading and Dyslexia. Focus on Basics, Volume 5, Issue A, August 2001.
• Shaywitz, Sally E. and Shaywitz, Bennett A. Shaywitz, The Neurobiology of Reading and Dyslexia. Focus on Basics,Volume 8, Issue D, November 2007.
• Georgetown University Medical Center, Center for the Study of Learning