Hello professional developers,
 
I am very pleased  to announce the Learning Disabilities Discussion List's 
next guest discussion scheduled  for September 22 and 23, 2008. The title of 
the discussion will be The Dyslexia Research Registry: Making the  Difference 
in Reading  Research!  Dr. Megan (Dixon) Bakan, Research Associate, Florida 
State University, will be our guest  speaker.  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 
 
I. What are the 4  regional Learning Disability Centers (see below) 
funded by the National  Institutes of Health and what are they funded to do? 
 
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 


Questions  for Consideration Leading Up to the Discussion 
 
A.  What is the purpose of the regional Learning Disabilities  Centers? 
B. How  do they function? 
C. What  specific services are offered to adults and children with 
undiagnosed or  diagnosed dyslexia through the  Learning Disabilities Centers?
 

II. What is the Dyslexia  Research Registry (DRR)? 
 
Questions  for Consideration Leading Up to the Discussion 
 
A.  What is the DRR’s relationship to the LD Center at Florida State 
University? 
B. How  does the DRR facilitate research in the understanding of  dyslexia? 
C. How  does the DRR recruit families who have a child with severe 
reading disabilities and who would like to  participate in studies of  
dyslexia? 
D. What  opportunities do families receive to learn about each research 
project and then to  participate? 
E. What  opportunities are there for educators and other professionals to be 
involved in reading research and assessing  individual’s reading related  
skills? 
F. What assessments are  used by the DRR? 
 
III. What past  research has come out of the Dr. Richard Wagner’s  Lab?
 
Questions Leading Up to the  Discussion 
 
A.  Who is Dr. Richard K. Wagner and what is his role with the  DRR? 
B. Why  is more research needed to understand  dyslexia? 
C. What  aspects of reading development have been the focus for  research? 
D. What  aspects of reading have been researched by Dr. Wagner’s  lab? 
E. What tests have been  developed to assess  dyslexia? 
F. What  intensive remedial instruction for children with severe reading 
disabilities is being  provided? 
G. In  the past decade, why has there been a greater understanding of  how 
children and adults learn  to read and why some individuals have  the 
difficulty learning to  read? 
 
IV. What are the  current research projects underway on genetics & dyslexia? 
 
Questions  Leading Up to the Discussion 
 
A.  What genetics research is now being  done? 
B. How  do the family environment and heredity each play roles in  genetics? 
C. Is  research looking for a ‘dyslexia gene?” 
 
V. What resources  are available for your information? 
 
VI. Conclusion 
 
Please share this  announcement with your colleagues and those interested in 
this  important topic. In order to benefit and participate in the discussion, 
subscription to our free Learning Disabilities  Discussion List is required. 
Subscription can be completed at 
_http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/Learningdisabilities_ 
(http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/Learningdisabilities_)  
 

 
Thank you, 
 
Rochelle Kenyon,  Ed.D. 
Moderator, NIFL/LINCS Learning  Disabilities Discussion List 
Center for Literacy Studies at  the University of  Tennessee 
_RKenyon721 at aol.com_ (mailto:RKenyon721 at aol.com)  
321.637.1319 




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