Talk on dyslexia, reading failure set March 27

3:18 p.m., March 11, 2008--A lecture on dyslexia, “Finding and Teaching Pre-Kindergartners at Risk for Dyslexia and Reading Failure,” is set for noon, Thursday, March 27, at UD's Early Learning Center.

The guest speaker, Laura L. Bailet, is the executive director of Nemours BrightStart!, an intervention community outreach program that identifies young children at risk for dyslexia and helps them develop pre-reading skills before they enter kindergarten.

Bailet, a licensed school psychologist, received the EVE Award in Employment from The Florida Times-Union newspaper in Jacksonville in 2006 for her development of BrightStart! and also was named by the paper as the city's “No. 1 Change Agent.” She earned a bachelor's degree from Wake Forest University and master's and doctoral degrees in communicative disorders from Northwestern University.

A former teacher of students with learning disabilities, Bailet directed the Neurocognitive Assessment Program within the Division of Neurology at Nemours Children's Medical Clinic-Jacksonville. She has written and published widely in peer-reviewed journals and has contributed chapters in several books. Her field of expertise extends to a wide range of neurocognitive problems, including autism, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia and language disorders.

For more information or to register for this free talk, which is open to the public, call (302) 831-1748 or e-mail [bgraves@udel.edu].