Individual Differences
in Learning Association, Inc.

Who's Who in IDL

DEBBIE BLEAKNEY, Chief Financial Officer IDL; she has 3 years financial experience with IDL. She has been involved in IDL fundraising events and efforts and grant submissions. Debbie is instrumental in helping plan and manage IDL events, for example our volunteer appreciation evening in June of 2007. She has three children and is the Chairperson of School Directory for Pointers Run Elementary School, and a hospitality committee volunteer at Clarksville Middle School.

KATHARINA BOSER has a Ph.D. in cognitive developmental psychology and was on the faculty in cognitive neurology at the Johns Hopkins University where she researched cognitive and language impairments primarily in children with Autism. She has also studied language impairments in patients with Aphasia. She is currently the chair of Autism Speaks' Innovative technology for Autism committee and works to network academic researchers of technology with businesses, clinics and educational facilities that can use and promote them. She has been a liaison for IDL on the HCPSS gifted parents advisory committee and a gifted and talented mentor for students in Howard County interested in learning about psychological research. She also serves as a scientific advisor for educational businesses who work with twice exceptional and learning disabled students. She helped write and direct the grant that produced the 'Walking the Path with the Twice Exceptional Learner' professional development materials for HCPSS together with Trish Budd, a co-founder of IDL and its previous president She has given many lectures on the professional development model developed through her research in creating the 'Walking the Path' Materials. She has been president for Individual Differences in Learning since 2008.

' I feel very passionate about IDL's continued mission to support families and children with exceptional talents and exceptional challenges in learning. I remember being amazed at the grass-roots efforts reported in the local paper when I first moved to Howard County in 2001. Looking back, I can only say my own life (and my family's) has been tremendously influenced by my work with the IDL organization. The learning journey that I have undertaken working on the professional development materials has been amazing. I only hope the continued awareness that is necessary to be able to help twice exceptional children will carry-on through the excitement and enthusiasm of more dedicated parents and professionals. As one we have no voice, but as many we create a voice'

FRAN BOWMAN: has been in the field of special education for 34 years. She has taught all levels from pre-school to graduate school.. She was appointed to the "No Child Left Behind" Leadership Team in Maryland and teach graduate students at Goucher College. She tests more than 300 children a year and provides services to them to help improve their academic skills. Ms. Bowman is an author of a guidebook that specializes in teaching reading to dyslexic students.

She says ' I know that parents like those who work with IDL are hard to find. It is so difficult to make the time to serve other families, as most of these parents in IDL have children of their own, who require a tremendous amount of their personal time, as well. I know, with all of my heart, that early and specific intervention with students can totally and completely change their lives. I am honored to provide office space to these dedicated individuals.'

JUDITH GRADOS, Psy. D. is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Waverly Woods, near Woodstock, Maryland. For over a decade she has been helping children overcome social skills issues through group therapy sessions she calls, 'Friendship Groups'. Dr. Grados received her doctorate from Indiana State University and has completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the area of children's mental health and resilience at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. She has previously held adjunct positions on the faculty of the University of Maryland Department of Pediatrics as well as Johns Hopkins University. In 2005, she co-authored the article, 'Enhancing Resilience in Children: A Proactive Approach' in a peer-reviewed journal with Dr. Mary Alvord, of Alvord, Baker and Associates, LLC. Dr. Grados has expertise in working with anxiety in children and has a professional interest in resilient youth.

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MIKE FINNESSEY IDL's 'Secretary', Mike Finnessey, has this to say about working with IDL since its inception: 'Growing up some time ago, ADHD was an unknown acronym; I was just a 'bad kid', always doing the wrong thing at the wrong time. I learned that I was pretty much to blame for everything and could never do anything right. Even into middle age, the sight of a group of children was something I feared and would shy away from. Blessed with the best parents ever, tons of support and lots of luck, I managed to make it to Research Scientist in a field I love, Climate Research. But I worry and feel for those less fortunate than I and am honored to be the Secretary of IDL. The realization 11 years ago that both my 7-year old son James and I had ADHD, was the greatest eureka of my life. I joined IDL as it was forming in 2002 to get information to help deal with James' difficulties with his studies and his peers. The things we've learned through IDL have greatly helped both of us. And the support we've found in IDL has been priceless. I'm proud to say that James is about to start his freshman year in Mechanical Engineering at The University of Maryland, College Park. And IDL helped us get there. Will work for hugs! :-)'

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KAREN KYGER was instrumental in developing the sections on dyslexia for the Walking the Path professional development materials. She also edited and reviewed many sections with Dr. Boser. Karen Kyger currently serves on the executive committee of IDL and is helping to organize the new website. She is also on the early identification advisory committee for the HCPSS. Ms. Kyger worked for the Friendship School and the MBIDA and is currently working on her MS in special education from the Johns Hopkins University.

Susan Kuhn is on the executive committee for IDL and is involved in volunteering and planning for speaker events. She is the mother of two girls and one boy. Her son and youngest daughter both have dyslexia and ADHD. She graduated from University of Maryland and College Park with a bachelors degree in math education. She has since trained in the Orton Gillingham Reading Instruction method. She presently is a substitute teacher and tutor of children with dyslexia.

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Julie Kuhn Howard Community College. Julie hopes to become a Documentary Photojournalist. She graduated from Centennial High School after attending The Jemicy School, The Odyssey School, and Centennial Elementary. She is a Rouse Scholar and a member of the Phi Theta Kappa Community College Honor Society. In High School she received the Captains Outstanding Achievement Award for her work with the Color Guard, The Maryland Merit Scholastic Award, and Honorable Mention as a Maryland Distinguished Scholar. She also received the Principle's Scholarship and the Ann Bean Memorial Scholarship. Julie has a passion for travel, and she received a fellowship to study in China during the summer of 2005. In the summer of 2006, Julie was involved in the video editing of the introductory piece for the 'Walking the Path' professional development materials. She was also the photographer for the sequence of the 'cracked pot' metaphor shown at the very beginning of the video. During the 2007 Spring Semester she studied Spanish at the Universidad Internacional in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Julie continues to be involved in helping to promote these materials and be a role model for young twice exceptional students and their families.

Julie Morrison, Psy. D

a licensed psychologist now practicing in Columbia, previously co-coordinated the Birth to Five Clinic at Johns Hopkins, Kennedy Krieger Family Center. Since then, she has administered hundreds of psychological evaluations and provided individual psychotherapy to children, adolescents, and adults, specializing in anxiety, ADHD, depression, and learning differences in a variety of outpatient settings, also serving as a consultant to parents and school personnel. She earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from the American School of Professional Psychology in 1999 and is recognized on the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology. She is a member of the American Psychological Association and serves on the Board of Professional Practice of the Maryland Psychological Association. She has presented at national conferences and has had several publications in professional journals. She believes in public school and is encouraged by the strides that IDL is making in forging positive, working relationships with members of the Howard County School System. Dr. Morrison currently edits and manages the IDL newsletter. She is proud to be a part of such a vital group, who care so deeply, not only for their children but for all students with learning differences.

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LAURA SHOVAN is an active member of IDL's speaker committee. As a high school English teacher with a BFA and master's degree in teaching, Ms. Shovan worked with bright young writers, advising an award-winning newspaper and a literary magazine. She also became involved with the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation's Poetry Program, coordinating the student award-winner readings at both the 1996 and 1998 Dodge Poetry Festivals. Her poetry has been published in several literary journals and at Poets Online.

After moving to Maryland in 1999, Ms. Shovan became an Artist-in-Education with the Maryland State Arts Council, conducting poetry workshops for school children. For several years, she has taught a summer journalism workshop for gifted students. She also freelances for local publications, such as the Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Magazine and Baltimore's Child. Her feature articles cover education, the arts, religion, and community events. Her work for children has appeared inHighlights magazine.

Ms. Shovan's ten-year-old son, Robbie, is a gifted student. He is learning to manage his dyslexia with the help of teachers, private tutors, and his family. Robbie also has sensory processing disorder, but an active sports schedule keeps his sensory system organized

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LINDA SPENCER Ph.D., is a Maryland-licensed Speech-Language Pathologist, certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Sheis also the Immediate Past Coordinator of CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) of Greater Baltimore chapter .CHADD of Greater Baltimore chapter has a worked together with IDLA on a number of projects. IDLA and CHADD have collaborated on a number of occasions to provide guest speakers that addressed issues regarding executive function, emotions and learning and motivation and self-esteem.

Her professional degrees are from Southern Illinois University, Northwestern University, and the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. She held a faculty position at Loyola College in Baltimore for 12 years, where she taught graduate and undergraduate courses and coordinated the graduate clinical practicum program. She has been in private practice in Maryland for 25 years. She provides comprehensive language processing evaluations for children with disabilities in the areas of spoken language, language comprehension, reading, written language, and social-pragmatic language.

Dr. Spencer has the following to say about CHADD and IDL's efforts 'Combining our efforts and teaming with the public school system to educate those professionals who work with our students is very important. We fully support IDLA's efforts in educating and raising awareness about the needs of twice exceptional learners, many of whom have AD/HD. We look forward to continued mutual support of IDLA'

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DONNA WEAVER

is the former Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer/Information Services with 5 years experience with IDL and our liaison to CHADD. Ms. Weaver was the events planner for our monthly speaker series, managed our databases and mass email and marketing and was involved in fundraising and partnership development. She is also a member of the MSDE Advisory on ADHD and on the early identification advisory committee of the Howard County Public schools. Here is was she says about her involvement in IDL:

'Eager to seek out information and knowledge about how to help my own child I discovered and met IDL's founders in 2002. I was very impressed with the impact IDL was making and felt that their approach to educating, promoting awareness and understanding for all those who touched the health, social and emotional well being of our children was extremely worthwhile. I joined their efforts to raise awareness of bright children with learning differences both in the community and in the school system. Since then I have been active in furthering these efforts by implementing IDL's original monthly speaker series as well as helping market and promote IDL's initiatives, such as the professional development series, fundraising, database management, etc. As a director of IDL's Board, I continue to support IDL's overall mission. I am a liaison for IDL to the Greater Baltimore Chapter of CHADD and continue to collaborate with other organizations in the community that seek to make a positive difference in the lives of our children. I am so very thankful for all the wonderful and supportive people, parents, educators, professionals and friends we have met while working as a volunteer for IDL. As it is said, 'Together we can truly make a difference!', and we are.'

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Dr. Sarah Wayland is a Senior Research Scientist at the Center for the
Advanced Study of Language (CASL) at the University of Maryland. Over
the last two decades she has worked on research and development
projects involving spoken language in both academic and business
settings. In her 12 years working in high-tech industry, she developed
language applications, assessed their efficacy, and made changes to
them based on the results. Currently, Dr. Wayland studies the
cognitive processes involved in language translation
(http://www.casl.umd.edu/node/54 ). She is also collaborating on a
study on the use of visual feedback technology in teaching social
skills to people with autism who struggle with social communication.
In addition to her paid job, she has two children who give her
tremendous insight into how to feed the strengths and accommodate and
remediate the weaknesses of twice exceptional children. She is
actively involved with The Arc of Prince George’s County, the
Children’s Developmental Clinic at the University of Maryland, and is
co-chair of the Special Education Citizen’s Advisory Committee of
Prince George’s County (http://www.secacpg.org). But the work of which
she is the most proud is her six years co-moderating an online
resource for the 2e community known as GT-special
(http://gtworld.org).

Individual Differences in Learning Association, Inc.

Individual Differences
in Learning Association, Inc.