Children of the Code: James Wendorf, Executive Director, National Center For Learning Disabilities

James Wendorf - Learning Disabilities, Dyslexia and Difficulties Learning to Read



James Wendorf, Executive Director, National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD). NCLD increases public awareness and understanding of learning disabilities and conducts educational programs and services that promote research-based knowledge, and provide national leadership in shaping public policy.

The following interview with Mr. James Wendorf was conducted in Washington D.C. on September 11, 2003. Mr. Wendorf is dedicated to improving the learning and life opportunities of children and adults with learning disabilities. The following is the transcript of our conversation. It has not been edited for final journal publication. Bold is used to emphasize our [Children of the Code] sense of the importance of what is being said and does not necessarily reflect gestures or tones of emphases that occurred during the interview. Copyright (c) 2004 - click here for copyright information.



Index:
Personal Background
Defining Learning
Learning Disabilities
Neurobiological Vs. Acquired Deficiencies
Instructional Casualties
Most of Our Children Not Reading Proficiently
Profound Reading Crisis
Stewarding the Health of Learning
Reading is the Gateway Skill
Good and Bad News
Early Literacy Screening
Learning to Read is All But Fating
Insufficient Oral Language Experiences
Whitehurst's Dialogic Reading
The Costs of Teaching Reading
The Real Cost is Lost Self-Esteem
What We Have Learned
Inside the Brain Visualization
The Social-Educational Challenge
Dispelling the Myth that Reading is Natural
Lost Potential also = Suffering Self-Esteem Loss
Self-Esteem and the Affect of Shame
How should we Educate?
Stewarding the Health of Learning (2)
We Don't Value Reading in our Culture
Transforming Society's Understanding of Reading
Postscript