Director and Owner Elsie Johnson of Montana-based Learning Options is set to host two upcoming seminars regarding living with autism and dyslexia. These Saturday seminars will help people learn how to take advantage of their natural way of thinking.
A View of the Spectrum–Autism in terms of Identity Development will kick off the morning at the Bozeman Public Library on Saturday, January 16th at 10am. This seminar introduces a non-invasive gentle approach designed to allow autistic individuals to participate more fully in life. Think of an individual–bright, yet confused and overwhelmed about how to step outside their inner world and participate more fully in life. Imagine a super computer with an operating system unable to work to capacity. Does it do all we expect of it? Learn about this one-on-one program that incorporates many of Ron Davis’ tried and trusted methods used successfully for 30 years assisting those with learning differences.
As a successful dyslexic and autistic, Ron Davis has been working with autistic individuals throughout this time and now made this work accessible to others through the Davis Autism Approach. You’ll learn about Individuation, Identity Development and Social Integration and how each of these steps are necessary to participate more fully in life. This seminar is for parents, family members, and support persons of those with ASD as well as any individuals interested in a self-development program. Fish Don’t Climb Trees–Challenges and Gifts of Dyslexic Thinking will immediately follow at the Library, beginning at 1:30pm. Famous dyslexic thinkers are known for their talents, yet the flip side of the coin is the struggles these creative thinkers experience with reading, writing, spelling and often attention. Their brain is not broken. A brain, when busy using dyslexic thinking, is creating imaginative intuitive ideas. The brain is not available to receive what the eyes and ears are physically receiving. It’s like expecting to withdraw money from an ATM that has no funds. The funds never really got into the ATM because it was ‘off line.’ When a dyslexic thinker understands that being ‘off line’ is a Gift, they can control ‘off’ and ‘on’. Thus they can take the DIS out of Disability. Many “learning disabled” people have a knack for doing something without realizing that it stems from the same cause as dyslexia–their ability to mentally combine imaginary and real world images in a creative or intuitive way. This talent can play havoc with reading and writing, spelling, and managing attention. This same talent is highly useful for the arts, engineering, sports, strategy, salesmanship, and invention. As a dyslexic practitioner, Elsie provides dyslexic thinkers tools to take advantage of their thinking. Parents and teens who attend this seminar have seen results in their teens’ self esteem and confidence. Teachers appreciate the information and resources they can use on their own. Leave with the understanding that dyslexic thinkers are among the brightest in our society; what’s more, with the right approach, the dyslexic thinking style contains all the ingredients for academic success.
Registration for these seminars can be made through Learning Options at 406-282-7416 or elsie@thelearningoptions.com. Teacher Renewal and Continuing Education Units are also available. Visit thelearningoptions.com/ to learn more. •
