The statistics are dismal.
Approximately 15-20 percent of Americans, many of them intelligent, talented and gifted individuals, have some difficulty reading.
Although scientific research, including functional brain imaging studies, has demonstrated the neurobiological causes of reading problems (dyslexia) and the effectiveness of research-based reading instruction, the general public knows little about the causes, early identification and treatment of dyslexia.
Through its Literacy Speakers Bureau, the Jacksonville Bar Association hopes to be part of a community-wide solution to illiteracy.
Lawyers volunteering for the JBA Literacy Speakers Bureau will receive instruction from school psychologist Laura Bailet, Ph.D, of Nemours Children’s Clinic and school psychologist Michael Sisbarro, Ph.D, of Sheldon J. Kaplan and Associates, about the reading research from Yale University, Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University and other respected institutions of higher learning.
The JBA will then coordinate speaking engagements for these lawyers at meetings of civic and community groups. Participating lawyers will share information about the nature, frequency and societal impact of reading problems, and about the early identification and effective treatment of those problems.
They will be provided brochures from the U.S. Department of Education to distribute, and will share information about available community and national resources.
Lawyers will not present themselves as experts on the subject, but merely as conduits for essential information from respected sources.
So if you are:
• interested in helping Jacksonville’s
parents help their children
learn to read
• comfortable speaking before a large group
• interested in learning more about
dyslexia
• willing to receive brief (one hour) education on reading issues by two Ph.D school psychologists then the JBA needs you to consider joining the JBA Literacy Speakers Bureau.
Your volunteered time will help children and improve the public image of lawyers.
To participate, call the Bar Office at 399-4486.