Events

South OC Dyslexia Parent Support Group

One evening per month  -Contact Haya Sakadjian for more information.

Riverside Dyslexia Parent Support Group

The Riverside Parent Support Group is temporarily on hold.  If you’re interested in attending a support group in Riverside, please send an email to Regina Manning at tcb.info@dyslexia-ca.org.  Thank you.

Our other events:

Did you miss attending one of our past live webinars? No worries! Recordings are available at: https://tinyurl.com/TCBPastWebinars.

Meanwhile, sign up for these exciting future webinars. Webinars are free!

Webinar: Using Math Games to Develop Number Sense, Combat Anxiety & Differentiate Instruction

Thursday, August 21, 2025 at 6:00 PM PDT

Description: 

Think of three words to describe your math students’ attitude towards math.  Did excited, engaged and enthusiastic come to mind?  Or something more like anxious, avoidant and confused?  We know that math anxiety shuts down students’ brains, that most students hate the amount of practice needed to memorize math facts and master procedures, and that if a student is missing number sense they are dead in the water.

Join BCET Diana Black Kennedy to learn how and why games are key to teaching math, and most importantly, to learn a whole bunch of them!

SPEAKER:  Diana Black Kennedy, MA, BCET

Diana Black Kennedy is a board certified educational therapist with a thriving private practice in San Anselmo, California.
Her extensive classroom experience spans second grade through high school; rural, urban and suburban settings; and public and private schools. She has taught high school in rural Mississippi with Teacher for America; third grade in a small charter school in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood in Oakland where almost all of her students were new immigrants or first-generation Americans; second grade in the second-largest school in inner-city Oakland, a school that was 50 percent Hispanic and 50 percent black; fifth, third, and eighth grade at a small private Jewish day school in a relatively wealthy suburb of San Francisco; and algebra in an independent school in Marin for kids with learning disabilities, autism, and ADHD. In her private practice as an educational therapist, she has worked one-on-one with students with learning disabilities, those who are gifted and talented, and those who are twice exceptional. This unusually wide and varied experience gives her a perspective—and lots of stories—few educational writers have.  She also writes a blog about education at www.MindSparkLearning.com.

Registration Link:

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6842747291957197911

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Webinar:  Dyslexia and Literacy Support: Dos and Don’t

Thursday, November 6, 2025 at 6:00 PM PDT

Description: 

Learn how to discern and select the most effective strategies to improve the literacy skills of individuals with dyslexia. Webinar participants will identify what works and what doesn’t work in teaching and supporting dyslexic students of all ages. Instructional resources, routines, and current low-cost or no-cost technological aids will be discussed and demonstrated.  

SPEAKER:  Andrew Stetkevich, MA

Andrew Stetkevich, M.A. has worked for over 40 years in the field of elementary and secondary education. He has served as a K-12 classroom teacher, special education program specialist, literacy coach, parent educator, dyslexia tutor, and a staff development specialist. Mr. Stetkevich is a national consultant for Language Circle/Project Read and the Bureau of Education and Research Organization. He is an active member of the International Dyslexia Association. Mr. Stetkevich has spoken at numerous national conferences, including the Ireland International Conference on Education, International Dyslexia Association, the British Dyslexia Association, and the European Conference on Literacy.  Additionally, Mr. Stetkevich has taught special education assessment and methods graduate-level courses at both California Baptist University and the University of California, Riverside Extension programs. 

Registration Link:

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7375373814286620757

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Want to help support MORE webinars like these? Consider joining IDA-TCB! Membership information is available at https://tinyurl.com/TCBmembership.

OUR ANNUAL CONFERENCE WILL BE ON SEPTEMBER 13, 2025!

CONFERENCE: STRUCTURED LITERACY SYMPOSIUM:

Where Does Building Vocabulary and Background Knowledge Fit In

Description:  The Southern California Tri-Counties Branch (TCB) of the International Dyslexia Association (IDA) will hold its annual conference on Saturday, September 13, 2025. 8:00 AM – 12:30 PM.

The conference title is STRUCTURED LITERACY SYMPOSIUM: Where Does Building Vocabulary and Background Knowledge Fit In IDA’s Structured Literacy Wheel. 

Our fabulous keynote speaker is YA author, Carolee Dean, M.S., CCC-SLP, CALP. Ms. Dean is the author of Story Frames for Literacy and the creator of a variety of decodeable books for kids. The title of her presentation is “Vocabulary and Word Knowledge.”

This conference is intended for elementary classroom teachers, special education teachers, speech therapists, librarians, and concerned parents and caregivers of struggling readers.  At the conference, you will build your skills to assist young, struggling readers become fluent readers. You will also have the opportunity to network with like-minded attendees.

Exciting news!  Members of TCB/IDA will receive the Carolee book(s) of their choice for FREE!

Yes, members will receive either Story Frames for Literacy or a package of YA books (Gods and Gifts, Hank the Tank, and The Raven Remixed), both $40 values, for free!

Non-members will get the books at a discount. But, the priceworthy deal is to become a TCB/IDA member!

SPEAKER:  Carolee Dean 

Carolee Dean M.S., CCC-SLP, CALT, is an adjunct instructor at Providence College, teaching Language-Based Learning for students pursuing a Master of Education in Special Education with a Dyslexia Credential.  She has over twenty years of experience as a speech-language pathologist in public schools and five years as a dyslexia therapist in private practice.  She now focuses on resource development and creating decodable books at Word Travel Press LLC, where she is the founder and primary author. She wrote the educational resource, Story Frames for Literacy: Enhancing Learning Through the Power of Storytelling 2021), Paul H. Brooks Publishing). She is also the author of award-winning adult fiction published by Houghton Mifflin and Simon and Shuster. Titles include “Comfort”, “Forget Me Not”, & “Take Me There”. The final title is the story of a young man who can’t read or write. He goes looking for his father who is incarcerated in Texas. It is a VALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers about the pipeline from illiteracy to prison.

Get your tickets at:

https://ticketstripe.com/events/786107014548349

Early bird ticket pricing is available now!