Parents who suspect their children may have learning differences are invited to attend a conference entitled "The Multidisciplinary Approach to Learning Differences."

The conference is being sponsored by the Chestnut Hill Community Association Education Committee and HALO (Healthy Achievement Learning Opportunities). It will take place on Saturday. March 12, from 8:30 am. to 12 noon at the Adam's Mark Hotel, 4000 City Avenue and Monument Rd. and is designed for educators, administrators and physicians as well as parents.

Parents of children of all ages are encouraged to bring questions to the program, which will be presented by a panel led by HA 1.0 founder Harold P. Koller, M.D., pediatric ophthalmologist and lecturer.

Other panelists will include Joseph (Jody) Dobson, M.A., education consultant and an education committee member; Kenneth B. Goldberg, Psy.D, neuropsychiatrist; Lynn Konchanin, M.D., Eileen McCloskey, M. Ed., certified reading specialist; Philip Stinson, Esq., specializing in disability law; Erin Wynne, J.D., dean of admissions, Eagle Hill School, a school for children with learning differences in Massachusetts, and Marcy Yongker, M.D., pediatric neurologist.

Dobson, a former Chestnut Hill Academy teacher, describes "learning differences" as including neurological conditions such as dyslexia; potential ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) cases or emotional problems. There are three broad areas-emotional, neurological psychiatric and attentional-and a learning difference may not be due to a singular area, according to Dobson.

Jane Becker, CHCA education committee chairperson and a retired John Story Jenks School teacher, said that the issues faced by a child with learning differences are presented very early in the child's life, usually in his or her early school years.

"It is hard for parents to accept that their child has learning differences. And it's equally hard for parents to find a school. They want their children to go to normal' schools as soon as possible," said Dobson, whose services include consultations for families considering special needs schools and programs and alternative educational programs.

"All of us have ADHD to a certain extent. It is hard to pay attention," Dobson said.

Today, students with learning differences are taught to he advocates for themselves rather than being sent to a resource room, he added.

A key step to diagnosing learning differences is to test the child, Dobson and Becker indicated.
"Some African-American families are suspicious of neuropsychiatric tests because they perceive them as a lens of white people in power," Dobson said.

Becker said that "the more educated people become, whatever their ethnic background, they understand the value of testing if it helps kids."

Becker added that in the public school system, identifying a child as having learning differences requires paperwork and "daunting" procedure for the school and for the family.

HALO was started by Koller, a pediatric ophthalmologist, and Goldberg, an educational psychologist, after Koller noticed that children who came to him had learning differences/ dyslexia rather than ophthalmologic conditions, according to Dobson.

HALO is designed to provide resources to parents, nomatter at what point they have been introduced to the network, Dobson said, explaining that an educational consultant can help parents considering private schools, while the lawyers and advocates on the panel can walk families through resources available in public education.

The education committee, which was introduced to HALO by Dobson, focuses on children and parents. It prepared a parents handbook and has offered workshops for parents.

Preregistration for the conference is not required. Cost is $25 for parents of children with learning differences; $45 for professionals and $25, for students with a letter from the Director of Program.