Article archive / November 1, 2016
Originally published: . Volume 7, No. 11. Source pages: 8.
Dr. William Daigle and Dr. Brenda Dawson are lending their expertise to the LD community. They are working to educate colleagues and the public about the mental health issues for those who struggle with learning disabilities, an often over looked connection that has major consequences for children, parents, and many adults.
Daigle and Dawson are board members of the Greater Baton Rouge Learning Disability Coalition whose mission is to educate, support and facilitate information between parents, teachers and helping professionals about the signs and symptoms of learning disabilities, diagnosis and treatments. The group also helps connect those in need with resources available in the Greater Baton Rouge area.
The issues addressed include dyslexia, ADHD, autism and the mental health issues that often coincide with learning problems.
The Coalition is a fairly new organization, Dr. Dawson said, and founded by Georgann Mire, president of the group and an educational consultant in the Baton Rouge area. Mire is also on the Board of Directors for the Louisiana Branch of the International Dyslexia Association and works in the Office of Disability Services at Baton Rouge Community College.
The Coalition is the evolution of the group that has organized the annual CW Austin Learning Disabilities Conference.
“Having dyslexia, even mild dyslexia, can lead to a lot of psychological issues,” Dr. Dawson said, “feelings of inadequacy, fear of going to school, acting out behaviors to take attention away from the reading problem, fears of tackling college, and so on,” she said. “More than one parent of my child patients have told me that as a child, one of the most traumatic things that ever happened to them was being called upon to read aloud in class.”
Dr. Daigle agrees with the seriousness of the issues. “Learning disabilities are often comorbid with other conditions, such as ADHD and anxiety,” he said. “In other words, learning disabilities affect more than just academics. They affect risk for other mental illnesses and affect life outcomes. For example, prisons contain many individuals with learning disabilities. On the flip side, the business and arts side of the world is filled with people with dyslexia who are amazing innovators, managers, executives, and performers,” he said.
The importance of the area is one reason D’Aigle and Dawson have linked up with the Coalition and how important it is to help educate others.
“I most enjoy the part where we educate teachers and parents about what it is like to live day to day with dyslexia and how their child/student can be helped to be the best learner possible,” Dawson said.
“I feel useful,” she explained, “when parents gain insight into how they have been hurting their child by punishing for poor school performance. I also enjoy turning them on to all of the compensatory technology out there, that helps with reading and writing, and even math, so that even if the child has a ‘disability’ that child does not have to be ‘handicapped.’”
Dr. Daigle also has a passion for working with children with learning disabilities. “It is one of the few areas in psychology where you can actually ‘see’ the disability in the testing data,” he said. “Watching children improve when given the proper instruction and support is exciting and energizing. Helping teachers and parents understand how learning challenges affect daily life provides a meaningful service to people who often suffer tremendously.”
The next C.W. Austin Learning Disabilities Conference will be held February 4, 2017 from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm at the State Police Headquarters on Independence Blvd in Baton Rouge. CE credit for psychologists is available at a nominal fee. The conference is completely free for parents and teachers.
“At this year's conference,” Dawson said, “Bill Daigle and I will present on parents communicating with school personnel and visa versa, so that the child's disability is understood and that everyone is on board regarding accommodations/modifications they can provide to help ensure that each child will be successful in school.”
Dr. Dawson received her PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Montana and completed her residency at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Formerly a professor of psychology, she has been in full- time private practice in Baton Rouge since 1992, specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of children and adolescents with psychological and learning disabilities. As a member of the Board she plans to help develop workshops of in-depth professional development for psychologists.
Dr. Daigle is a clinical psychologist in private practice and a native of Baton Rouge. He has been practicing in Baton Rouge since 1984. He does psychoeducational testing as well as psychotherapy, and specializes in children and families affected by learning disabilities. He has been involved with this learning disabilities conference since its inception and is also a board member.
(L to R) William Daigle, PhD., Georgann Mire, BFA, and Brenda Dawson, PhD, in the planning of a conference for the Greater Baton Rouge Learning Disability Coalition. (Photo courtesy Dr. Dawson.)
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