KEYNOTE PRESENTERS

Fin is one of the leading behaviour and learning specialists in the UK. He is currently an SEN and Behaviour Consultant for the Schools Network and an associate lecturer for Leicester University, the National Association of Special Needs, Tribal Education and the Institute of Education.

He is currently the Vice Chairman of UKAP and a member of the European ADHD Alliance. He has been the chairperson of the European ADHD Taskforce, and is a current member of the Special Education Consortium and the SpLD Assessment Standards Committee.

Fintan trained as a secondary science and PE teacher after studying Zoology and Genetics at Sheffield University and remains fascinated by the impact of nurture and nature on human development. He was the Headmaster of the Centre Academy School, regarded as the first specialist school within the UK for children with ADHD/ODD from 1996 -2002. Prior to that, he was a Deputy Head Teacher, the Head of the Science Department and a Science/PE teacher in London, Newcastle and Washington DC. Throughout this period he worked with a range of students and parents. This experience helped to develop a balanced perspective of the issues facing schools, teachers and families regarding behaviour and learning differences.

The SF3R behaviour and learning model developed by Fin forms the principles of his approach regarding proactive short term and long term solutions to behaviour and learning success. He states, “Although it is true that no two children are the same, structured and flexible systems and strategies will yield similar successful outcomes.”

Fintan is an internationally acclaimed presenter and consultant in behaviour, learning and motivation working both within the Education and Health sectors. As well as providing his expertise to audiences within the UK, he has presented throughout Europe, the Middle East, the Far East, Australia and New Zealand.

His publications include the; the T.E.S. award winning book Educating Children with ADHD as well as How to teach and Manage Children with ADHD, Surviving and Succeeding in SEN and ADHD, Impact and Intervention, Troubleshooting Challenging behaviour , Challenging Behaviours, The Small Change: Big Difference series; Inattention, Hyperactive and Disorganised and the recently published Successfully Managing ADHD.

R. Malatesha Joshi, Ph.D., is a Professor of Reading/Language Arts Education, ESL and Educational Psychology at Texas A&M University, where he teaches and conducts research in literacy development and is a Professor of Literacy Education and Educational Psychology at Texas A&M University, and the Editor of Reading and Writing and the monograph series Literacy Studies. He has over 125 publications in high-impact journals and has published 21 books relating to literacy development. He has received numerous national and international awards such as Erasmus Mundus fellowship and has been invited as a senior research scholar in various countries. Dr. Joshi also has received many state, federal, and international grants totaling more than 15 million dollars. Because of his research contribution, Dr. Joshi was selected as the 2017 Fellow of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), their highest award that exemplifies the highest standards of excellence. In 2019, he received the honorary award from the Association of Reading and Writing in Asia for 'extraordinary contribution to understanding literacy around the world'.

Dr. Joshi is the Editor of Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal and the monograph series titled Literacy Studies. He has over 100 publications in high-impact journals and has published about 20 books relating to literacy development. He has received numerous national and international awards such as Erasmus Mundus fellowship and has been invited as a senior research scholar to lecture and present his research in various countries, such as China, Germany, Mexico, Australia, Finland, and New Zealand. Dr. Joshi also has received numerous state, federal, and international grants and at the present time, is the Co-I of more than 10 million U.S. dollars in grants. Because of his contribution to the field of educational research, Dr. Joshi was selected as the 2017 Fellow of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), their highest award that exemplifies the highest standards of excellence through accomplishment, professionalism, and commitment.

Dr. Julie Washington

Professor, Language and Literacy Initiative, Department of Educational Psychology - Georgia State University; HMH Learning Sciences & Research Advisory Board

Dr. Julie A. Washington is a Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education at Georgia State University, Program in Communication Disorders. Dr. Washington is also an affiliate faculty of Georgia State University’s Language and Literacy Initiative, a unique research initiative focused on the Challenges of Acquiring Language and Literacy. Dr. Washington’s work focuses on understanding cultural dialect use in young African American children with a specific emphasis on language assessment, literacy attainment, and academic performance. Her work with preschoolers has focused on understanding and improving the emergent literacy skills necessary to support later reading proficiency in high risk groups, with a special focus on the needs of African American children. Dr. Washington is an author of Big Day for PreK and a program advisor for READ 180 Universal.

Carol is an education advisor for ICT and Inclusion. Carol was named as one of the top ten educators for her work in inclusion, #EdTech2018. She was awarded an Ed Futurist award in 2019. Carol is currently a member of the DfE Assistive Technology Expert Group; a member of the BETT Advisory Team; a BETT Awards Judge and is a panel member and contributor to sessions at the House of Lords for the APPGAT committee.

She has taught in both mainstream and special schools for 35+ years. Recognising that communication lies at the heart of all effective teaching, the majority of her work has centred on creative and engaging use of technology to support communication in its widest sense. An advocate of inclusion and inclusive practice, Carol champions the effective use of both low and high tech solutions to facilitate access to learning, leisure and life for those who face barriers.

Workshop/keynote presentations include both UK work and international conferences such as FETC/ATIA Florida, Illinois; Denmark , Rotterdam, Geneva, Cologne and two five city tours round Australia in 2018/2019.

All work centres on easy to replicate practice which is fun, achievable and creates communication enhancement opportunities. Twin vices of caffeine and chocolate keep the energy sparky and the ideas flowing!

Edmen is the Director of Specialised Educational Services (SES)

Edmen has been with the DAS since 2010. He served as an Educational Therapist, Programme Manager as well as an Assistant Director before assuming the post of Director of Specialised Educational Services (SES) on the 1st of January 2019. As Director of SES, Edmen oversees a range of programmes including the Preschool, Speech and Language Therapy, Math, Chinese, Prep 2 PSLE and Speech and Drama Arts programmes. He has also pioneered the development of Short Term Programmes and oversees student workshops that DAS conducts.

Edmen graduated from the University of Western Australia, Perth with a degree in Psychology prior to joining the DAS. He has since completed his Post-Graduate Certificate in Specific Learning Differences with London Metropolitan University and his Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics with the National Institute of Education Singapore where he won the book prize for being the top student in his cohort. Edmen is currently pursuing his PhD with an interest in the topic of reading motivation for struggling readers. He has presented in conferences and published papers on exam skills, curriculum development, reading comprehension and language testing.

Edmen strongly believes in unlocking the potential of every dyslexic learner and aims to empower educators and parents with sufficient knowledge and strategies to support struggling learners.

Deborah is the Assistant Director of Publicity and Publications at the Dyslexia Association of Singapore.

She has been with DAS since May 2011. Deborah has dyslexia and passionate about raising awareness about learning differences. All three of her children have learning differences and as a result, she has spent most of the last 20 years supporting her children’s academic careers as well as helping other families with children who have learning differences. Deborah has lived in Singapore since 2001 and she has devoted the first 10 years working in an International School as a Learning Support Assistant and parent volunteer supporting students who learn differently with math, reading and literacy. She has also worked as a shadow assistant for students with behavioural issues, ADHD and Asperger’s Syndrome.

Deborah completed her Psychology honours degree at Singapore University of Social Sciences and her thesis was titled “Adolescents with learning disabilities: an investigation of academic self‐concept, self‐esteem and depression in International school students.” Deborah graduated from the University of South Wales with a Masters in Special Education Needs with Merit in 2019. Her dissertation researched "Singaporean Entrepreneurs and Dyslexia"

Deborah is the Managing Editor of the Asia Pacific Journal of Developmental Differences and the annual DAS Handbook. In 2015, she edited the first book of its kind in Singapore, “Embrace a Different Kind of Mind—Personal Stories of Dyslexia” and in 2017 designed and published the 25th-anniversary book for DAS, “Clearly Different-Dyscovering the Differences”