NorthEast Association of Learning Specialists (NEALS) Celebrates with 20th Anniversary Members’ Conference 

Rye, NH - The NorthEast Association of Learning Specialists (NEALS), the premier professional development organization for learning specialists, held its 20th Anniversary Members’ Conference and Celebration April 3-5, 2019 at the Westford Regency Inn and Conference Center in Westford, MA.  The two-day conference, exclusive to members and invited guests, was significant for NEALS as its membership celebrates remarkable growth and twenty years of service to students with learning disabilities. The conference included a ticketed dinner and gala on Thursday evening to honor NEALS mentors and a new generation of learning specialists, educators who tirelessly help students with learning challenges and disabilities to realize their full potential. 

Of note, keynote speakers Dr. George McCloskey and Nanci Shepardson presented at the conference on Improving Executive Capacities at Multiple Levels and Assistive Technology: What the Research Says About Which Technologies Support Skill Acquisition, respectively. Sharon Plante also spoke both days about the latest technologies available to students with learning disabilities.  Phil Wilson, internationally renowned jazz performer who has dyslexia, performed Thursday evening at the gala dinner.  NEALS also debuted its original film Reservation with You, which president Susan Cole Ross notes was “created as an entertaining, poignant, and lasting gift in return for all the sacrifices learning specialists make for students in need.”  Ross remarks that the conference attracted over one hundred academic support professionals, including psychologists, therapists, educational consultants, and scholars, whose collaboration at the conference stands to impact thousands of students in independent schools.