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San Diego Branch of the
International Dyslexia Association (IDA) Board
Kelli Sandman-Hurley,
President
Tracy Block, Vice President
Elena Mendoza, Treasurer
Christine Kane, Secretary
Linda Altes Ph-D., Past
President
Sara Boswell. Ph.D.
Christy Hendrickson, M.D.
Julie Kujawski
Veronica Navarrette
Jennifer Petrich
Roxanne Ruzic, Ed.D.
Richard Totah
Bonnie Weiss
 Kelli
Sandman-Hurley, President
Kelli Sandman-Hurley is a Literacy Tutor/Learner Coordinator for
READ/San Diego, the adult literacy program of the San Diego Public
Library. She earned her Masters degree in Education with a specialization
in adults with learning disabilities. Kelli is a Board Member of
the Southern California Library Literacy Network, Doctoral Student
Council in Education, and Doctoral Student Advisory Group. Currently,
she is working on a doctorate in Literacy at San Diego State and
the University of San Diego, where she is specializing in Dyslexia,
Adult Literacy, and Neuroscience in Education.
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Tracy Block, Vice President
Tracy Block is a Tutor/Learner Coordinator for READ/San Diego, the
adult literacy program of the San Diego Public Library. She has
been a tutor trainer for 10 years; has revised and updated the tutor
training modules; select materials, teaching techniques and strategies
for individual tutor/learner pairs; developed curriculum; conducted
assessments and trained volunteer assessors; coordinated workplace
literacy programs; conducted workshops in a variety of adult literacy
topics; tutored children and adults with learning disabilities;
developed the Families For Literacy Program at READ/San Diego; and
worked on a national initiative with the National Institute for
Literacy.
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 Elena
Mendoza, Treasurer
Elena Mendoza is an Educational Therapist and an expert in the
diagnosis and remediation of language based learning disabilities.
A native Californian, Elena is currently an independent Educational
Therapist in San Diego. Elena spent the past ten years in Georgia
where she founded and successfully built the Phoenix Center for
Reading & Language Development, Inc. As a former Consultant for
Lindamood-BellŪ Centers, Elena has experience with proven, process-based
programs that address difficulties in reading, spelling, comprehension,
language, and math. In her spare time, Elena enjoys the great outdoors
and spending time with family and friends. She has been a member
of IDA for 8 years.
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 Linda
Altes, Ph.D., Past President
Linda Altes is a psychologist in private practice with over seventeen
years experience in assessment and diagnosis of emotional problems,
learning disabilities, and attention deficit disorders that interfere
with academic success. She believes that with accurate assessment,
new strategies, and support, students regain their sense of hope
and mastery so they can achieve their full potential. Dr. Altes
has been very active in the San Diego Branch of the International
Dyslexa Association, serving on the board from 1985 to 1998 and
returning in 2004.
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 Christy
Hendrickson, M.D.
Christy Hendrickson received her B.A. degree in Psychology from
UC Berkeley and her Medical Degree from University of Oklahoma.
After 17 years of practicing clinical medicine and raising a son
with dyslexia, she transitioned into Educational Therapy. She completed
the post-graduate program in Educational Therapy at UC San Diego
and has had specialized training in multisensory reading programs,
such as Lindamood Bell. She currently has an Educational Therapy
practice in Solana Beach where she specializes in all types of reading
problems, including dyslexia. She has been a member of IDA for 15
years and served as a Board Member for the last three.
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Sara Boswell. Ph.D.
Sara L. Boswell is a neuropsychologist whose practice focuses on
the special needs of the pediatric population, serving those with
a history of learning, behavioral and social challenges. Dr. Boswell
received her clinical training in adult neuropsychology as a post-doctoral
fellow at the UCLA School of Medicine, Neuropsychiatric Institute
and Hospital; and her training in pediatrics and adolescents as
a post-doctoral fellow at The Help Group/UCLA Neuropsychology Program,
where she was Chief Fellow. In addition to her private practice
in La Jolla/UTC, Dr. Boswell currently serves as a neuropsychologist
at the UCSD Medical Center.
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 Veronica
Navarrette received her B.A. in Psychology from I.T.E.S.O. University
in Guadalajara, Mexico. She also holds an AMI Montessori Diploma
from Mexico City. She later completed a Master's Degree in Academic
Language Therapy from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
She has been working for private schools for ten years. She worked
at the Shelton School, which is the largest school in the nation
specializing in teaching students with language disorders. She also
works in the private sector with students of all ages. She provides
private academic language therapy to students with dyslexia. She
specializes in alphabetic phonics, and Orton-Gillingham method.
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 Jennifer
Petrich earned a BA in Sociology from Johns Hopkins University
(1994) and a BA in Psychology from Towson University (1995). From
1993-1997, Jennifer worked as a cognitive and reading therapist
at New Heights Learning Center in Towson, Maryland, where she was
trained in three Lindamood-Bell programs: Lindamood Phonemic Sequencing
(LiPS), Visualizing/Verbalizing (V/V) and Visualizing/Conceptualizing
(V/C). In 2004, she received a PhD in Neuroscience from University
of Maryland, Baltimore after completing a dissertation on developmental
dyslexia. She then took a research position at the University of
California, San Diego studying the visual system and has lectured
there on the auditory system and the neural mechanisms of reading
and reading disorders. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at
the Laboratory for Language and Cognitive Neuroscience at San Diego
State University.
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Roxanne Ruzic, Ed.D.
Roxanne Ruzic earned her doctorate in Psychology and Education from
Harvard University. There, she focused on how students with learning
differences approach and succeed in college. Dr. Ruzic has spent
the last 15 years working with individuals in higher education as
a research scientist, curriculum and tool developer, instructor,
and academic coach. She is President and Founder of Varsity Coaching,
an organization that helps high school, college, and graduate students,
including students with learning differences, prepare for and make
the most of their college experiences.
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 Richard
Totah
Richard was diagnosed with dyslexia when he was 11, after struggling
through elementary school with his family. Currently, Richard is
a dyslexic professional working for Bainbridge Inc., a strategic
management consulting firm based in La Jolla, CA. A majority of
his consulting work is for Fortune 1000 companies in the healthcare
and technology industries. He holds a BA in Economics and a BS in
Business Administration from Cal State San Marcos.
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 Bonnie
Weiss
Bonnie earned a BS in Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution from UCSD.
She went on to earn a Master of Education degree from National University
as well as a CA Multiple Subject Teaching credential. Bonnie has
completed extensive coursework through the UCSD Extension program
in Educational Therapy techniques and practices. She is currently
the Director of Educational Development at The Family & Learning
Center where she specializes in utilizing research-based techniques
to develop individualized intervention programs for students with
learning challenges.
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Our Mission:
Dedicated to the study and treatment of individuals with
specific language disability.
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