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Our 36th Annual State LD & ADHD Conference was held on November 5, 2010 in Carmel, Indiana, and despite
the economy, several hundred Indiana special ed teachers, regular ed teachers, administrators and school
support staff from public and private schools, as well as student teachers, parents and a variety of other
community support service professionals filled the Ritz Charles Conference Center for a day that was full of
valuable information, ideas and support, professional development and opportunities to network with
people of similar interests who all share a stake in the education and life-long outcome of students with
learning disabilities and attention deficit disorders.
Click Here to view the Conference Program
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The conference opened with an absolutely awesome
presentation given by author, artist, comedian and motivational
speaker Mr. Ben Glenn from Indianapolis. Centered around a 6
foot by 8-foot canvas made out of a queen size bed sheet, Ben
amazed attendees with his live chalk art presentation while
sharing his own personal story and experiences of overcoming
the obstacles of having a learning disability as a child, the
difference that educators made in his life and also being
diagnosed as an adult with attention deficit disorder. With a
hilarious sense of humor, he gave attendees an insider’s
perspective on what it’s like to grow up “special” as he calls it.
As he drew on the canvas, the vivid chalk colors he used came to
life as he encouraged education professionals and parents to
discover that kids with LD and ADHD have all kinds of abilities,
and that it is up to all of us to help them “find and use” their own
unique talents to help them succeed in school and life.
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Ben’s message of inspiration and hope was clearly illustrated
when he drew a black streak across what seemed to be a
finished landscape drawing. As a loud gasp came from the
attendees, he quietly stated, “Sometimes life goes through
confusing times and ugly things are going to happen” and then
with several more strokes of the chalk, he transformed that
conspicuous blemish into a majestic tree!
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Ben ended his presentation with
“Life is about … seeing these uglies as an opportunity to
move forward. Persevere through life's
trials and learn to live your life to the fullest by developing
your talents and pursuing your dreams!”
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In the morning and afternoon, attendees were able to select from sixteen informative breakout workshops
presented by a great group of a multidisciplinary professionals who volunteered their knowledge,
experience and time to help us round out a day full of learning about innovative approaches and best practices to
educating and raising students with LD and ADHD. We were excited to offer two workshops each on the
core topics of reading, writing and math that addressed the needs of not only elementary students,
but also the unique needs of middle/high school students. Other workshop topics included assistive technology,
response to intervention, assessments, universal learning, ADHD, visual strategy supports, suicide awareness and
prevention, and college transition planning. Again this year, Barnes and Noble hosted an on-site bookstore
featuring the latest books and videos for review and purchase by attendee.
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2010 Annual State LDA of Indiana Award
Winners
The afternoon also included our annual awards
luncheon and the awards committee was
pleased to present the recipients of our
2010 Annual State LDA of Indiana Awards.
Recipients were honored for their
hard work and perseverance in achieving
their academic, professional and life goals.
Click Here to read about the award winners.
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As many of you know, planning a conference is a year long task. In order to put together the type of quality
conference program that LDA of Indiana has become known for during the past 36 years,
hundreds of hours are lovingly provided by volunteers and some financial support is provided by donors,
businesses and organizations. We wish to extend a gracious “thank you” to the Lilly Endowment, Inc., the Indiana
Governor’s Council for People with Disabilities for their monetary grants, the Joles Family for donating a
Netbook Computer for the 2010 High School Student of the Year recipient, the Educational Solutions Co. for
supplying several dozen CD copies of the conference handouts, and the Indiana Wesleyan University Students for
serving as registration and room hosts, as well as a thank you to the entire LDA of Indiana board members.
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