Juvenile Court of Memphis & Shelby County
Neurodiversity & Dyslexia Series
Dyslexic Minds 901
Meet the Founders
Friday, April 26th, 2024
Kelvina Hunt LL.B (Hons), MAT, CALP,CSM
Kelvina is the wife of a dyslexic husband and the mother of three school-aged children. She earned her U.S. equivalent of the Juris Doctorate in the United Kingdom, where she practiced as a criminal defense lawyer before relocating to the USA. Kelvina earned a Master of Arts in Teaching at Christian Brothers University in Memphis, TN. After graduation, she taught for Memphis City Schools before homeschooling her first child.
In 2021, after observing her then second-grade intellectually gifted (CLUE) and academically advanced (Optional) learner struggle with reading fluency, comprehension, and spelling, she learned that those struggles were characteristics of dyslexia. This began Kelvina's “dyslexia journey”. Now a project manager, certified in the Agile approach, a SMILA graduate, and an ALTA Certified Academic Language Practitioner, Kelvina is a dedicated dyslexia professional and advocate. Utilizing the TN dyslexia legislation and TN Department of Education publications, Kelvina advocates for all Memphis and Shelby County students with “characteristics of dyslexia” to have the opportunity to learn how to read, write, and spell through the delivery of dyslexia-specific instruction/intervention, with fidelity.
Sara Midyett CRNA, RN, MSNA, BSN
Sara is the wife of a dyslexic husband and the mother of three dyslexic children. She is a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA). Although Sara was aware of dyslexia and knew that those who had dyslexia had difficulty reading, it wasn’t until her first child was diagnosed with dyslexia that her learning and advocacy journey began.
In 2021, Sara met Kelvina at Bodine, where their children had started third grade together. Bodine is the only school in the midsouth dedicated to helping children with dyslexia learn to read. Dyslexia brought them together, and they discovered that they shared a passion for advocating for dyslexic learners.
Dyslexia does not discriminate. Neither should we.
Sara and Kelvina founded Dyslexic Minds to raise awareness about dyslexia and neurodiversity after they saw the difference that appropriate Orton-Gillingham-based dyslexia-specific instruction/intervention made in the lives of children, including their own.
1 in 5 children have dyslexia, but their access to dyslexia-specific instruction/intervention is largely dependent on their family's ability to pay for it. Approximately 20% of the population is dyslexic. Approximately 50% of the prison population is dyslexic. Sara and Kelvina want to disrupt the school-prison-pipeline; they are passionate about ensuring that all dyslexic children, regardless of race, color, gender, or socio-economic status, have an opportunity to learn how to read, write, and spell, so that they can access their education.
If you would like Dyslexic Minds 901 to speak to your audience, or curate professional development for your organization please contact us to schedule a consultation.
Dyslexic Minds 901
Meet the Speakers
Audiologist - Wednesday, September 11
Dr. Deborah Moncrieff Ph.D.
Dr. Moncrieff joined the faculty as assistant professor in the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Memphis in 2018. Dr. Moncrieff received her BA in English Literature from the University of Rochester, and after raising three children, returned to graduate school and received her MS in Audiology and PhD in Cognition and Neuroscience from the University of Texas at Dallas. She has served in tenure-track and clinical faculty positions at the Universities of Florida, Connecticut, and Pittsburgh, changing locations to expand her understanding of auditory processing disorders in children across diverse populations.
In addition to behavioral techniques, Dr. Moncrieff has utilized multi-channel electrophysiologic techniques and functional brain imaging to explore the neurophysiologic underpinnings of auditory processing disorders. Her research has been funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Lions Hearing Research Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Education.
Speech Language Pathologist - Wednesday, September 18
Katherine Mendez, MA, CCC-SLP
Katherine Mendez is a practicing speech-language pathologist and Co-Director of Clinical Education in Speech-Language Pathology at the University of Memphis. The University of Memphis School of Communication Sciences and Disorders is nationally recognized for its academic, research, and clinical education programs in audiology, speech-language pathology, sign language, and speech, language, and hearing sciences.
In both Katherine’s clinical practice and the graduate coursework, she teaches focus primarily on the diagnosis and treatment of language, literacy, and executive function disorders. Her research is focused on exploring the needs of individuals with language and literacy disorders in the justice system.
Dyslexic Minds 901
The Dyslexia Interventionists - Wednesday, September 25
Gay Landaiche, MA, Associate/OGA
Gay is a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and a graduate of Louisiana State University with a BA in Sociology and an MA in Curriculum and Instruction. She and her husband moved to Memphis twenty-seven years ago. Gay served as a Project Director with Communities in Schools in Jacksonville, FL, and a Learning Specialist at St. Mary’s Episcopal School for Girls before joining the faculty at Bodine School (the only school in the mid-south region dedicated to helping children with reading difficulties). Gay also served on the board of the Commission on Missing and Exploited Children in Memphis, TN.
At present Gay is the Director of the Erika Center at Bodine School, the outreach arm of the school. She conducts training for educators and parents, offers literacy screenings for area students, and supervises the two satellite programs of the Erika Center. Gay’s training includes several Lindamood Bell courses and Associate Level training with the Orton Gillingham Academy. Gay currently serves on the board of the TN branch of the International Dyslexia Association.
Pam DeMato, M.Ed, CALP, CERI Structured Literacy Interventionist
Pam is originally from the New Haven, CT area and received her degree in Early Childhood Education from Southern Connecticut State University. After living and teaching school in New Orleans, LA and Augusta, GA, her family settled in the Memphis area in 1997. After her middle son was diagnosed with dyslexia, she began training and completed her dyslexia intervention certifications. She also became an advocate for her son as well as for others, serving for over 13 years on the Board of the Tennessee International Dyslexia Association.
After earning her Master's degree from Christian Brothers University in 2015, she began working with adult learners.
Today she has a private dyslexia intervention practice, RISE Learning Center, and is the current executive director of the Shelby Literacy Center, a local non-profit adult education center that serves adults looking to improve their literacy skills.
Dyslexic Minds 901
Neuropsychologist – Wednesday, October 2
Brandon Baughman, Ph.D., ABPP-CN
Dr. Brandon Baughman completed his doctoral degree in clinical psychology at the University of Tulsa in 2008. His residency training included a neuropsychology track internship at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in Neuropsychology at the Memphis VA Medical Center, UTHSC, and St. Jude Children Research Center. Dr. Baughman’s training is in lifespan neuropsychology. Dr. Baughman is board certified in the area of clinical neuropsychology by the American Board of Clinical Neuropsychology (ABCN).
Dr. Baughman is the senior neuropsychologist at the Semmes Murphey Clinic in Memphis, TN, where he sees children and adults with varying clinical backgrounds, including neurodevelopmental disorders, acquired brain injury (i.e., TBI, stroke), neurodegenerative diseases (i.e., Alzheimer’s Disease), and oncologic disease (i.e., central nervous system tumors). Dr. Baughman holds a faculty appointment in the departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery at the University of Tennessee, College of Medicine. As part of this role, he is an active lecturer for residents, supervises clinical neuropsychology interns, fellows, and graduate practicum students and is involved in active research with multiple collaborators through the UTHSC system. His research interests have focused on several areas, but broadly exploring neuropsychological and functional outcomes following stroke and brain injury, as well as the role of social determinants of health on cognitive development and function. Approximately 25% of Dr. Baughman’s practice is forensic based, and he has been a qualified expert in state and federal courts. Dr. Baughman currently serves on the executive committee for the American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology and has been honored to participate in multiple professional neuropsychology committees throughout his career.