ABOUT THE PRESENTER   -   Dr Julia Solomon

Julia Solomon has a first degree in English, a second in education and a third in clinical psychology from Australian Universities. As a qualified teacher, she has taught at all levels from early childhood to tertiary students and in adult education. As a teacher educator Dr Solomon taught the first bridging course for primary teachers to become qualified as pre-school teachers under the auspices of the then Pre-school Board which, coincidentally, was housed in the original Meerilinga building, then in Hay Street, West Perth. From that position she was appointed to inaugurate the first early childhood teacher training course at what is now ECU. During her time as a teacher educator her endeavours acquainted her with the many facets of the educational field, including children with special needs and the indigenous population. Through her doctoral research, specialising in the processes that underlie the development of children’s thinking in their first eight years, she wrote “Learning to Think” and “Encounters – A Schedule for Early Childhood”. She would later apply this knowledge, together with her experience in clinical psychology and research into neuro-psychology, to the problems of reading failure in primary school pupils, commonly termed ‘dyslexia’.

In 1990, while in private practice as a clinical psychologist, Dr Solomon authored a new system for teaching reading. She had successfully trialled it earlier to overcome the difficulties faced by dyslexic and other failing readers. Her method is derived from her later studies in the neuro-psychology of reading. It takes into account children’s brain development as an essential element in effective reading instruction. The training course in this method is known as ‘Reading for Sure’, under the heading The Solomon Method. It is now a nationally accredited course in literacy education listed on the National Training Information service.

Since establishing and developing her teaching model, Dr Solomon has combined her practice in psychology with the almost daily assessment of failed or failing readers. She has also treated an ever increasing number of clients with secondary psychological disorders, seemingly associated with reading difficulty.

Although a significant percentage of her clients referred for literacy problems could be classified as dyslexic, Julia Solomon questions whether dyslexia is the true cause of all those referrals. Eventually she differentiated the diagnoses into those reading disorders caused by the condition of dyslexia, those caused by the English language and those caused by the method used to instil reading. At the same time she classified various types of dyslexia and degrees of severity. By identifying the cause of the disorder and type of dyslexia in each case, she found that suitable intervention can prevent and overcome reading disorder.

At the seminar to be held on 20 February 2008, Dr Solomon will address these issues surrounding the causes, the consequences and cures for dyslexia.