Courtney Dolan to Speak at Education Conferences

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Courtney Dolan - file photo

CAZENOVIA, NY (03/30/2011)(readMedia)-- Courtney E. Dolan of Groveland, N.Y. is a senior at Cazenovia College, majoring in human services, specializing in services for children and youth. She styles herself a dynamic special education consultant, and has launched her career even before receiving her college diploma.

In 2009, Dolan developed the workshop "Me, Myself, and My Learning Disabilities," which she presents to parents, educators, agencies, and to universities. Last summer Dolan also developed and facilitated the first support group for parents of children with learning disabilities in Livingston County.

Diagnosed with learning disabilities in third grade, Dolan was told she would be lucky to graduate from high school with an Individualized Education Plan diploma. Instead, she earned a Regent's diploma and was valedictorian of her class. Dolan notes that her experiences as a student in the educational system, working in the system, and now collaborating with educators, are the basis of her workshop. "It is my intent to help professionals understand what a learning disability is and the obstacles a person with a disability may face. A key part of the presentation introduces tools and strategies to help students with learning disabilities become as successful as possible."

Dr. Mary Handley, professor and director of Cazenovia College's Human Services Program, says, "Courtney wants to help create strategies for students with disabilities to be successful in high school and college. By telling her story, she opens the door for the discussion to begin."

Dolan will present her workshop at the annual M.A.C.H.S (Mid-Atlantic Consortium for Human Services) 2011 conference, at Corning Community College, April 1 to 3. She is also a keynote speaker for the Mid-State Region's Inclusion Task Forces Conference, "BOOK-ENDS FOR INCLUSION: Inspiring voices and enabling strategies," to be presented by Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES in Auburn, N.Y., on April 8, where she is one of the 'book-ends, closing the symposium with a talk about her experiences with invisible disabilities.

She says, "If reading were a race, then I would always be in last place. I am always pages behind other students. However, what matters is that I finish the book and that I learn from it. For my whole life I have struggled with my learning disability, and have evolved into a strong, determined, and hard working individual who wants to make a difference in the life of a child."

Another venture in which Dolan is involved, Our Educational Funshop, is aimed at giving young people with disabilities greater self-esteem with new strategies for learning, while they are having fun with activities that might seem to have little to do with learning. For more, visit the website, www.oureducationalfunshop.com, or e-mail Courtney at meandld@gmail.com.

Upon graduation from Cazenovia College, Dolan plans to pursue a master's degree in social work. She will continue presenting her workshop and has plans to write a book. "My passion and willpower to help others defines me," she says. "I have set goals and have ambitions that I strive to reach. I want to share my story and help others learn how to fight the obstacles of living with a learning disability."

Cazenovia College, named one of "America's Best Colleges" by US News & World Report, is an independent, co-educational, baccalaureate college, located near Syracuse, N.Y. Cazenovia, selected as a College of Distinction by www.collegesofdistinction.com, offers a comprehensive liberal arts education in an exceptional community environment, with academic and co-curricular programs devoted to developing leaders in their professional fields. For more information, visit www.cazenovia.edu.

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