Nationally Renowned Speaker Rick Lavoie – April 13

Brescia University, Daviess County Public Schools, Owensboro Public Schools and Owensboro Catholic Schools have collaborated to bring nationally-known author and speaker, Rick Lavoie, to Owensboro. Lavoie is an icon in the field of special education.

Lavoie will be speaking to the public on April 13 at 7 pm in the Taylor Lecture Hall (Science Building). This speaking engagement will be extremely beneficial for educators and parents of children with special needs. Lavoie will meet earlier in the day with the Brescia School of Education students, faculty and staff. He will have a separate address to the educators from the participating school systems.

Lavoie has served as an administrator of residential programs for children with special needs since 1972. He holds three degrees in special education and has served as an adjunct professor or visiting lecturer at numerous universities including Harvard, Syracuse, University of Alabama, and Georgetown. His numerous national television appearances include CBS Morning Show, Good Morning America, ABC Evening News, and Disney Channel Presents. He has given more than 2500 keynote addresses and workshops to schools, institutions and agencies in North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong.

Lavoie serves as a consultant on learning disabilities to the Public Broadcasting Service, New York Times, the National Center for Learning Disabilities, Girl Scouts of the United States of America, Child Magazine and WETA. He is a member of the Professional Advisory Board of the Learning Disabilities Association. He received the 2009 Learning Disabilities Association of America’s Sam Kirk Award.

Lavoie is probably best known for his videos “How Difficult Can This Be?: The F.A.T. City Workshop”, which Brescia University uses in teaching its special education program, and “Last One Picked, First One Picked On: The Social Implications of Learning Disabilities”.

For more information on Lavoie’s visit to Owensboro, please contact Dr. Tom Payne, School of Education Chair, at 270-686-4267 or [email protected].

This event is made possible through funding of the Brescia University Young Lecture Series, Daviess County Public Schools, Owensboro Public Schools and Owensboro Catholic Schools.