Iowa State will host the Iowa Branch of Orton Dyslexia Society’s Fall Conference on Friday.

The conference, which will be held in Room 175 of the Scheman Building, is called”Cutting Edge of Learning Disabilities” and will feature a panel of students with learning disabilities.

Joyce Packwood, coordinator of the Disability Resource Center, will moderate the four-student panel discussion from 10:15 a.m. to 12 p.m.

“We hope this [conference] will further the understanding of students with disabilities,” Packwood said.

The keynote speaker for the conference will be Reid Lyon, director of extramural research programs on learning disabilities at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Bethesda, Md. Lyon will speak about the relationship of neurological behaviors, learning functions and methods of remedying dyslexia from 8:30-10 a.m. and again from 1:30-2:30 p.m.

“He’s been identified with some major cognitive research and I’m interested in how this will impact education,” Packwood said of Lyon.

Another panel on helping students with advocacy will be moderated by Pat Karlson, an ISU assistant professor of curriculum and instruction, at 2:45 p.m.

This panel will focus on how disabled students can advocate changes in education so they can have a better learning environment. In order for these changes to occur, instructors must adjust to students’ learning abilities, Packwood said.

“There’s more than one way to teach the subject,” she said.

Packwood explained that some students learn better by hearing, some by reading and some by studying models.

“All the five senses are a learning tool, and because of that people are able to learn lots of different ways,” she said.

“It’s a challenge to the educators to present their materials in many ways.”

Paul Beard, vice president of the Iowa Branch of Orton Dyslexia Society, said he hopes the conference proves to be a rewarding experience for all who attend.

“This (dyslexia) is a brain-based problem. It takes education, not medication, to solve the problem,” he said.

According to Packwood, 458 students are registered with the Disability Resource Center, but more than 600 students on the ISU campus are disabled.

Students interested in attending the conference, must pay a $20 fee. Members of the society must pay $35, and the cost for families and walk-ins is $40.