NORTH CHESTERFIELD, Va. –– The month of October signals Dyslexia Awareness Month and Decoding Dyslexia Virginia (DDVA) is hosting a series of events as a way of recognizing and increasing understanding about dyslexia and other language-based learning differences.
Riverside’s own Robin Hegner, an Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators Fellow-in-Training and former Language Fundamentals instructor, will be the guest speaker on Monday, Oct. 7 at Bon Air Public Library (9103 Rattlesnake Road, Room A, North Chesterfield, Va. 23235, 804-318-8966) from 7-8:30 p.m.
Robin has served in many capacities at Riverside for more than 15 years, and she will be sharing her nearly encyclopedic knowledge about practical tools that parents and loved ones can add to their ‘home toolbox’ in an effort to enhance their child’s academic success and emotional health. An engaging speaker who often speaks to a ‘packed house,’ Robin will also be talking about how to support healthy brain development, organization, attention and confidence.
Through her time at Riverside, Robin has expertise in the Orton-Gillingham (O-G) Approach, the cornerstone of the school’s teaching philosophy. As a Fellow-in-Training, Robin is getting trained in teaching the Orton-Gillingham Approach to other teachers at Riverside and in the community. Her extensive educational experience at Riverside includes one-on-one instruction, as well as teaching parts of the school’s summer Associate Level 60-hour course and mentoring for Riverside’s summer Applied Practice courses.
She is well-equipped with other real-world encounters, too. In December 2018, Robin used her incredible resourcefulness to teach the more than 25 teachers at the Bon Air Juvenile Correctional Facility’s staff how to best teach and implement the time-tested, scientifically proven O-G Approach.
Equipped with a law degree from the College of William & Mary, Robin practiced education law for 15 years and was a lawyer and lobbyist for the Virginia School Boards Association. She served as a policy analyst and Director of Special Education Due Process Proceedings at the Virginia Department of Education where she was instrumental in revising Virginia’s special education regulations and making sure children with ADHD received services in schools.