dys lex i a[dis-lek-see-uh] noun.

85% of children who are identified as disabled have problems with reading, writing or spelling. According to Professor of Education at WTAMU, Dr. Con, dyslexia is a neurological issue with an educational solution.

Puff Niegos and Constantine Thomas, Ph.D. provided an insightful program about learning disabilities in the Texas Panhandle, with a focus on dyslexia. Puff and Dr. Con each have a child with dyslexia and found out firsthand how children (and adults) who live with this learning disorder are often labeled as being slow, lazy, careless or inattentive. Once labeled, "behavior" problems arise, the level of frustration escalates, and the child falls behind over the course of time.

Their mission is to provide resources for parents, teachers, administrators and students with the intent of identifying at-risk children during their pre-school years when the brain is better able to help the brain develop the proper connections needed to reduce or eliminate problems in the classroom. Time is of the essence, because it becomes increasingly difficult to overcome deficiencies with reading and comprehension by the time the child is in the 2^nd or 3^rd grade.

Completely disoriented, there is often no mercy or respite for the undiagnosed child, who has no idea what, why or how they can "fix" the problem no matter how much they may want to. In the eyes of the educator, they can appear totally detached and disinterested, largely because they are. They cannot participate, contribute or remain engaged when they do not comprehend the subject matter.

Puff adequately demonstrated a classroom scenario by having club members read from a sample article, which had been distorted. Our members experienced stuttering, stammering, long pauses and their own frustration as Puff verbally prompted expediency if any member failed to progress through the article to her satisfaction.

Acceptable means of treatment include the use of assistive technologies such as word processors, speech recognition software, spellcheck and grammar correction software, and digital note-taking software, which transcribes audio recordings into text.

Congratulations to newly-wed, Eddie Scott!!

Robert Forrester drew the 7 of clubs out of the ever shrinking deck of cards.

Thank you to Jeff Neely, Dale Bippus, Basil Walker, Renee' Wilson, Rocky Gafford, Teresa Clemons, and Andy Price for their contributions to the meeting this week!

In district news, the first Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Camp (RYLA) deadline is upon us. Campers who turn in their forms prior to March 15^th will be charged a fee of $450 for the camp. Any applicants who turn in their forms after that date will incur a $500 fee.

This youth leadership program is intended to be a one-time only experience for students entering or completing their Junior year of high school. Camp will be held at Lone Tree Ranch in the beautiful mountains of New Mexico from June 10^th-June 14^th. If you have recruited any participants, please advise them of the deadlines and encourage them to visit the District 5730 website for additional information or respective forms. Our own, John Early, is the Camp RYLA guru and can also answer any questions that you may have in this regard.