Dr. Lucy Jane Miller will deliver Roberts Center lecture

LAKELAND, Fla. (Jan. 26, 2009) — Florida Southern College’s innovative Roberts Center for Learning and Literacy welcomes Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, founder and executive director of the internationally recognized Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation of Greenwood Village, Colorado, to the Center’s spring lecture Feb. 4. Dr. Miller will discuss “Sensory Processing Disorder: Myth or Reality,” associated with the concepts of her highly acclaimed book, “Sensational Kids: Hope and Help for Children with Sensory Processing Disorder.”

The event begins with a reception at 6 p.m. followed by the lecture at 7 p.m. in the Anne MacGregor Jenkins Recital Hall adjacent to Branscomb Auditorium on the FSC campus. A book signing will follow the address and books will be available for purchase. The event is free and open to the public.

As founder of the first comprehensive Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) research program nationwide, Dr. Miller's name is synonymous with sensory research, education, and treatment. She has been investigating, analyzing, and explaining SPD to other scientists, professionals, and parents since she studied under sensory integration pioneer Dr. A. Jean Ayres more than 30 years ago. Since then, studies by Dr. Miller and her colleagues have helped bring SPD widespread recognition. Because of her mobilization of the research community, SPD now appears in two diagnostic manuals: the Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders’ “Diagnostic Manual for Infancy and Early Childhood” and “The Diagnostic Classification: Zero to Three.” She also has developed seven standardized tests for use worldwide to assess and diagnose SPD and other developmental disorders and delays.

Dr. Miller has been featured on NBC's “Today” and ABC's “20/20,” in The New York Times and numerous other popular and professional publications. She is the author of more than 60 articles and/or chapters in scientific and professional journals, magazines, and textbooks and is a frequent presenter or speaker at conferences and workshops worldwide. She has received more than 30 funded awards and grants to further research on SPD and other childhood disabilities. In 2004, she received the Award of Merit from the American Occupational Therapy Association, the profession's highest honor. In 2005, she was awarded the Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Award by the state of Colorado for her three decades of work with children who have SPD.

In-Service units and nursing Continuing Education units are available. For more information, contact Dr. David Wood, the Hal and Marjorie Roberts professor of learning and literacy and director of the Roberts Center for Learning and Literacy, at 863. 680.3741 or dwood@flsouthern.edu.

About the Roberts Center for Learning and Literacy
The Roberts Center for Learning and Literacy, established in 2006 by Hal and Marjorie Hollis Roberts, provides resources for recognizing and assessing learning and literacy differences. The Center was established to enhance the College’s exceptional teacher education program by providing students with specialized instruction in diagnostics and intervention protocol related to learning and literacy challenges. Through coursework with highly credentialed faculty, and an annual lecture series, graduates will be even better prepared for the challenge of educating students with learning differences.