ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION AUTHOR AND ADVOCATE TO TALK TONIGHT
Old Dominion University's Office of Disability Services will sponsor an evening with Jonathan Mooney, renowned author and advocate for alternative education, on Thursday, Nov. 1.
He will give a talk from 7-8:30 p.m. in room 1012 of the Batten Arts and Letters Building. It is free and open to the public.
Mooney frequently travels around the country speaking to school administrators, counselors, parents and teachers of labeled, gifted, at-risk and "normal" students. He illustrates his ideas with his personal and professional experiences as a dyslexic and ADD student, and as founder and president of Project Eye-To-Eye, a nonprofit mentoring and advocacy organization for students with learning differences.
In his presentation at ODU, Mooney will walk the audience through his profound journey of educational and personal change, empowering people to think differently about LD/ADHD individuals and the concept of learning itself. At the core of his presentation is a message of personal empowerment, academic success and educational revolution for people who think "differently."
Mooney weaves his experiences and forward-thinking philosophies with his broad academic knowledge of education, psychology, sociology and history of learning and disability. A winner of the prestigious Truman Scholarship for graduate studies in disability studies and social change, Mooney was also a finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship.
He has published two books, "Learning Outside the Lines" (now in its 14th printing) and "The Short Bus: A Journey Beyond Normal."
His latest book, "The Short Bus," is a memoir of his travels across the country in a converted short school bus, seeking to celebrate cognitive and physical diversity through profiles of people who have been labeled abnormal. Mooney used the bus as a reminder of how children with cognitive and physical differences are often separated from their peers and made to ride the "short bus" to school.
His work on behalf of students with disabilities was recognized by the LD Access Foundation in 2003, when he received the Golden Advocacy award.
Mooney has lectured in 43 states and three countries. He has spoken at Harvard University, Brown University, the University of Wisconsin and New York University Medical School, to name a few. He has also given keynote addresses at most major national education conferences and speaks frequently to students of all ages.
Mooney has been featured and quoted in The New York Times, USA Today and The Washington Post, and has appeared on NPR and ABC News.
For more information about his presentation, call Sheryn Milton, director of disability services or Sarah Jaeschke, graduate assistant at (757) 683-4655.
To see a video clip of Jonathan Mooney's The Short Bus documentary, click the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7z0VHuaoc4