Director James Redford and the Team Responsible for "The Big Picture: Rethinking Dyslexia" To Be Honored at the Smart Kids with Learning Disabilities Benefit on April 25
Westport, CT (PRWEB) April 02, 2014 -- Smart Kids with Learning Disabilities will hold its 12th annual benefit, The Sky's The Limit, at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, April 25 at the Hyatt Regency in Greenwich, celebrating the limitless potential of children with learning disabilities and ADHD. NBC News Correspondent Kate Snow will be the Master of Ceremonies for the second year.
This year, Smart Kids with LD will honor the work of James Redford (the son of actor Robert Redford) and the team responsible for making the acclaimed HBO documentary film, “The Big Picture: Rethinking Dyslexia.”
“When I was given the extraordinary opportunity to make a film about understanding dyslexia, the mission was simple: make the movie I wish my family could have seen when my son, Dylan was functionally illiterate in fourth grade,” said Redford, whose son Dylan’s story is told in the documentary.
Karen Pritzker, the film's executive producer, whose daughter Allison Schwartz is featured in the film, will be one of the speakers at the Smart Kids with LD benefit. Dr. Tyler Lucas, a surgeon who struggled with dyslexia as a child, and several members of the Lucas family who appear in the film, will also be in attendance.
One of the evening’s highlights will be the official release of the animated Smart Kids with LD video by Westport producer Robert Williams, created with a grant from the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation. The production team, led by Williams, includes the Pulitzer-Prize winning cartoonist and illustrator, Matt Davies of Wilton.
The evening’s honorees include:
• Dr. Sally Shaywitz and Dr. Bennett Shaywitz, Co-Directors of the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity in New Haven, will accept the 2014 Professional Achievement Award. The Shaywitzes are being recognized for their pioneering work researching LD and dyslexia, and working tirelessly to promote the unique strengths of people with dyslexia. Sally Shaywitz is the author of the groundbreaking book, “Overcoming Dyslexia,” and she and her husband played a key role in shepherding the movie, “The Big Picture,” through the creative process.
• The Fred J. Epstein Youth Achievement Award winners, who hail from all over the country.
• Alice Cohen of the Windward School, who will receive the Outstanding Teacher Award.
The Gold Sponsor for The Sky’s The Limit benefit is Lindamood Bell Learning Centers of Darien, CT. Additional sponsors include Literacy How, a North Haven company specializing in applying reading research to successful classroom practice; the Prospect School at Wooster, a Danbury school for students in the 6th, 7th and 8th grades diagnosed with language based learning disabilities, ADHD, and executive functioning weaknesses; and Eagle Hill Southport, a school for children experiencing academic difficulties because of a specific learning disability.
About Smart Kids with Learning Disabilities, Inc.:
Smart Kids with Learning Disabilities, Inc. is a Westport-based nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering the parents of children with learning disabilities (LD) and attention deficit disorders (ADHD) via its educational programs, award-winning website and blog, and free e-newsletter at http://www.SmartKidswithLD.org. The organization also educates the public about these children’s gifts and talents. Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy is an Honorary Board member, and Henry Winkler, Golden Globe award-winning actor, director and author, serves as the organization’s Honorary Chairman.
For more information, visit http://www.smartkidswithld.org.
Jane Ross, Smart Kids with Learning Disabilities, +1 (203) 226-6831, [email protected]
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