I have always been amazed and involved with people learning to speak, learning to read and learning to learn. I love everything about language and thinking patterns and aha moments. Change is where it’s at. Change is what I do.
EarIy in my career I found myself being pulled to spaces with students who were struggling – with difficult home lives and difficult school lives. I completed my teaching degree at the University of Toronto, completed Orton-Gillingham training and began working with students with dyslexia.
I went on to complete my MA and PhD in Educational Psychology at Simon Fraser University under the excellent supervision of applied linguists, and theoretical, cognitive and developmental psychologists. I became a skilled researcher and practitioner, learning and mobilizing research findings on reading, language comprehension, executive functions, and paradigms of disability. Throughout my graduate work I taught and supported undergraduate students and worked with at-risk children and families in the wider community, many of whom struggled with disability and poverty.
I hold a Faculty position at Douglas College where I support student with disabilities in arranging accommodations, liaising with community organizations and providing educational counselling. I am an instructor at Simon Fraser University where I teach courses on reading psychology, learning, instruction, and disability studies.
I created The Vowel House to help people with all the academic, social and self changes we experience at school, college and university. My research and practice have helped me learn that change is not merely a decision. Change requires maps – subject maps, people maps and world maps.
At The Vowel House, my mission is to help you navigate the waters of change – to help you understand the problem, work on solutions, and connect you to resources. I’m here to get you comfortable, to help you see new ideas, find your motivation and walk the path of success.
Thank you for visiting. I look forward to seeing you soon.
Seanna Takacs, PhD