The DLS Team
DLS-trained Clinical Developmental Learning Specialists are at the heart of DLS's work with learners of all kinds. Educational therapy, assessments, parent and school support, and long-term educational planning are just some of the services they provide.

DLS clinical specialists create detailed learning plans and work with all types of learners including those in need of support for:

•  dyslexia and reading delays
•  processing differences
•  language disorders and delays / comprehension and expression
•  language and pragmatics (often associated with Asperger's, PDD, NLD)
•  writing / creative and academic
•  dysgraphia
•  academic & life coaching

Contact Us for more information on how we can help.  See more about our team, below.

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DLS Founder & Director, John R. Fleming
​and the Assessment Team

Mr. Fleming has a Master’s degree in Special Education with concentrations in Learning Disabilities, and in Emotional Disturbances that Affect Learning. He was Coordinator of the Cognitive Development Program at the Reading Center of George Washington University, and helped develop the Educational Therapy certificate program at University of California-Santa Cruz Extension Program where he teaches. He has also taught at University of California Berkeley Extension, Holy Names University, and George Washington University.
 
In his role as director of DLS, he oversees a staff of more than two dozen learning professionals. He also provides direct consultation, assessments & educational therapy, and in-depth training; he works as an advisor and board member to schools that serve students with learning differences.

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Our Assessment Team includes:

Developmental Educational Assessors:
   
Tiffany Nielsen, M.Ed.:
- Directing Provider, Certified Educational Therapist
- Assessment Specialist & Clinical Developmental Learning Specialist

Judyth Suttle, M.S., M.A., BCET:
- Board Certified Educational Therapist
- Assessment Specialist & Principal Assessor

Carrie Messina, M.A.:
- Certified Educational Therapist
- Assessment Specialist & Clinical Developmental Learning Specialist

Psychological (Fleming-Leib Integral Process) Assessor:
Rebecca Leib, Ph.D.,
- Clinical Psychologist 
- Co-founder: Fleming-Leib Integral Process for Assessment


Special Program Co-Creator:
Sheila Cliff, M. Ed., M.A.
- Co-founder of Mindful Play Program
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Educational Therapy with DLS Learning Specialists:

Ann Maddox, M.S., Ph.D.: Clinical Developmental Learning Specialist
- Middle School, High School, College & Graduate School
- Learning and study strategies for reading, writing, test taking, note taking
- Strategies in organizational skills and time management
- Teen through adult executive functioning
- Academic anxiety
- Self advocacy and communication
- Clinical observations
- Educational transition planning

Carrie Messina, M.A.: Certified Educational Therapist/Clinical Development Learning Specialist, Assessment Specialist
- Reading fluency and comprehension with Orton-Gillingham programs
- Organizational and Executive Functioning skills and strategies
- College search and planning
- Educational and life transitions
- School meetings, observation, and placement

Angela Muonio, B.A.: Clinical Development Learning Specialist
-Written expression, including support using Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) methods
-Phonological awareness, reading comprehension, and reading fluency, including Orton-Gillingham methods
-K-6 math, including use of Making Math Real®-based strategies and methods
-Self-regulation and self-advocacy

Tiffany Nielsen, M.Ed.: Directing Provider, Certified Educational Therapist/Clinical Developmental Learning Specialist, Assessment Specialist
- Reading, Writing, and Math Specialist K-12
- General Mathematics Teaching Credential
- Visual, Auditory, Motor and Language Processing
- Test-Taking and Anxiousness Techniques
- Attention and Focusing
- Education and Transition Planning
- School meetings, observations, and placement

Kamau Norman-Terrance, Clinical Developmental Learning Specialist, Intern
- K-12
- Reading, writing, math and science specialist
- Academic organizing and executive functioning

Judyth Suttle, M.S., M.A., BCET:
- Board Certified Educational Therapist
- Assessment Specialist & Principal Assessor
- Specialist in Visual Motor Development
- Educational Therapy

Sujatha Srinivasan, B.E, ET/P: Certified Educational Therapist, Clinical Developmental Learning Specialist/Assessment Specialist
- Children of all ages
- Reading, writing and math specialist
- Attention and focusing
- Executive functioning and organizational strategies

Kim Tran, M.S.: Clinical Developmental Learning Specialist
- Middle school through college level reading, writing, and social sciences
- Elementary through college level geometry, algebra, statistics and trigonometry
- Study skills and test-taking strategies
- Personalized learning advocacy, planning, and mentoring
- Organizational skills, time management, learning purpose & esteem
- Curriculum development

Sharon Updyke, B.S.: Certified Educational Therapist, Clinical Developmental Learning Specialist
- All levels of math through Algebra 2
- Making Math Real ® methods and strategies
-K-6 Reading and Writing, including multi-sensory techniques/programs
- Organization, task and time management, executive functioning,  and self-advocacy skills

Garrick Wahlstrand, M.A.: Clinical Developmental Learning Specialist/Assessment Specialist, Directed Studies Coordinator
- K-8, High School, & College writing, math and science
- Academic organizing and project management support
- Teen through adult executive functioning
- Directed Studies: full-scale coordination and enrichment for independent study courses
- Educational and transition planning
- School meetings and placement

Directed Tutoring with DLS

Marjie McGraw, B.A.
- Special educational background: science education & environmental studies

Zahir Yahya, B.A.
- Special educational background: STEM education