When I was growing up in Brooklyn, NY, I made a promise to myself
to become an adult who always remembered what it’s like to be a kid.
That promise and desire was part of the fuel that led me to go into teaching.
After earning a degree in education and learning disabilities I taught
for several years in Australia, New England and New York City.
Later, I learned about a new school in Monterey, California for bright kids
with reading and writing difficulties, and was hired as its first teacher.
I decided to apprentice myself for a year to the director, one of the
nation’s top educators of dyslexic students. There I began honing
an approach to teaching that would later become validated by the National
Reading Panel. This school is now one of the best.
Wanting to share these skills and experiences with wider audiences I began
training other teachers and tutors to recognize and teach dyslexic learners.
Along the way, I was lucky enough to meet and marry my wife and we have
raised two boys, one who has learning differences and for whom the early
school years were difficult.
As a result of being a parent of a child with learning disabilities I now
found myself on the other side of the coin or desk so to speak, and learned
first-hand the experiences and emotions that come when it is your child who
seems misunderstood. I had the “pit in my stomach” feeling when it
seemed his learning needs weren’t met. I can’t overstate how
this experience changed me.
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In 1989 I was recognized as the Outstanding Teacher of the Year on the Monterey Peninsula.
I understood that it is a blending of expertise and appropriate teaching along with heartfelt
understanding of each child as a learner and person that leads to profound change and growth in kids.
After earning a Masters Degree in Educational Leadership from George Washington University
we moved to the San Francisco area of California where I was the Director of a K-12 school
for kids with various learning disabilities. Having the responsibility of running this school
deepened my appreciation for the value of each student, as well as the need to accurately
assess the nature of their strengths and weaknesses before understanding how to teach them.
At the Bend Learning Center we help you understand your child’s challenges as
well as their strengths and help them discover effective learning strategies.
Sanford Shapiro, M.Ed.
Director, Bend Learning Center
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Heather Hoyt is an educational consultant who works with children with special
needs and can assist families in developing educational and behavioral plans.
The families with whom Heather works are deeply appreciative of her advanced
skills, and the deep level of care she brings.
She has worked in the area of early intervention services and special
education for the past nine years and completed her Masters Degree in
Education in 2006. Subsequently, Heather began working in private
practice to assist families in enhancing their child’s developmental,
behavioral, and academic success.
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Heather’s clinical expertise includes
working with children with specific learning disabilities and Autism
Spectrum Disorder. She was also the co-founder of the Central Oregon
Autism Resource Group, helping to raise awareness and support for
families. Heather resides in Bend, and has become an expert on
identifying support services across the Central Oregon region that serves
families with young children.
Heather is trained in Orton-Gillingham-based approaches for literacy and
uses best practices in Social Thinking and Theory of Mind approaches for
those on the Autism Spectrum.
Heather is also the Education Director for The School of Enrichment, a
preschool in Bend.
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