Celebrating 60 years of Learning Difficulties Australia

In 2025, Learning Difficulties Australia celebrates 60 years of supporting students with learning difficulties through science-based, effective teaching. Join us to celebrate this milestone with an afternoon of professional development, exhibitions, networking, wine, and canapes.

Be a part of our milestone celebration. This event will provide a platform for organisations to showcase their products and services as well as connect with educators and allied health professionals. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, please click here for more information or contact our Education Manager (ed.manager@ldaustralia.org)

Ensuring all children can learn (Dr Robyn Wheldall – Director MultiLit Research Unit

This talk will explore what educational and instructional psychology tells us about optimising learning environments for students of all ages. Factors such as attention and the pivotal role of interactions between teachers and students have animportant part to play in ensuring success for students and teachers alike. Guidance on making the classroom a successful place for students with diverse learning needs will also be shared.

Best Practices for Maths Intervention (Professor Sarah Powell)

In this session, we will discuss five evidence-based practices to use in your maths intervention. We will focus on why it’s important to help students with maths vocabulary and use multiple representations. We will share the importance of being systematic with instruction. We will also talk about building fluency and word-problem solving. Come learn about essential components of maths intervention for students who experience difficulty with maths! Please note this is not a live session – Sarah has recorded this session specifically for our 60th anniversary.

Dr Robyn Wheldall has worked in the areas of learning difficulties, special education, behaviour management and literacy instruction and interventions for struggling readers for more than 30 years. For much of her career, she worked at Macquarie University Special Education Centre (MUSEC) and is a founding Director of MultiLit Pty Ltd, a university spin-off company established in 2006. In addition to her continuing role as a Director of MultiLit, Robyn is the Director of the MultiLit Research Unit and is a Vice-President of Learning Difficulties Australia. She is also a founding director of the Institute of Special Educators, is the Chair of the Industry Advisory Board for the Masters of Speech Pathology at the University of Technology Sydney, is a University Associate of Curtin University, and is a Research Fellow at Macquarie University.

Sarah Powell is a Professor in the College of Education at the University of Texas at Austin and Associate Director of the Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk. Her research, teaching, and service focus on mathematics, particularly for students who experience mathematics differently. Sarah is also the 2025 recipient of the Eminent Researcher Award of the Au