Joyce Pickering, CALT-QI
2019 Luke Waites ALTA Award of Service Winner
The Luke Waites ALTA Award of Service was established to recognize an individual who has made a significant contribution to improve services received by individuals with dyslexia. ALTA is happy to recognize Joyce Pickering as this year’s recipient. Joyce has been a tireless advocate for students identified with dyslexia. She has made countless contributions to improving services and educational opportunities to students with dyslexia while promoting the field of dyslexia professionals.
Joyce is a Speech Language Pathologist, Certified Academic Language Therapist, and Qualified Instructor. She also is Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Adjunct Instructor of Dallas Baptist University. In 2002, Dallas Baptist University awarded Joyce with an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities. Joyce is the Executive Director Emerita of Shelton School & Evaluation Center where her influence has been felt since she began serving as the Executive Director in 1990. At Shelton, the world’s largest private school for children with learning differences, Joyce worked in both administration, teacher training, and outreach. She led Shelton during a tremendous period of growth and development.
Joyce has accumulated countless hours serving professional organizations dedicated to improving childhood education. Joyce serves as a steering committee member of the Center for Advanced ADHD Research, Treatment & Education, a unique collaborative research study between Shelton School, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and the University of Texas at Dallas Brain Health Center. Joyce is currently on the Board of Directors of ALTA where she has served since 2007.
Joyce states that she loves “ALTA for the remarkable work the organization has done since 1981 in providing credentials to Academic Language Therapists and Practitioners, which assures the quality of services being provided to students with dyslexia. The services the organization provides to trainees, in offering the Alliance Exam and keeping records on each certified member, are invaluable. ALTA was also instrumental in the success of achieving licensing for dyslexia therapists in the state of Texas.”
In her “spare time,” Joyce travels the world to present classes and keynote speeches about education and how to meet the needs of learning-different students. Gracious and soft-spoken, Joyce is loved by everyone in her wide circle of colleagues, friends, and family, which includes husband Robert Pickering, 5 children, and 13 grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter.
ALTA is honored to recognize Joyce Pickering for her tireless work on behalf of individuals with dyslexia.