Seminar

The smart idiot: The gifts and the curses of living with a learning difficulty.

8 September 2007

The workshop will explore Simon’s life, from childhood to present, with hindsight of his reflections. This will be used as a back drop to help steer a conversation between the participants to try and understand the gifts and the curses of living with a learning difficulty. Hopefully this will help the seminar participants to be reflective in their approach of dealing with people with learning difficulties to nurture them to share their gifts with the community.

Speaker: Simon Utteridge
Simon started life not talking until he was over four. Through his primary education he had the privilege and blight of been sent to one of Australia’s first schools dealing with dyslexia (Cromhurst, Linfield, N.S.W). He then cruised through high school with a patronising mother as his unassigned advocate. He then went to university (no better thing to do) and started a B.Sc. Starting university believing he wanted to be a computer scientist, then physicist, then a new state and started engineering. Finding engineering tedious he eventually went back to physics. He finally left university with a PhD.

He then entered the work force as a professional physicist both in the private and university sector. He then changed directions and joined Defence Science and Technology Organisation as a research scientist. DSTO gave him the opportunity to explore and gain an understanding in sociology, social ontology’s, work culture, learning organisations, naturalistic decision making and the rules of engagement of working within an Government institution (espoused or real) as he undertook research into Command and Control.

Simon recently has been lecturing at Flinders University the field of statistical Mechanics until coming to Queensland where he is exploring a career in helping, at the grass roots level, individuals to give their gifts for a better community. He would like to use his experiences to help individuals to learn through reflection.

Where
Jindalee Hotel Entertainment Centre, Centenary Highway, Jindalee

When
9.00am start

Cost
Free

RSVP
RSVP: 1 September, 2007
Ph: 3878 9944 Email: info@qcal.org.au

You can browse through our archive of meeting, seminar and workshop notices to see the range of activities QCAL organises.