Dr. Pamela Ottley

was originally a primary school teacher in the UK and became very interested in why some children found reading so challenging. She gained a first degree in Psychology, followed by M.Sc. in Educational Psychology to become an educational psychologist for many years in Hampshire, UK. At this time it was apparent that many children were not being referred for assessment and support with reading until they were 8 years of age or older.

Later she gained a Ph.D at the University of British Columbia, having gone to Canada to work on a large, longitudinal research project that examined the results of finding children who were “at-risk” for reading difficulties when they were 5 years old by means of a range of reading related tests (early identification). She had already co-written an intervention program called Launch into Reading Success (Pamela Ottley and Lorna Bennett) and saw it very successfully used in the research study. This program has now been used in many parts of the world, including the USA, Canada and Australia.

While in Canada, Dr. Ottley also wrote Sound Track for Reading - a program tested in a smaller research project involving parents working with their own children at home. Both of the research projects were featured on TV, and in documentary films. As an independent consultant to schools and families, she continued to carry out psycho-educational assessments and to present  workshops for educators.