About Nancy Lelewer Sonnabend
Nancy has been involved in learning disabilities and early childhood development for over forty-five years. In 2004 she received the Alice H. Garside award from the Massachusetts Branch of the International Dyslexia Association (MABIDA) for her outstanding contribution to the field of Learning Disabilities. She was one of twelve dyslexics included in the Orton Dyslexia Society, Los Angeles Branch, 1997 Calendar of Outstanding Dyslexics. Nancy has served on various boards including being a Founding Board Member of Multidisiplinary Institute for Neuropsychological Development, Inc. (MIND. INC.), Cambridge, MA, The Cove Foundation, Winnetka, IL, two International Dyslexia Association boards, and was Chair of the Board of Trustees of The Linden Hill School, Northfield, MA from May 1998 to January 2005. Nancy is an Executive Advisor to The Asperger’s Association of New England (AANE) and a member of the National board of The Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA).
Her autobiography, SOMETHING’S NOT RIGHT: One family’s struggle with learning disabilities won a Parents’ Choice Commendation in 1994 and in August 2000 was reviewed by one of Amazon.com’s top ten reviewers.
She has been guest lecturer at many conferences and schools including Harvard Graduate School of Education, Lesley University, Boston University, Northeastern and the University of Massachusetts.
Nancy has been an Associate in Neurology at Harvard Medical School, Neurobehavioral Infant and Child Study Laboratory, since 1986 where she has been involved in dyslexia research at Boston Children’s Hospital. From 1983 to 1987 she was a Research Affiliate in MIT’s Man/Vehicle Lab, Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics. She has published scientific articles in National and International Journals on this research.
In 2007, her short story Sue and Gracie was published in Harvard’s HILR Review.
She is the designer & creator of the CHILDREN’S ACTIVITY WALL CALENDAR, a temporal learning program for kindergarten, 1st grade and exceptional children, which was manufactured and distributed by Teaching Resource Center, San Leandro, CA.
Nancy holds three patents on the 1, 2, 3 INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAM, board games she invented, which teach spatial orientation, concrete and abstract sequencing, basic math concepts and board game skills to preschoolers and exceptional children. This program was marketed by J.A. Preston Corporation, New York, NY.
She was a founding director of Permobil of America Inc., a computerized wheelchair company, and served as its clerk and treasurer from 1984 to 1987. (The company has been renamed Permobil Inc. and now has its USA corporate headquarters in Lebanon, TN)
Nancy lives at the Prudential Center, Boston, MA. She was on the board of the Prudential Center Residents’ Association (PCRA) and its predecessor board from 1980 until 2008. She is a past President of PCRA and was their alternate representative to the Prudential Project Advisory Committee, (PruPAC), that advised the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) and the Mayor on the build-out of the Prudential Center.
Nancy is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College. During her Junior year she attended The Instituto Internacional, Madrid, Spain, as a Smith College exchange student. She is the mother of four grown children and has eight grandchildren.
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Nancy Lelewer is the author of the award winning book, SOME- THING’S NOT RIGHT, One family’s struggle with learning disabilities. She is the co-author of journal articles dealing with learning differences based on her research at MIT and Harvard Medical School. In 2007, her short story Sue and Gracie was published in Harvard’s HILR Review. THE LELEWER LEGACY, Traditions of a Loving Family is Ms. Lelewer’s second book.
