Katrin McElderry

Katrin (“Kate”) McElderry, MA ISD, is a lifelong learner who has been writing, journaling and sketching her whole life. Her writing spans multiple genres; neurodiversity, educational nonfiction, and fictional stories. Kate is a member of several writing guilds and has been a writer-in-resident in Ireland. As a teacher for students with dyslexia and other language-based learning differences, Kate is a neurodiversity advocate who speaks and gives workshops internationally. She serves on educational boards and is a faculty member at The Odyssey School. Over her career, Kate has taught a range of ages at a variety of institutions including University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) as a graduate teaching assistant in the education department. As a Peace Corps Volunteer and Coordinator in Paraguay, Kate taught and wrote published curricula.

About Making a Mark! Discovering the Power of a Learning Safari by Katrin McElderry and Mark Stoddart, Brilliant Publications, an educational book in story format:

Kate wrote, Making a Mark! Discovering the Power Neurodiversity on a Learning Safari in conjunction with co-author, Mark Stoddart, whose life and art serve as inspiration for the book. Mark, a Scottish dyslexia advocate, is featured as a character in the story and learning resource guide, alongside fictional characters who were inspired by Kate's students, colleagues and her own neurodiverse learning profile. Together, these characters share important information about learning differences like dyslexia and dyscalculia. The story, which highlights best and worst practices in education, infuses Kate's research, knowledge, and thirty years of classroom experience as a teacher and teacher-mentor. Additionally, the learning resources section of the book integrates research from leading neuroscientists, Dr. Fumiko Hoeft and Dr. Nirbhay Yadav, who helped edit this section of the book. Numerous experts from the U.S., UK, and Ireland were consulted during Kate's writing process. Kate also worked closely with illustrators, Rachel Cush, who did the majority of drawings, and Rossie Stone, who helped with some of the initial sketches. Kate made a number of realistic sketches--like the views of the brain, brain plasticity and science of reading sequence for Rachel Cush, who turned these into vibrant cartoons. These images work as visual analogies for complex ideas and emotions written about in the text of the book.

Weaving Creativity into Every Strand of Your Curriculum by Cyndi Burnett, Ed.D, Julia Figliotti and Barney Saltzberg incorporates the work of thirty teachers from around the globe. Kate's lesson ideas are included. The book is available on Amazon.