Kristin Powell, reading specialist and founder and director of The Reading Clinic, will speak at 9 a.m. Oct. 19 in the Covington Elementary School Multipurpose Room.

Powell’s talk is sponsored by the SELPA 1 Community Advisory Committee (CAC), an all-volunteer group of parents of children with special needs, and will cover such topics as critical thinking skills, what it takes to be a good student in an aggressive and competitive environment, and auditory and visual processing for reading and comprehension.

The event is free and open to all parents in Los Altos, Palo Alto and Mountain View. Coffee will be served at 8:45 a.m. The school is located at 205 Covington Road in Los Altos.

For more information about SELPA 1 CAC, call Karen Mueller at 964-3689 or e-mail mueller4@ix.netcom.com.

For more information about The Reading Clinic, visit www.the

readingclinic.com or call (800) 790-5302.