In the past few weeks, as the rest of the nation has hit record low temperatures, I have been extremely grateful to be living in Southern California where we believe 60 degrees is “freezing!” In So Cal, we not only have the mountains and the beach nearby, but we also have the “Happiest Place on Earth” AKA Disneyland. If you saw the wonderful movie, Saving Mr. Banks, you may know that Walt Disney had “classic signs of ADHD.” He also had dyslexia, a specific learning disability related to difficulty with words, particularly for reading and spelling. This year, the International…
Read MoreMy mom is a great gift-giver (and a great gift-wrapper)! This Christmas, one of the things she gave me was a pair of socks that says, “I am awesome!” If you’re like me, you’ve probably already disappointed yourself with regard to your New Year’s resolutions. But today, instead of beating myself up, I decided to embrace the message on my socks! Do you know how much better it feels to start the day saying, “I am awesome!” rather than, “Boy, I sure blew it yesterday”? Many children and adults with learning or attention challenges start each new day with good…
Read MoreThe Best Gift FROM Kids My grades are amazing! My grades are amazing! One of our junior high school boys came busting into his session at the learning center with this news recently. Now that’s a great gift! All the hard work that we, parents, and most importantly our student are putting in is paying off and he can see it! The changes that our students make come in all different forms, and grades may be the last to change. Often, the students who come to us have been through many tutors or therapies. They may be very reluctant to…
Read More“No one who achieves success does so without the help of others. The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude. ” Alfred North Whitehead Everyday at Stowell Learning Centers, we get the privilege of helping children and adults with learning and attention challenges achieve success. More aware…better at making friends…better readers…higher grades…more confident…easier to understand…better at math…more coordinated…happier, healthier, more successful all-around learners! What a joy! I am so thankful for: Kids who never give up Parents who refuse to accept “coping” as a solution Grandparents who pour out time, love, and resources to help The bright, creative, persistent…
Read MoreWhen I was growing up, we had a giant pink eraser printed with the words, “I never make BIG MISTEAKS!” Obviously, it was a joke, but there are some people who would not find this funny at all. For some students, learning is so full of potholes that every little mistake they make is a REALLY BIG DEAL! Recently a young adult student, Sam, shared with me that for him, everything has to be completely 100% right or it becomes a major roadblock for him and he gets confused and has to start all over. You can imagine how challenging…
Read MoreLast week, one of my staff members attended an IEP meeting as a school psychology intern. In other words, she gets to follow a school psychologist around and observe, but her job is to be a silent “fly on the wall.” Anyway, I wanted to share her experience with you so that you don’t find yourself in a similar situation, feeling as helpless as the parent did in this circumstance. The test results were presented and it was determined that the child had an auditory processing problem. The child did not actually qualify to get any special services at school…
Read MoreBOO! A few weeks ago at our information meeting, a teenage girl shared: “I want to do things without fear.” Struggles in school often have much bigger consequences than poor grades. Socially, kids, especially teens, are often fearful that someone will know they struggle and think they’re dumb. Students are afraid of disappointing their parents and teachers. Changes in routine can be very unsettling for some children because their underlying skills don’t support them well enough to predict what will come next. Visual perceptual problems can cause some people to feel disoriented and frightened walking through a new place or…
Read MoreI was about 12 when men first landed on the moon. I remember Neil Armstrong making his famous statement, “That’s one small step for a man; one giant leap for mankind.” I have to admit; I didn’t quite appreciate how profound that moment and that statement were. Everyday, I get to see students with different degrees of learning challenges make tiny steps that are actually giant leaps in their world. I’ll change the names here, but I want to share some of these tiny steps with you: Angie was able to keep each eye focused on a target for 5…
Read MoreFirst baby on the way! A time of great excitement and more than a little trepidation. I think all new parents feel this way, but one young woman I spoke with recently had an additional fear that most new parents don’t have to consider: “What if I can’t help my child with his homework when he gets into school because of my dyslexia?” According to the National Assessment Governing Board in 2000, there was a 37% illiteracy rate among our nation’s 4th graders. Current literature says that 1 in 5 students is dyslexic. If the reading and dyslexic challenges are…
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