“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…
When 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…
Last 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…
BOO! 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…
I 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…
First 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…
Legs swinging, feet kicking – at the dinner table, at the homework desk, any time seated in a chair. That was my M.O. as a child. I wasn’t even aware of it, but obviously my mom was, because I heard the infamous, “Sit still!” very often. I still have a tendency to fidget with my feet when sitting, but I learned long ago to be more aware and keep those pesky feet under control. For many children, teens, or even adults with learning challenges, sitting still is not so easy. Those Crucial Core Learning Skills We’ve talked often about the…
At Starbucks not too long ago, I overheard a group if young teenage girls talking about a softball tournament they had just participated in. They talked excitedly and knowledgeably about the game for a while, and then the conversation turned to school. One of the girls said about her performance at school, “I’m really lazy and not that smart.” The girls were sitting behind me, so I couldn’t even see them, but as teenage girls often do, they were speaking quite loudly. They came across as highly motivated, intelligent, capable girls. Not one sounded “lazy” or “not smart.” Lazy may…
I’m not really a football fan, but I have to admit, the sound of football on TV brings a smile to my face. It signals the end of summer and the beginning of autumn. Don’t get me wrong, I love summer, but each new season, especially Fall, seems like a new beginning – a fresh start. Starting school was always a big deal in our family – new clothes, new routine, and excitement and a little trepidation over who the new teacher would be, By the end of this week, nearly all students will be back in school. This is…