You parents are the best judges of your children’s development. You know what is going smoothly and what is not! You know how your children’s skills compare to their siblings and peers.
You probably saw the signs… maybe your child wasn’t talking by 18 months? Maybe she was talking, but her speech wasn’t clear to anyone but you? Maybe she wasn’t remembering her letter names in preschool or her sound-symbol relations in kindergarten? Or maybe she wasn’t playing appropriately with her peers?
As the problems became more noticeable, you probably consulted with many professionals. Maybe your health care professional reassured you, “He’ll outgrow it”. Maybe the preschool/kindergarten teacher wasn’t concerned, because your child wasn’t a behavior problem. Or maybe your child’s teacher offered to get him back on track by tutoring him over the summer or after school.
Paul displayed many of the symptoms described above. He fell further and further behind in school. He was enrolled in every intervention program available through the public school system. His parents tried everything their educators and medical providers suggested, but nothing worked! It got so bad that Paul was getting bullied by classmates and beginning to feel isolated and alone.
Paul’s Challenges Were Affecting His Self Esteem
Paul was a handsome preteen with a thick head of dark hair and serious brown eyes. Paul explained that his favorite subject was science, especially doing experiments. He also excelled at art, and he quickly drew a detailed sketch that could pass for professional!
He lamented that math and reading were his hardest subjects. His biggest bummer, though, was his social life. Paul bravely admitted that he was being bullied at school.
Paul’s evaluation revealed many scores in the high-average range. His listening comprehension was age appropriate, and his narrative development was better than most. But Paul was a dyslexic 5th grader who was reading and writing at the 1st grade level.
His parents decided to aggressively address Paul’s dyslexia. They enrolled him for 6 hours a week of literacy intervention and 2 hours a week of language therapy – 1 hour of individual therapy plus a weekly social thinking group.
Paul’s Comprehensive Intervention
We started Paul’s literacy program by training the part of his brain that breaks words into sounds. Those neurons had never
connected for Paul, so when his kindergarten teacher said “A” is for “apple”, and it says ‘a’ like in “cat”,” it was like teaching Paul phone numbers – it was completely arbitrary to him!
Paul’s literacy specialist helped him hear the sounds in words. Then she taught him the letters that corresponded to those various sounds – she taught him phonics. Now that he has the basics, she is helping Paul break longer words into syllables. Once you know the rules for phonics and syllabication, it’s a piece of cake to decode a word with 4 syllables like “intermittent: in.ter.mit.tent”.
The other key to Paul’s success is his language intervention. In his private sessions, he is listening to 5th grade literature and learning to interpret the figurative language and innuendo. Paul is developing a sense of humor! It is important that his language therapist reads the literature to Paul; he can’t yet read it to himself, but he needs to hear it to expand his vocabulary and gain the world knowledge that his classmates are gaining in order to participate in class discussions, interact with his peers, and to prevent bullying.
Bully Proofing Paul
Paul practices peer interaction in his weekly Social Thinking Group. He learns to read people’s body language and facial expressions and carefully select his friends.
We have bully-proofed Paul by:
- helping him differentiate between abusive bullying and playful teasing
- boosting his self-confidence
- practicing powerful responses to bullies that nip bullying in the bud
The results have been amazing! Paul has made friends in his new classroom and developed a boatload of self respect. In 7 months’ time, he has progressed two grade levels in reading fluency, and his comprehension is up to grade level.
At Jodie K. Schuller & Associates, we offer a complete range of speech, language and educational services. If you know a child who is struggling academically, socially, or developmentally, don’t wait! Contact us via our online form or call us at 858.509.1131. We will identify the foundational gaps and develop a targeted, intensive, 1:1 plan to get your child back on track! Remember, prevention is more effective (and less expensive) than remediation. But it is never too early or too late to begin!