Enhanced Learning Skills has moved to http://www.els4kids.com/brain-blog

LD OnLine :: The National Review: Special-Education Needs Help

2009-09-30T09:37:00.002-04:00

LD OnLine :: The National Review: Special-Education Needs Help

Officially reported disability rates in public schools are entirely unreliable and are almost certainly inflated indicators of how many students are actually disabled. Eventually, school and government officials are going to have to acknowledge that our current procedures for identifying students as disabled are fundamentally flawed and commit themselves to improving these procedures.

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Funding may push special ed labeling | ajc.com

2009-09-30T09:33:00.002-04:00

Funding may push special ed labeling | ajc.com

The percentage of students classified as having a disability varies widely from state to state. A child in Maine is 74 percent more likely to be identified as disabled than a child in California.

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Viewpoint: Developing reading skills is critical to academic successes | Woodbury Bulletin | Woodbury, Minnesota

2009-09-30T09:32:00.003-04:00

Viewpoint: Developing reading skills is critical to academic successes | Woodbury Bulletin | Woodbury, Minnesota

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Understanding Dyslexia 101

2009-09-25T18:01:00.006-04:00

Dyslexia is a condition where the brain is unable to process the symbol of language. It does not stem from intellect as individuals with average to above average intelligence can be dyslexic. Reading, writing, spelling and organizational skills are most likely impacted. The causes of Dyslexia are theorized to be genetic in nature. Dyslexia does not however, result from emotional, socio-economic, cultural or physical deprivation. However, children from these types of situations may be Dyslexic.

Reading requires the coordination of three systems: Visual processing to see the word (impacts orthography skills), auditory processing to hear the word (impacts phonology skills), and semantic processing to understand the word (Sousa, 2001).

Strong orthographic skills are required to recognize the visual shape and "form" of the letters and order of letters in words. This then allows for your child to understand the word's meaning automatically.

For example, if you read reign and rain side-by-side, your child would recognize two words that "sound" the same. Phonological approaches won't help much in this case. Your child must rely on visual and orthographic approach to be able to correctly read and understand the meaning of the words.

Good phonological skills are needed so the reader is able to sound out unfamiliar words based on sound-code (letter) conversion rules (Stein, 2001). Your child, with good decoding phonological skills, can sound out the following word pretty easily. electroencephalograph http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/audio.pl?electr38=electroencephalograph

According to the International Dyslexia Association (IDA), Dyslexia is a disorder that includes poor word reading, word decoding, oral reading fluency, and spelling. Children with dyslexia may have impaired orthographic and phonological coding and rapid automatic naming and switching.

Some characteristics of Dyslexia may present in the following categories:

Reading is not fluent and the reader with dyslexia may often substitute or guess at the words that look alike. The reader may leave out little words like "of" "the"; syllables may be reversed so the word pancake is read “cakepan”; the reader may not be able to "decode" even the easiest decodable words such as "hat."

Spelling is poor where you see the alphabet being written in improper sequence, words are written with missing letters, unable to copy prewritten text easily, difficulty spelling correctly due to poor phonological skills (letter-code associations).

Sometimes you will see a child with outstanding spelling grades per spelling tests. However, when the same child is asked to write a paper, their spelling is very poor. Reversals show up in spelling frequently. For example, “Brain” for “Brian” where the middle vowels are switched.

Some theories point vision issues are to blame for letter reversals and transposing of letters. Specifically, theories point to where the child with dyslexia in unable to keep their vision "still.” Developmental Optometrists refer to this as Binocular Fixation. Where a child with Dyslexia has weak Binocular Fixation, their eyes will not remain steady during the filtering of the data from a printed source. As a result, they pick up on the letters before and after the letter being read causing overlap and at times transposing them altogether.

Language difficulty when speaking and trying to "find" the right word. Often, you will see children's eyes looking upward as if they are "searching" for the correct word in sky. They know exactly what the correct answer/explanation is but struggle greatly in finding and recalling the appropriate word/language to speak or write about it appropriately.

Directionality is often poor to the point that children confuse left/right and need prompting to remind them which is which. This comes into play sometimes with directionality of letter creation and you can see the mix up of the written letters with "b" as "d".

Poor Coordination is seen when a child with dyslexia can be lost in a familiar setting, has no sense of time, may have difficulty going down stairs, may misstep and bump into things frequently, cannot seem to organize items and may be hyperactive to compensate.

If your child presents with some of the above symptoms, it does not mean they have Dyslexia. Dyslexia does not go away per se with instructional assistance. Meaning, if your child has a reading difficulty, instruction is provided in their area of weakness and your child shows improvement, then most likely your child does not have Dyslexia. Your child may, however, have weak reading skills that need to be strengthened.

Dyslexia is neurological in nature and is a distinct way of processing language in the brain (Sousa, 2001). Your child would need to have a neuropsychological evaluation to officially determine diagnosis. Children with Dyslexia can learn to read, write and spell with intensive approaches. Research supporting the brain's ability to change has determined success using both computer based and 1-1 in person approaches providing for improvement in brain dysfunction in Dyslexia (Cornell University, 2009).

The good news is that Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids can help your child by first assessing cognitive abilities required for learning and reading. Next, any weaknesses are strengthened including auditory, visual and phonological processing. Your child’s foundational cognitive skills are strengthened allowing for success in reading and learning. Take advantage of our back-to-school special and assess your child online for only $19.97.

Why Test your Child?

2009-08-31T09:30:00.003-04:00

Children grow and progress at different levels and different speeds. Some children don’t struggle a bit while others struggle to a point that they absolutely hate school and they struggle in life. You need to stop it from happening or don’t let it get to a point where they shut down and do not want to do anything anymore.

Testing your child through a professional can cost you a lot of money that you may not have. You could go through your child’s school, but that could take so much time. You have to make phone calls and wait for a return call. Then explain the issues you see and then waiting again for them to decide what to do and how to handle it.

Why not test your child yourself? It doesn’t matter if you have the knowledge that you feel is necessary or not. You can look at what your child is doing and learn to help them through their problems.

Watch what your child does on a daily basis. Ask yourself some questions while you are watching their routine.

Does he struggle with the activities he is doing?

Are there things he loves to do?

Are there things he hates to do or avoids?

Does he look forward to certain activities?

These questions will work as a guide for what you need to do next with your testing. When you are watching your child pay attention to the following:

Speed in which he does things.

What things does he require when
he works on things?

Does he struggle with directions?

Can he use different techniques to
produce the same end result?

Depending on the areas he struggles with, you may not be able to help him. It really depends on what they are and how bad he is struggling. Even if you can’t help, at least you will have something to base your concerns off of. You can take this information to the teacher, school, or counselor and ask for their help or advice.

If you are going to help your child yourself, you will need to clear your mind and relate to your child on his or her level. Don’t laugh or make fun of the presenting struggles. Don’t get upset if your child does not understand and independently follow through on the first time.

You may also need to explain things more than once. If this happens, you need to find a different way to explain it. Your child may need pictures to help guide him through things or he may require doing the thing himself rather than you doing it or explaining it. Whatever way works, continue to use that so he will see success.

Testing your child is a great way to help them improve and grow. If he struggles in certain areas these will come out when you do this test. You will be able to take
these results and either attempt to help him yourself or you will know what type of help he needs and you will be able to find the right person to help.

No matter what the problems are, you need to get your child the help he needs so he can grow and succeed and be happy throughout the rest of his life.

ELS4KIDS provides affordable online cognitive testing that will provide you with a
12 page comprehensive report immediately after the assessment is completed. Why wait any longer to understand your child? Assessing your child today will change their life forever.

Doc visit this Morning

2009-08-28T08:07:00.001-04:00

Boston Arrival

2009-08-28T08:04:00.002-04:00

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Trip to Boston to Help Shannon - OMS

2009-08-27T09:38:00.007-04:00

The Quest for Answers

For my friends and followers, I promised to blog my way through the Boston Medical Trip. Here is a quick recap of why we are going to Boston.

Shannon was diagnosed with children's cancer and an rare autoimmune disorder called Opsoclonus Myoclonus Syndrome (OMS) at 11 mos. of age. 1 in 10m children are diagnosed with OMS every year. Not many children, right? So, part of our OMS Support Network on Yahoo is bring awareness to the medical field.

Shannon went into remission from the cancer/OMS around age 3. However, due to stress and anxiety, she came out of remission this past September, 2008. She came out of remission from the OMS. Here's the catch:

OMS causes injury to the cerebellum and brain stem as Shannon's autobodies - the cells in our body that fight infection - actually attack her brain. They do this because they were programmed to do this once they started attacking her cancerous tumor. The tumor, in theory, has the same tissue makeup and does the cerebellum/brainstem.

Her antibodies were "put to sleep" and made dormant by years of immunosuppressant therapy. They were always in her body but not actively causing harm.

At age 11, they woke up and started causing trouble again. We went back to our regular OMS specialist group and they helped us with treatment from November - April 2008.

They then refused further treatment based on "no objective data" existing in the DSM for our unique situation. This is an accurate statement but docs usually create the objective data themselves in order to help the child in need. Since that did not occur, we were not sure if Shannon really had active OMS. What to do?

Shannon's neurological symptoms from OMS returned as her last treatment wore off.

I then began video taping Shannon and creating the objective data needed to make our case to the medical field.

We were then granted an appt. with neuro- opthamologist who can diagnose OMS as active or not. This doc examined Shannon and diagnosed OMS is active.

So, that brings us to today - we set off for Boston in search of 2nd opinion. After Boston we still need to get to Illinois for the National OMS Specialist.

Here's the second catch - We can't accept medical intervention from any doc until we get to Illinois doc scheduled for 9/9/09. This is VERY difficult for any mom to deal with because its a huge risk.

The Illinois doc can perform a special test that will identify which of the antibodies are the culprits. The medical help for Shannon would then focus on killing off those specific antibodies.

Stay tuned.....

Why Use Interactive Notebooks

2009-08-21T18:16:00.009-04:00

We all know that people learn in different ways. Some people learn better by watching others, some learn better by reading, and some learn by doing. No matter what way you learn you can use an interactive notebook.

Interactive notebooks are created by each person individually. They can be created in a number of different ways using a number of different techniques. You should create them based on your needs.

You can make an interactive notebook for information regarding maps, ads, history, timelines, and politics. When you create notebooks for these types of suggestions, you will learn so much. You design them in a way that will help you learn.

These pieces are perfect for projects, study guides, and reports. They can be created by children and adults. You are not limited to the subject matter or content either.

All you need to get started with your own interactive notebook is colored pencils, crayons, highlighters, pen or pencil, binder or notebook, paper, glue, scissors, and information on your subject.

If the information you gather is something you can cut apart, you will want to cut out the information that is important to what you are studying. If you can’t cut them out, you will want to make copies of the information. Once you have these pieces cut out, you will need to glue them to the right side of your notebook or paper. On the left side you will
take notes and add information that is important to what you read in the pieces
you glued.

You will want to write these in your own words and use pictures and other information that will help you remember what you read. Use charts, diagrams, graphics, and drawings that will remind you of what you read as well.

If you are creating your interactive notebook for a report or project, you may want to do your writing on notebook paper first so you can write it the way you want and make any necessary changes. Once you have it worded the way you want, you are ready to put it to print in your notebook.

These notebooks are also great for classroom projects. You can create them and share with the class or you can use them as a report based on the information provided by the teacher. These are also a great guide to use as study material for semester finals or tests.

If you use these in a classroom setting you will want to use information provided by the teacher on the right and then the students can add their own information on the left. The teacher can provide handouts, notes, and pictures. Students can take their own notes based on the information discussed in class. The students can research even further to come up with more information that can be included in the notebook.

Sometimes it’s hard to remember what you read, but using interactive notebooks will help you. You have the ability to create them in a way that makes sense to you and is in line with your learning style. They are fun to make and make learning easy.

For more great tips visit my site and download my free report at http://www.els4kids.com

source for pic is http://interactive-notebooks.wikispaces.com/ISN+Pictures

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2009-08-10T11:27:00.001-04:00

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A Novel Approach to Being a Parent

2009-07-24T20:34:00.007-04:00

I just saw the movie – Confessions of a Shopaholic. I loved the whole “The girl in the Green Scarf” approach. So I thought I'd try out “The Mom in the Green Mini-Van" :-)

Did you ever notice that life as a parent is very similar to reading a great story? We could title our story – A Story about -Your child’s name goes here - The Trials and Tribulations of Growing Up. UGH. Just the title makes you want to think twice about reading it. For one thing, we would need to have a full stock of tissues on hand, I’m sure. However, we ignore the warning signs and lift the tissue from the tissue box and anxiously begin to read our first chapter.

As we get introduced to our main character (your child), we inevitably become one and can identify with many things that are happening. As the pages of the book get turned each new tissue is being pulled out of the box. We laugh, cry, we worry and encourage our character to keep going. We hear ourselves talking at the story saying “Everything will be okay!” or “Wow, You Did It Again, I’m So Proud of You!”

We say to ourselves, “Our character is something else, huh?" "Wow – how remarkable!" "How precious and beautiful is this person!” We remember when we went through these kinds of things. But then, we also gasp when read about some of the difficulties being introduced. We reflect on our lives and recall the situations we were able to champion. You remember those, right? Like, trying to fit in with the cool kids, getting new clothes instead of hand-me-downs and being allowed to stay over at a friend’s house are just some of the many battles we fought in our lives.

Yet, we are amazed, at some of the challenges set forth for our character in this story. The adventures seem like enormous elephants charging towards us at full speed compared to our little mouse standing still while nibbling on a tiny little piece of cheese. How will our character get through this? Will it be okay? What is going to happen next? Will it get easier? It can’t get harder, can it?

Sometimes, we find that the story keeps repeating itself over and over again. We wonder why? It seems like we’ve been through one page of the story several times. We feel as if the chapter’s theme is a bit “stuck” and wonder when it will “flow” freely again. Then, we realize we never turned the page! Once we recognize this and we are ready to move on, we turn the page. The story changes a bit as we get more information. Our character continues to grow and change as each page is turned in our chapter.

Sometimes though, we purposely choose not to turn the page. You see, even though we recognize we have been through this part of the story several times already, we are comfortable here. Is it because we are terrified of what we will read about on the next page of our story? Is it because we like where we are in our character’s life? Do we feel we are finally in control of the story? Is this why we do not want to turn the page?

Yet still, some of us like to stay on the same page to revel in joy. The page tells about our character’s struggle to become a champion. We relate to how relieved and exhausted our character must be. We choose to give the story a time to “rest”. We remain on the same page and read the details of the success for many days, months, even years. Undoubtedly, though, we turn the page. We hunker down and continue along for the ride.

Often we find ourselves judging our main character. On some pages we wish our character did things a bit differently. On other pages, we are so proud we want to call our friends and share the great news. Yet on other pages, we are so happy that we do not have any real connection to our fictional character (this is deep).

Even though we go through tons of tissues from both crying for sadness and joy, our character's story continues. We choose how to perceive the story. We choose if we will continue along the journey with our character. For the vast majority of readers, we come to terms with our main character. We learn to believe in our character’s ability. We see our character as whole and perfect just the way they present in the pages. Since we are comfortable with our character, we start to relax and laugh as we continue reading. We begin to make our character a priority in our life. All of the trials and tribulations begin to take center stage in our life. We are motivated and make time to turn a page.

In some rare situations, we find ourselves visualizing the outcome of our character. When we are not reading and analyzing the story, we are dreaming of the possible outcomes. We focus on only the good ones! As we continue to turn the pages, we are joyfully surprised to find our dreams and visions are coming true. Our character is turning out better than okay. Just like we hoped for, our character is supported by many people who are passionate about living their life on purpose. Our character is in good hands. We are so proud of ourselves for believing in our character and never giving up!

I know this is a bit deep for many. The last couple of weeks have been somewhat difficult for me. Ever since our local docs refused treatment for Shannon, I have been trying to create my own objective data to try and get her help. This is not very easy to do. During this adventure, Shannon got sick with a virus. With her autoimmune issue, illness lends to behavioral issues and possible additional chronic brain injury.

When Shannon is sick, I don’t usually sleep much. When I'm not at the office, I seem to spend most of my time at home as a referee between Shannon and Sean. Shannon is usually provoking and Sean is right there to finish it. This lends itself to many emotional exchanges. Not because I cannot stand my children anymore.

Rather, because I do not like the way my two characters’ story is shaping up at the moment. I am wishing I never turned the page a few weeks ago. Can you relate? If you can, this is the reason I wrote this long article. It is an important time to reflect. I need to choose to turn the page and believe in my children. Sometimes, I can be a bit intense and will try to predict the end of the story before it even begins. I am still learning to tend to what is right in front of me and believe in only happy endings. Everyone is an author to their own life story. We are all learning.

You see, even though the character in your story may be different in many ways to my character, they are alike in one way. Every character is a child with a caring and passionate parent. Although this parent believes they are taking a back seat in their life to help their child succeed, this is far from the truth. In some unique way, every child has helped their parent expand their knowledge, belief, faith and understanding of what it means to live life with purpose.

I know for me, Shannon and Sean and even my husband, Tom, have helped me discover my life purpose. I have learned that my life purpose is to help families recognize their hope through alternative solutions. My strengths lay within setting goals, boundaries and creating structure for other people. At the present moment, I am living my life on purpose through my business. Through the creation of the Student Transformation System, I am helping to cultivate academic minds through the power of brain training. I help families and students (of all types), set goals, create plans and structure to enable success in their life.

Now it is your turn. What is your main character going through today? Have you visualized your character as happy, healthy and whole yet? How has your child helped you discover your life purpose?

"11 Behavioral Similarities Between ADHD and Auditory Processing Disorder" by Colleen Bain

2009-06-25T00:01:00.002-04:00

ADHD is so readily diagnosed in many children today. However, clinicians are in a continual debate about the overlapping symptoms of ADHD and Auditory Processing Disorder. There is growing concern that some children are being treated with stimulants when what they really need is auditory skill strengthening.

According to Dr. David D. Nowell, Ph.D: Clinical neuropsychologist, there are certain similarities and differences between Auditory Processing and ADHD. I wanted to write about this because a lot of parents feel challenged with their ADHD child. Perhaps, after reading this article, you may discover your child may have been mis-diagnosed. On the other hand, you may recognize your child has both ADHD and APD.

The following list shows the similarities between the two disorders according to neuropsychologists that Dr. Nowell interviewed.

Decreased auditory attention
Decreased frustration tolerance
Difficulty following directions
Diminished motivation
Diminished memory
Diminished self-awareness
Diminished social skills
Distractibility
Sensitivity to overstimulation
Task avoidance
Withdrawn/sullen

Do any of the 11 behaviors describe your child? This is the challenge that clinicians as well as teachers are facing today. Its really hard to determine if the child's behavior is ADHD or APD.

The next list shows us the symptoms unique to ADHD.

Aggressive behavior
Decreased visual attention
Difficulty with transitions
Diminished mental flexibility
Diminished motor coordination
Excessive motor activity
Impulsivity
Impaired peer relationship

Do you see your child's behavior listed above? If yes, your child may fall more towards ADHD according to Dr. Nowell.

This last list depicts the symptoms specific to APD. The symptoms listed deal with language and the ability to process words/language from the brain and verbalize meaning or write meaning on paper.

Diminished verbal abstraction
Diminished Verbal IQ

Of course, no child will fit into these lists nice and neatly. Doctors use this list as a guide to better understand the child being examined.

My personal issue with the above lists is that they point out behavioral concerns that all result or could result from brain based cognitive weaknesses. By having a child take my online cognitive assessment, I can determine which skills are weak and target to strengthen them. The result would be lessened if not removal of many to all of the behavioral concerns stemming from underlying cognitive weaknesses. If a child still showed residual symptoms from the list above after brain training then more extensive intervention is required. The good news is that even if the child needs to be handed off for remediation or additional intervention, their brain has new neuropathways and their cognitive skills have been strengthened. Further intervention and remediation will have a start and end date. The child will be much more successful than if no brain training had occurred.

If you want more information on how ELSKs Student Transformation System will help your child learn easily and efficiently read more on my website now.

Blessings and Brain Power,

Colleen

"Why is My Child Having Trouble Learning and Reading?" by Colleen Bain

2009-06-24T23:59:00.001-04:00

Over the last week I have had the pleasure of consulting with a family in Arizona. We have gone back and forth through email helping one another to identify and better understand the problem and then providing a solution. The family agreed to allow me to publish a snapshot to help other families relate and understand their child's difficulties. The family will be able to zero in on the true weak skills once they have their child assessed online. However, during my consults, prior to assessments, we will go into detail around the possible causes and solutions.

Problem: Teachers were saying he wasn't understanding or comprehending their instruction.

Understand the problem: This can be a result of your child's low auditory memory and/or auditory analysis skills. Additionally the attention skill contains divided attention so either a combination or one of the skills needs to be strengthened. For example, If your son was reading his assignment (paper on his desk) and his teacher was giving instructions he did not capture the verbal instructions from the teacher as his auditory memory was weak - hence the teacher's stating he was unable to understand the directions. Since the teachers did not state that your son cannot follow directions, I would learn more towards auditory memory and divided attention instead of just an auditory sequential processing issue. A combination of the above weak skills will negatively impact processing speed as your son's brain needs to slow down to figure out the correct output per the teacher's request. You should see your son's processing speed pick up once the problem skill area(s) are strengthened.

Problem: We would read 1 hour a day through second grade even though his teachers recommended 20 min yet he was tested for reading at 1.5 when entering 3rd grade - he could say and spell all 83 phonograms but couldn't apply the rules he learned when writing. For example, he would write really in a sentence and then the very next sentence would write it reely.

Understand the problem: This is a combination of auditory memory, visual and auditory processing that is preventing your son from transferring his learned phonograms into practice. By using a research based program like Master the Code, your son will continue to receive cognitive strengthening. The program uses mnemonics (pictures for memory) to assist in helping the students remember visually and auditorily while learning how to use codes (letters) and the sounds they make /sounds and how to spell them.

Problem: He was for ever getting his b's, d's, q's and p's mixed up.

Understand the problem: When we see the children confusing these letters its about spatial relationships and directionality. We also look into visual processing for spatial aspect along with the logic and reasoning skills which include spatial relationships. Along with exercises to strengthen the skills needed to allow your son to write these correctly is the necessity to test it out and you can easily do this with eye tracking sheets that you can make up yourself. This one requires the child to track for the alphabet throughout the page but you can simply ask your son to find only "p" b, q d on the sheet or any page of a newspaper, etc.

Problem: His writing is improving but my son was lost.

Understand the problem: Writing provides fluidity and directionality for the brain's processing. Since your son was having trouble with writing you are correct in stating that there are processing concerns. Eye hand coordination and other skills need to be strong, too. Cursive writing promotes fluidity in the processing of the brain and we as required to keep our hands(motor) moving in the correct (left to right) direction as we write. If your son can write in cursive that is a good thing, in my opinion.

Problem: My son couldn't even begin to think of a topic sentence and support--that just didn't make sense to him.

Understand the problem: This may be coming from your son's inability to visualize along with the other possible weak skills discussed above. For your son to create a topic sentence, regardless of what a topic sentence is, he must be able to visualize and organize a fluide story. One that has a beginning, middle and end. Once his skills are strengthened this may be an area that needs further intervention to transfer over into school. I am launching online writing programs over the next two weeks that allows your child to learn what is a topic sentence and how to write a paragraph. I also have essay writing with a thesis and then we have a program where the children read a book of choice and then our program takes them through writing about the book with prompts, etc.

I hope you enjoyed reading the above consult. This consult consisted of several detailed email exchanges between the family. If you know of anyone who may benefit from such a consult, they can easily contact me.

Blessings and Brain Power,

Colleen

"4 Simple Steps To Understanding the Benefits Brain Training" by Colleen Bain

2009-05-31T18:27:00.003-04:00

Yes, you have done it all for your child. You've braved the overwhelming IEP meetings, you've even done the multiple tries with the tutors. You've offered your child millions of incentives to please just try a little harder and catch up to their peers. You've tried to re-teach your child a full day of learning once they get home from school but you are so burnt out you can't go on like this much longer. The good news is that brain training can help your child and your family regain their sanity .... fast! Read these simple 5 steps to understand the benefits of brain training.

Step 1: Understanding why Children Need The Gift of Learning

Seventeen of the nation's 50 largest cities had high school graduation rates lower than 50 percent, with the lowest graduation rates reported in Detroit, Indianapolis and Cleveland, according to a report from Promise Alliance, 2008.

Our nation is recognizing and trying to take action to help our children become educated and creative contributing members of society. However, our children are dropping out because they can or they are bored. The U.S. Dept. of Education states that 80% of learning difficulties are from weak cognitive skills. Our children just give up by the time they get to High School. They are not able to keep up because they do not have the ability to learn easily and efficiently.

"When more than 1 million students a year drop out of high school, it's more than a problem, it's a catastrophe," said former Secretary of State Colin Powell, founding chair of the Promise Alliance.

Step 2: Recognizing a Child Can Become A Lifetime Learner

An important part of education must be to assess every child for their cognitive ability and not the average of their cognitive skills (IQ). Our children deserve the right to education and why shouldn't that include making sure the child has the ability to learn? Well, until that happens, we must recognize that, as parents, we can take control and give our child the gift of learning. Science has proven to us again and again that our brains can change. These changes in the brain are what give our children the ability to learn. Your child's brain can create new pathways while strengthening their cognitive abilities. If your child is given this chance, then reading and learning will improve and become easier.

Step 3: Train your Child's Brain Frequently and with Intensity

Science tells us that with consistent intensity and challenge, our brains will change. This is known as neuroplasticity. Brain training programs should use a methodology that allows for individualization, immediate feedback, adaptation, intensity, variation, levels of complexity and enjoyment. A child must be trained with a certain methodology and motivation to allow for neuroplasticity to be successful. When the child is engaged and motivated, chemicals are released in the brain that allows learning to stick and be successful.

Step 4: Train the Key Cognitive Skills needed to learn

Since all cognitive skills are integrated - meaning they impact each other - and drive a child's ability to learn, these skills should be trained at the same time. Brain training should be set up to target your weak skills but be able to train all necessary cognitive skills.

If you want more information on how ELSKs Student Transformation System will help your child learn easily and efficiently read more on my website now.

Blessings and Brain Power,

Colleen

Michael Merzenich-Creator of Fast ForWord

2009-04-03T11:08:00.000-04:00

Michael Merzenich - Creator of Fast ForWord Products Speaks on Neuroplasticity

________________________________________
B R A I N S C I E N C E P O D C A S T
with Gi n g e r Campbell , MD
Episode #54:
Michael Merzenich on Neuroplasticity
Aired February 13, 2009

"If there's an aspect of this that's important, I think it is the lesson that most changes that are occurring in brains when brains are losing functionality are reversible. Or, from a child perspective, most of the limitations that are recorded in the brain of a child in fact are improvable."
-Dr. Michael Merzenich

________

"Whatever you struggle with in a sense as it stems from your neurology, the inherent plasticity of brain gives you a basis for improvement. This is a way underutilized and under-appreciated resource that we all have."
-Dr. Michael Merzenich

________

The following in an excerpt of the interview with Dr. Merzenich.

click here for the full podcast. Click here for the full transcript.

Ginger Campbell:This is episode 54 of the Brain Science Podcast. Today I am talking with Dr. Michael Merzenich, who was one of the pioneers in the field of neuroplasticity. He will share some of the highlights of his long career with us and give us some practical advice about how we can continue to tap our brain's plasticity, whatever our age.

Ginger Campbell: I want to welcome my guest today to the Brain Science Podcast- it's Dr. Michael Merzenich. Well I've talked about your work a lot on my podcast so it's a great privilege to have you on the show today.

Michael Merzenich: Well it's nice to talk to you Ginger.

Ginger Campbell: The discovery of neuroplasticity is one of the most exciting recent developments in neuroscience, and since you are one of the pioneers in this area, I was hoping that maybe we could start by looking back at the early part of your career and working our way forward.

Michael Merzenich: Sure.

Ginger Campbell: In your career you've had more opportunities, I guess, than the average to make a big impact on patients' lives. I was thinking in particular, also, about your work with dyslexia. I guess that came out of your experience with working with hearing to begin with?

Michael Merzenich: It did, and actually the initial inspiration for that came from studies that were conducted in monkeys. And we were studying aspects of hearing and plasticity in monkeys and we began to realize that hearing processes in monkeys were highly plastic and that we could evaluate the performance of a monkey- these are little New World monkeys from South America. And we'd look at the ability of the monkey to make distinctions about complex stimuli, you could say like speech-like stimuli, and the monkey could be very poor at it initially, and we began to realize that we could dramatically improve the monkey's ability to operate as an accurate receiver of sound by training them appropriately intensely. And we also began to understand that the processes that we were observing were reversible and we could drive the ability of that monkey basically in a way that degraded its capacities to understand what it was hearing or interpret what it was hearing.

In other words, we began to understand that we could probably take you and train you appropriately over a period of a month or two and degrade your ability to understand what I'm saying, or we could turn around that training and probably substantially refine your ability to interpret with high accuracy, especially under difficult conditions, what it is that I'm saying, and understanding that your ability to operate in a domain-like language was fundamentally plastic. That it was subject to substantial refinement if you were less than perfect at it immediately opened up the possibility that we could probably train a child that wasn't very good at it to be better. And we know that a lot of children aren't very good at it, and among those are children, many children, that struggle to learn to read.

Ginger Campbell: I remember when I was in medical school, I got taught a very simple idea of what dyslexia was that didn't involve the auditory component at all.

Michael Merzenich: Right.

Ginger Campbell: Is that pretty well accepted now, that it's as much about hearing as it is about the visual?

Michael Merzenich: Right. The fundamental problem... if you could say there's a core problem that limits reading performance- and all dyslexics aren't identical, but the most common problem is a problem in phonemic reception accuracy. The phonemes are the sound parts of words that bear meaning in words, and the problem stems from the fact that the brain has not created the normal representation of the sound parts of words. So now we're going to try to make a translation of the sound parts of words in terms of their letter forms, and that only makes sense if the brain has done this sorting in the normal way, which basically allows the child to appropriately assign a letter, which is a form of representation of the sound, to it. In the abnormal form of brain operations that apply in the dyslexic, that translation makes no sense. They do not have normal processing of those sound parts of words, and they are not sorted in the same way in the brain. So that translation makes no sense so it's fraught with error and the child struggles to make those relationships- to draw those relationships. We also know that these children commonly have a problem in how they process information serially in fast time. That also is strongly related to their having created this defective representation of sound inputs in their earlier language listening history. So we now know that it's a very large body of evidence which demonstrates that in most children, the core problem is a problem that really stems from language listening, which frustrates this assignment of the letter representational forms to sound.

Ginger Campbell: So you have to learn to listen right before you can learn how to read.

Michael Merzenich: It's only when you're sorting information appropriately does this translation of- I mean after all, reading is simply based upon the translation of what you hear in a written form. And if what you hear is not represented in the brain in the normal way, it's a very bad representational system. It really doesn't represent what you hear. So unless you correct that- unless you correct the listening, you cannot really generate a reader. I mean you can do it only by using alternative strategies for reading, but you can't use a phonological approach to reading. You have to use a whole-word or other approach- then you can be successful. But you can't use the classical efficient approaches to learn to read. So you have to correct the listening to correct the reading.

Ginger Campbell: And that's how Fast ForWord™ works?

Michael Merzenich: That's exactly what it's designed to do- is to correct the listening.

Ginger Campbell: Do you want to talk about that just briefly?

Michael Merzenich: Well, it focuses on these fundamental core resources just like we would approach the training of a monkey to approach the facility with which it resolves the details of what it hears in order to make it a more efficient and more accurate processor of complex things arriving in hearing in high speed. So too can we train any child to be better in the accuracy and in the speed at which it receives and interprets information in his brain through listening. You can improve any normal child, but you can also improve children that are substantially impaired in those abilities and drive most of them to a normal performance level without too many hours of intensive exercise. And you can demonstrate that through such progressive training they can achieve relatively normal or more normal phonological processing that enables reading. So you see big impacts with relatively short amount of time spent in training, both in language accuracy, language reception, and language usage and in reading.

Ginger Campbell: Once the child has reached normal do they have to keep doing the exercises or is the effect...

Michael Merzenich: No there's a very high retention in ability and it's been measured in several scientific ways. Let me just say that the average gain in language abilities for a child that sits of the left side of the normal distribution below the 50th percentile- the average gain in control gain is about a standard deviation, so that would mean that if the child is at the 16th percentile, let's say, which would mean that they would be on the edge of eligibility for services as a kid that needs special help- special needs kid in most states- that kid on the average is driven to about the normal median.

Ginger Campbell: That's pretty impressive.

Michael Merzenich: And that occurs with about 20 to 25 hours of training.

Ginger Campbell: Over how much time would that usually be done in?

Michael Merzenich: Well usually it's done 50 minutes a day, so it would be about 25 to 30 days spent, an hour a day- 50 minutes a day. And then the second thing that's seen is that if the child is behind in reading, the gain that occurs with the signal listening program translates to an improvement of reading of about 1 1/2 to 2 years. In other words, if I train the child and now I make the child as an accurate listener- a more accurate listener- on the average what you'll see is close to a year's worth of gain in their reading abilities immediately after training. But then if you wait 3 or 4 months in which they're actually reading now with their recovered listening, you see most of a second year gain. So in other words if the kid is in the 5th grade and they're reading at the level of let's say a 3rd grader, most children approach that 5th grade reading level as a consequence of training. They gain those 2 years lost. So these are relatively substantial gains that are seen on the average in these controlled studies.

Ginger Campbell: Wow. So I've read that Fast ForWord™ also seems to help children in autism. How does that work?

Michael Merzenich: Well again, the most common or the most consistent deficit that applies in autism- it's on of the DSMIV criteria for identifying autism- is a language impairment. And in fact, commonly children that have problems that give them the inherited weakness that would result in autism are on a continuum with children that are merely language impaired. In other words, if I have a child that has let's say fragile X syndrome because of genetic impairment, in the child that's more severe they might be identified as autistic but they might have an identical twin that's a little less severe, and that twin will be merely language-impaired, you could say.

Ginger Campbell: Mm.

Michael Merzenich: So autism is on a continuum with language impairment and there's lots of studies that show that autism neurologically is related to language impairment. You could say that something more complicated happens in the brain that results in a whole series of other complex problems for the child that are beyond merely struggling to interpret language...

Ginger Campbell: Mm hm.

Michael Merzenich: and the things that come from that. I don't want to dismiss language impairment as being important, but I think you have to understand what I'm saying. In any event, if the child has a language age of about 4 or greater, Fast ForWord has demonstrated to be very useful for most children. If the child's language development is more primitive, then it has no measured benefit for language per se.

Ginger Campbell: Mm hm.

Michael Merzenich: I did a controlled study- not a controlled study- I did a study in which I just looked longitudinally. historically when Fast ForWord™ was first developed, at a series of I think 17 autistic children. Not completely sure of the number but it was of that order. About half the children were autistic, about half of them were pervasively developmentally disorder with language impairment- so-called PDDNOS (not otherwise specified). And to make a long story short, I saw language gains on a language battery that averaged about 1 1/2 standard deviations. So big effects. But those were selected children that all had some level of language ability when they started.

Ginger Campbell: Mm hm.

Michael Merzenich: They were probably also selected by the therapist that trained them as being likely to benefit, but I would say probably about 25,000 or 30,000 maybe 35,000 children have been trained who are autistic with Fast ForWord™ now. I have people come up to me all the time and tell me that it saved their autistic child's bacon. And whenever it's been looked at at all in a controlled way or in these longitudinal studies it's been demonstrated to be beneficial in most children- not all but in most children, but most beneficial in children that are above a certain language age.

Ginger Campbell: Did you redesign Fast ForWord™ to be more helpful to autistic children or do they still do the original version?

Michael Merzenich: Well the original version has gone through a series of iterations so it's better and better and better and easier and easier to get started and also Scientific Learning created programs that were designed to help the children to some extent before they initiated Fast ForWord™. But it hasn't been redesigned as much as it should be, and actually it's on my agenda as something that we have to do in the very near future. I'm just done working on an agreement with Scientific Learning to get permission from them to allow me to do that.

Ginger Campbell: Alright, because you're not directly part of that company.

Michael Merzenich: Well, I'm an advisor to them on their research programs, and I communicate with them regularly and try to help them regularly.

Ginger Campbell: Right. Well I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to me today, Dr. Merzenich. Is there anything else you'd like to share with my listeners before we close?

Michael Merzenich: Take your brain fitness seriously because it's all up to you, and remember that you have this great asset that you carry around within your skull- to be stronger, to be better. It's more or less up to you if you utilize it or if you allow yourself to deteriorate in ways that just aren't necessary or completely necessary. And keep up the good fight.

Ginger Campbell: Thank you.

Michael Merzenich: I enjoyed talking to you, Ginger.

Ginger Campbell: I did too. Thanks so much.

Michael Merzenich: You bet.

Ginger Campbell: Bye.

Michael Merzenich: Bye.

The Brain Science Podcast is copyright 2009, Virginia Campbell, MD. You can copy this podcast to share it with others, but for any other uses or derivatives, please contact me at pdocartemis@gmail.com.

5 Steps to Improving Your Child's Ability to Learn

2009-03-28T16:25:00.000-04:00

Once parents observe their child having learning challenges, they may want to dive a bit deeper into the underlying causes. Having the neurologist or the pediatrician diagnose is not sufficient in most cases. Additionally, when a neuropsychological test is completed the average Intelligence Quota (IQ) will not provide all the answers. By following these five steps, parents can help their child lessen the negative impact of their learning disabilities and improve academically.

Step 1: Determine the Underlying Causes of the Learning Difficulties

Parents can choose to have their child tutored for specific academic areas of concern. If the tutoring is provided for a few sessions and the student is able to become independent without the ongoing need of the tutor, then it is possible that lack of or poor instruction is the root cause. However, if some brief tutoring does not solve the problem than this is a red flag that the problem is beyond poor instruction or not enough instruction. If learning problems cannot be quickly resolved with tutoring then usually there are weaknesses in underlying learning skills.

Step 2: Understand the Learning Skills Required for Success

Learning skills all work together to produce great results. If, for example, a car has a bad transmission, then putting premium gasoline into the tank will not produce successful results. Our brains have an active processing system which requires many learning skills to be strong at all times. First, the brain requires attention and memory skills when attempting to receive information. As additional input is received, other learning skills are activated to assist in processing the data. Next, visual processing is needed for discerning and analyzing input. Additionally, auditory processing is used to review, process and discriminate sounds. We cannot leave out logic and reasoning skills to focus on problem solving requests as in Math. Reading comprehension skills are integrated to deal with listening and reading activities. Finally, each skill will play a part in processing almost every input. Therefore, the degree of strength in these individual learning skills will impact the ability of the active processing system to handle information. If a person's skills show some or several weak areas, then the overall learning process will not be accurate, fast or efficient.

Step 3: Assess Which Learning Skills Need to be Strengthened

One way to objectively measure a person's strong points is through standardized testing. First, the most common testing approach is using achievement tests. These tests measure how well a child is doing academic not how strong in their learning skills. Another popular choice are intelligence tests. These tests measure the strengths of the underlying learning skills. Unfortunately, intelligence tests provide an average intelligence scored based on all the measures of the learning skills. They will not give the individual measures of learning skills necessary for reading, math calculations or comprehension. Parents can look at the individual test scores and compare them to their child's grades with each academic subject and discover which underlying learning skills need to be strengthened.

Step 4: Explore How to Strengthen the Weak Learning Skills

Cognitive Training is one of the fastest growing markets. Studies prove intense, challenging procedures completed one-on-one will strengthen weak learning skills without any regression. As a child progresses through a procedure, tasks are added requiring greater attention and forcing new skills to become automatic. Research studies have shown a child will gain an average over 3.6 years improvement in all deficient skills within 10 weeks! This type of training requires working with a certified trainer at least 5 hours a week for 12 weeks. The programs offer a variety of choices to work through to completion. The child, trainer and parent(s) all have a role to play in this type of therapy. The programs are not academic in nature and the children enjoy themselves. The results show great improvement but the children will notice the differences themselves without needing an assessment. They can list one to several noticeable changes a week that contribute to an improved academic and social life.

Step 5: Make your Decision

If your child has difficulty learning which impacts their self-esteem, school success, parent-child relationships then you should consider further investigation into cognitive training. There is plenty of studies and research results to back up the programs. A child can compensate for only so long when trying to avoid weak learning skills. Eventually, the child will run out of options. Help is available to your child through cognitive training.

By following the five steps outlined in this article, parents can understand that learning challenges are complex but manageable. They do not necessarily go away. However, with proper advances in science, there are alternative methods proving to be successful. Children with learning challenges are now creating new neuropathways to enable faster more efficient processing. By completing a cognitive training program, children lives are being changed. With new neuropathways and stronger learning skills, children once considered out of synch can now become active participants in the overall learning process.

Learning to be Confident

2009-03-21T16:45:00.003-04:00

This weekend my son Sean participated in his Boy Scout's Derby race. He and his father had to work together and build a hand-sized wooden race car to certain specifications. His car would then race other cars on a specialty track. The project reminded me a lot of my work with students.

First, my husband had to baseline the skill set my son had to work with for this project. Then, the planning around the goals, tasks to reach the goal and the timeframe to have this accomplished. Next, the systematic approach that was taken to allow the car to be completed was implemented. Before the car could race at its potential, the materials had to be fine-tuned and constantly weighed to ensure my son and husband were maintaining the right course towards building the car.

Each day, a new step was taken and great intensity was given to the project at hand. As the days passed, my son found the project to be just challenging but definitely not as hard as when they first started out. In the end, my son's car did not win first place. However, he said to me that given this was his first year and he was racing against boys who have been doing this for 4 plus years, he did quite well. He could sense changes of growth in himself because he was "okay" with the competition outcome. He knew of the hard work and time he dedicated to the project and the milestones he overcame. As a result of his efforts and gains, he walked away a more confident young man with improved skills.

Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids (ELSK) strives to recreate this type of scenario every day while working with students. For those that come to ELSK with their heads down, shoulders shrugged and barely able to look anyone in the eyes, ELSK is dedicated to do what it takes to turn these students into self-empowered, active participants in the overall learning process. Learning is not supposed to be difficult and parents need to recognize that its not the teachers responsibility to "enable" your child to learn. They have no control over this when a student walks through their classroom door. I always tell the parents how lucky their child is to have such a loving family that will sacrifice their time and resources to help their child overcome learning blocks.

Learning Skills 101 – Visual Processing

2009-03-17T13:55:00.000-04:00

Learning Skills 101 – Visual Processing

This week we will discuss visual processing in a bit more detail. Visual processing relates to the brain’s processing to make sense of information taken in through the eyes. This is different from the mechanics of the eye that would lead to glasses. Visual Processing issues usually impact a child so they will find anything requiring spatial relations (keep in the lines, ordering the math problems on a paper within the space, not bumping into objects when they walk, etc.) a big challenge.

Reading and math are two subjects where accurate perception and understanding of visual processing is important. For example, spatial relationships are very important. Both Math and Reading rely heavily on the use of symbols I Most students I work with have this area impacted to a point. Some students are more severe than others. Visual processing issues will impact the child’s reading ability and thus academics. Math and Reading are the two subjects that are directly impacted.

Examples of how difficulty with visual processing could pose a challenge would be discerning between the many symbols within both subjects. Within reading, words must be perceived as separate units, directionality in reading left to right, similarly shaped letters of “b”, “d”, “q” and “p”. The importance of being able to perceive objects in relation to other objects is often seen in math problems. To be successful, the person must be able to associate that certain digits go together to make a single number (14), that others are single digit numbers, that the operational signs (+,x,=) are distinct from the numbers, but demonstrate a relationship between them. The only cues to such math problems are the spacing and order between the symbols (LD Online, 2008). Additionally, just being able to space and shape the flow of the equations to the space on the paper can be a challenge for students where they require graph paper to complete the work.

When you have visual processing difficulties, visual motor integration is often a spillover effect. This is the ability to use visual cues (sight) to guide the child's movements (LD Online, 2008). This refers to both gross motor and fine motor tasks. Often children with difficulty in this area have a tough time orienting themselves in space, especially in relation to other people and objects. These are the children who are often called "clumsy" because they bump into things, place things on the edges of tables or counters where they fall off, "miss" their seats when they sit down, etc. This can interfere with virtually all areas of the child's life: social, academic, athletic, pragmatic. Difficulty with fine motor integration effects a child's writing, organization on paper, and ability to transition between a worksheet or keyboard and other necessary information which is in a book, on a number line, graph, chart, or computer screen.

A funny story with visual processing weaknesses goes back to when I became certified and licensed in Processing and Cognitive Enhancement (PACE). First, I have to give you the background to the story. When I arrived in Colorado Springs for my week of training, I admit that I was probably the biggest doubting Thomas in the room. I came to Colorado because I wanted help for my children, especially Shannon who sustained cognitive injury from her autoimmune disorder. The Gibson Family, creators of PACE and MTC, picked up on my doubts. Perhaps it was because all I kept asking was “where’s the data?”, “Where’s the Research?” Read More

Parents: If your child is having difficulty with reading and comprehension or learning in general, there is a solution. ELSK provides research based programs that provide measurable results in as little as 12-24 weeks. Studies on the incredible results are available for your viewing. I provide services for children with learning challenges and specialize in students with reading and comprehension challenges. Your child will enjoy learning with much less effort. Go to my website today for more information.

=================

Colleen Bain has been awarded Professional of Year 2009 by Cambridge Who's Who for her work within Special Education. She has a Masters in Special Education. She is licensed in the state of New Jersey in both elementary and children with disabilities. Colleen has been married for 16 years and has been blessed with two children with special needs. She has over eleven years of experience with special needs and over 20 years business experience. As the owner of Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids, Colleen provides intensive one-on-one cognitive training to individuals ages 8 and older to strengthen all of their learning skills. She specializing in children with reading and comprehension challenges.

Learning Skills 101 - Auditory Processing

2009-03-17T13:49:00.001-04:00

To Review:
So far, we have been discussing what learning skills are and how they impact a student on a daily basis. If you recall, we stated that learning skills are the underlying mental skills formally known as attention, visual/auditory processing, memory, processing, word attack and auditory analysis. Most of our children experience these skills through reading, writing, spelling, paying attention, remembering, recalling and how quick we can respond to a request.

Over the last few weeks, we have been discussing some exercises from Unlock the Einstein Inside: Applying New Brain Science to Wake Up the Smart In Your Child. Dr. Gibson is the creator of Processing and Cognitive Enhancement (PACE) and Master the Code (MTC). This is one of the programs at the core of The Enhanced Learning Skills System.

Auditory Processing is really an important underlying mental skill. This week I wanted to provide you with some background details around this one mental skill. The National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders states the following on Auditory Processing:
Auditory processing is a term used to describe what happens when your brain recognizes and interprets the sounds around you. The "disorder" part of auditory processing means that something is adversely affecting the processing or interpretation of the information.

Children with Auditory Processing issues often do not recognize subtle differences between sounds in words, even though the sounds themselves are loud and clear. Read More.

Parents: If your child is having difficulty with reading and comprehension or learning in general, there is a solution. ELSK provides research based programs that provide measurable results in as little as 12-24 weeks. Studies on the incredible results are available for your viewing. I provide services for children with learning challenges and specialize in students with reading and comprehension challenges. Your child will enjoy learning with much less effort. Go to my website today for more information.

=================

Learning Skills 101 - Can You Spell Washington Backwards?

2009-02-27T22:34:00.001-05:00

So far, we have been discussing what learning skills are and how they impact a student on a daily basis. If you recall, we stated that learning skills are the underlying mental skills formally known as attention, visual/auditory processing, memory, processing, word attack and auditory analysis. Most of our children experience these skills through reading, writing, spelling, paying attention, remembering, recalling and how quick we can respond to a request.

Over the last few weeks, we have been discussing the three types of attention. Selective, Sustained and Divided Attention, and Working Memory were seen as necessary cognitive skills for students. Without these cognitive skills as strengths, the student has great difficulty within the classroom and in his life.

Remember, we said that Working Memory works with attention to make it possible to process information that is given to us. Working memory is needed for math, reading, comprehension, test taking and follow directions.

This week, I would like for you to try two simple exercises that come from Dr. Ken Gibson's book, Unlock the Einstein Inside: Applying New Brain Science to Wake Up the Smart In Your Child.

These following exercises will help you begin to understand how all of your cognitive (learning) skills work together to help you be successful in learning. First, as fast as you can, spell your first name out loud.
Let's examine the cognitive skills it took to complete this simple task. To do this, Input came as you read or heard the instructions, "Spell your first name out loud." As a part of Automatic Processing, you gave Attention to the request, held it in your Working Memory, and began to Process it. You then chose to respond to it. You made the internal, executive Decision that this was an easy request; one that you didn't really need to
think about, because you already had the answer stored in your Knowledge Bank. You drew the appropriate information (the spelling of your name) directly from your Knowledge Bank, and spoke it as Output without hesitation. This enabled you to handle this exercise quickly and easily because it was previously Known or familiar information.

Now try this: as fast as you can, spell the last name of the first American president backwards. Again, Automatic Processing enabled you to receive Input; you had to read or hear, attend to, process, and remember the request. But this time the answer wasn't automatic-instead, you made the internal, executive Decision that something about this request was New or unfamiliar. You needed to think about it using one or more of your Higher Thinking skills. You had to come up with a plan of action (using Logic and Reasoning). Your plan may have been to create a mental image (using Visual Processing) of the word "Washington." This may have required you to repeat the name a few times to hear the separate sounds (using Auditory Processing) and then retrieve the letter codes (using Long-Term Memory) that represents those individual sounds before creating the word image and calling out the letters (as Output). Using all these skills, you laid down an imprint in your Knowledge Bank. Repeating this activity a number of times would allow you to spell "Washington" more automatically and make the task of spelling other words backwards much easier.

So, how did you do overall? I want to leave it at that for this week and pick up more next week.

The good news is after a student works with the Enhanced Learning Skills System, they will have strengthened all of their cognitive skills. ADHD symptoms, that are cognitive based, disappear to the point the teachers and family take notice. Recognize that there is hope and a solution. Call today for more information on your choices! Call me at (908) 285-8352.

For more information on the article you just read, you can email or visit my website.

Learning Skills 101 - Did You Spell Washington Backwards?

2009-02-24T17:00:00.001-05:00

If Attention is weak you may have never fully heard the request.
If Short-Term Memory is weak you may have forgotten the request before you responded, maybe needing the request repeated.
If Processing Speed is slow the request may have seemed too complex, requiring the need to have it repeated.
If Logic and Reasoning is weak you may have failed to come up with a solution.
If Auditory Processing is weak you may have been unable to unglue sounds in "Washington."
If Long-Term Memory is weak you may have been unable to remember letters that represent the sounds in "Washington."
If Visual Processing is weak you may have been unable to create a picture of the word in your head.

The point is that if any one of these cognitive skills is weak it will hinder your performance.

Your child may be experiencing similar "breakdowns" of processing while learning because one or more cognitive skills are weak. The best way to find this out is to have your child's cognitive skills tested. The good news is after a student works with the Enhanced Learning Skills System, they will have strengthened all of their cognitive skills. ADHD symptoms, that are cognitive based, disappear to the point the teachers and family take notice. Recognize that there is hope and a solution. Call today for more information on your choices! Call me at (908) 285-8352.

Next week we will begin to discuss visual and auditory processing.

For more information on the article you just read, you can email or visit my website.

Learning Disabilities - 5 Steps to Improve a Child's Academic Success in Reading and Math

2009-02-20T17:00:00.000-05:00

Step 1: Determine the Underlying Causes of the Learning Difficulties

Step 2: Understand the Learning Skills Required for Success

Step 3: Assess Which Learning Skills Need to be Strengthened

One way to objectively measure a person's strong points is through standardized testing. First, the most common testing approach is using achievement tests. These tests measure how well a child is doing academic not learning skills. Another popular choice are intelligence tests. These tests measure the strengths of the underlying learning skills. Unfortunately, intelligence tests provide an average intelligence scored based on all the measures of the learning skills. They will not give the individual measures of learning skills necessary for reading, math calculations or comprehension. Parents can look at the individual test scores and compare them to their child's grades with each academic subject and discover which underlying learning skills need to be strengthened.

Step 4: Explore How to Strengthen the Weak Learning Skills

Step 5: Make your Decision
If your child has difficulty learning which impacts their self-esteem, school success, parent-child relationships then you should consider further investigation into cognitive therapy. There is plenty of studies and research results to back up the programs. A child can compensate for only so long when trying to avoid weak learning skills. Eventually, the child will run out of options. Help is available to your child through cognitive therapy.

By following the five steps outlined in this article, parents can understand that learning challenges are complex but manageable. They do not necessarily go away. However, with proper advances in science, there are alternative methods proving to be successful. Children with learning challenges are now creating new neuropathways to enable faster more efficient processing. By completing a cognitive therapy program, children lives are being changed. With new neuropathways and stronger learning skills, children once considered out of synch can now become active participants in the overall learning process.

For more information on the article you just read email colleenbain@comcast.net or visit our website http://www.els4kids.com

Colleen Bain has a Masters in Special Education. She is certified in special and general education. She has been married for 16 years now and been blessed with two children with special needs. She has over 11 years of experience with special needs and over 20 years business experience. As sole proprietor of Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids, Colleen provides intense one-on-one intensive cognitive training to individuals ages 6 and older.

Learning Skills 101 - What is Working Memory?

2009-02-09T11:47:00.004-05:00

essings,olleen

Working Memory and Attention

Learning Skills 101 - What is Working Memory?

To Review:
So far, we have been discussing what learning skills are and how they impact a student on a daily basis. If you recall, we stated that learning skills are the underlying mental skills formally known as attention, visual/auditory processing, memory, processing, word attack and auditory analysis. Most of our children experience these skills through reading, writing, spelling, paying attention, remembering, recalling and how quick we can respond to a request.

Over the last few weeks, we have been discussing the three types of attention. Selective, Sustained and Divided Attention were seen as necessary cognitive skills for students. Without these cognitive skills as strengths, the student has great difficulty within the classroom and in his life. This week, we will learn about working memory.

Working Memory works with attention to make it possible to process information that is given to us. For those with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), that are cognitive based symptoms, experience difficulty with all three types of attention which impacts the strength of their working memory. Why? Because attention and working memory go hand in hand. When attention is not held long enough to process information into working memory, the skill does not get worked thus presents weak. Parents of students with ADHD usually receive comments from teachers that their child gets distracted too easily and the student needs help with memory. The teachers will state that the student cannot remember information from one day or week to the next.

Working memory is needed for math, reading, comprehension, test taking and follow directions. Students use their working memory when reading and trying to comprehend. When they take tests and read the questions, if their working memory is weak, by the time they read all the possible answers for a multiple choice question, they forget the question and have to reread it again. Students will be unable to follow directions that have multiple steps because they cannot store the information long enough to follow through. Weak memory skills prohibits successful learning. Weak attention prohibits successful learning. See the pattern yet? All of our learning skills are interconnected. If just one cognitive skill is weak, our ability to learn is negatively impacted.

The good news is after a student works with the Enhanced Learning Skills System, they will have strengthened all of their cognitive skills. ADHD symptoms, that are cognitive based, disappear to the point the teachers and family take notice. Recognize that there is hope and a solution. Call today for more information on your choices! Call me at (908) 285-8352.

For more information on the article you just read, you can email or visit my website.

How to Strengthen Attention Skills

2009-01-31T18:25:00.001-05:00

Learning Skills 101
How to Strengthen Attention Skills

So far, we have been discussing what learning skills are and how they impact a student on a daily basis. If you recall, we stated that learning skills are the underlying mental skills formally known as attention, visual/auditory processing, memory, processing, word attack and auditory analysis. Most of our children experience these skills through reading, writing, spelling, paying attention, remembering, recalling and how quick we can respond to a request.

Over the last few weeks, we have been discussing the three types of attention and how they impact a student every day. Well, this week I will be giving you a few ideas on how you can strengthen your attention skills. The tips and strategies I discuss will help all three types of attention.

1. Simon Says - Try this free online version of Simon Says - the music one with the different buttons/tones. Remember this game?

2. Colored Shapes/Blocks - Have the child first practice just stating the "color" of the shapes. Next, have the child practice focus only on the type of shape not the color. Do this with many shapes in several rows.

3. Use metronome online to practice having your state answers to the above on every other beat (click on 120 bpm). yellow, "beat", blue, "beat", etc.

4. Play a game of concentration online and see how many matches your child can get on the first try.

If you have not already recognized this, the attention games strengthen other learning skills, too. This is a main factor in a student's ability to learn. If just one learning skill is off, then the rest will not be working at optimal level. The student will not be working up to their potential.

The good news is that attention is just one of many that you are able to strengthen due to the brain's ability to develop and grow. The Enhanced Learning Skills System was designed to strengthen learning skills required to learn and read easier and more efficiently. Call me today for an assessment and let's begin working together to help your child learn easier and more efficiently.

Next time, we will discuss another learning skill and that impacts everyday learning ability and how there is hope and a solution. Call today for more information on your choices! Colleen can be reached at (908) 285-8352.

For more information on the article you just read, you can email or visit my website.

Welcome to Holland

2009-01-31T16:32:00.001-05:00

Most parents of children with special needs have already read this great story. It depicts a parent's experience of being dropped off in a foreign country when originally having planned for something entirely different. Parents of children with special needs experience this same type of quandry ... we expect a certain type of child and then are "blessed" with something entirely different.

Welcome to Holland

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience

to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this . . .

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a wonderful vacation trip to Italy. You get a bunch of guide books and make all your plans. The Colosseum . . . the Michelangelo David . . . the gondolas of Venice. You get a book of handy phrases and learn how to say a few words in Italian. It's all very exciting".

"Finally, the time comes for your trip. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says:

"Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!" you say. "Holland? I signed up for Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy!

"I'm sorry," she says. "There's been a change and we've landed in Holland."

But I don't know anything about Holland! I never thought of going to Holland! "I have no idea what you do in Holland!"

What's important is that they haven't taken you to a terrible, ugly place, full of famine, pestilence and disease. It's just a different place.

So you have to go out and buy a whole new set of guide books . . . you have to learn a whole new language . . . and you'll meet a whole new bunch of people you would never have met otherwise.

Holland. It's slower paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy . . .

but after you've been there for a while, and you've had a chance to catch your breath, you look around and begin to discover that Holland has windmills and Holland has tulips - Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy . . . and they're all bragging about what a great time they had there. And for the rest of your life you will say, "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I planned." And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away. And you must accept that pain - because the loss of that dream is a very, very significant loss.

But . . . if you spend your time mourning the fact that you never got to go to Italy, you may never be available to enjoy the very lovely, very special things about Holland.

"Welcome to Holland!"

by Emily Perly Kingsley

What is Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids?

2009-01-31T14:20:00.012-05:00

Welcome to my group everyone!

First ... here's the scoop on me and why I even have my own business in cognitive training.
I have over 20 years business experience within Corporate America. While in Corporate I was in charge of the entire East Coast relative to information processing. Specifically, I was in charge of Local Area Networks dealing with the processing of information internally and externally to our company. In this role, I held teleseminars, training classes and worked one-on-one with my colleagues, most sales folks. My boss told me I found my Niche! However, i thought my niche was going to be CEO so when he said you should be a teacher! I was a bit taken back. LOL Life went on and I got married and had my daughter, Shannon. When she was 11 months old, she was diagnosed with cancer (neuroblastoma) and a rare autoimmune disorder (Opsoclonus Myoclonus Syndrome). Statistics are like 1 in 100 million kids a year get OMS. The docs chuckled and told me it was like she won the lottery. I wasn't laughing. I was later to find out that the OMS was worse than the Cancer, no joke. The OMS caused her own antibodies to attack her brain. Her cerebellum and brain stem were impacted the most. Her immune system was basically shut down for 3 years to stop any further brain injury. I also had a son during all of this, too. His name is Sean. :-)

Years go by and I ended up leaving Corporate America. At this time, my daughter was now 8 y/o and still not learning in school. She was in a special education self-contained classroom within the public schools and classified with Traumatic Brain Injury. I decided to go back for my Master's degree. I had already started my Master's in Business Administration but given the circumstances of my life at this time, I switched and went into Special Education. I began shifting my life full-time into education and started teaching under a substitute license until I could student teach. During this time, I experienced general education and special education along with inclusive settings. I also decided my student teaching would be based in a private school for students with brain injuries. This meant behavioral issues along with cognitive challenges. I worked with students K - 12 and even those students who had extended high school so they were up to the age of 21. I graduated with top honors and received my license to teach elementary education and children with disabilities within the state of New Jersey.

I was tutoring with families along with substituting and getting frustrated because even thought I would find great research based programs to use with the children, the students weren't gaining independence on their own. They were doing this through workarounds and compensations. Which in the long run did not serve them well because they are not in control of their environments, especially when they look for employment. By chance, one of the parents on the OMS Forum that I help to moderate began talking about a learning center she took her high school son to during the summer. She kept talking about a program they were using and not really going into much detail, per se. About four months later, the same mom was bursting at the seams with all the improvements her son was displaying down to social skills and communication. I quickly requested the name of the specific programs used on her son as learning centers can use a variety of tools. After I found out the names of the programs, I then called up the creators of the programs and began researching the ins/outs of actual components, structure and of course, statistical outcomes with research to support the findings.

Next, I contacted a parent who used the program and was now using the program to help students in her community. I talked with this parent, now one of my closest colleagues, for over 6 months before I was convinced the programs can really provide results. The ultimately test, in my mind, was if my brain injured daughter could show success in any area (that was my hope at the beginning) at all, i was sold. So, off i went and invested a good chunk of change to become licensed, certified and able to "provide" these services to other students in my area.

As soon as I got home, I immediately began using these programs on both of my children. To give you an idea of what I was up against, my daughter who was 10 y/o at the time, had cognitive skills measuring at a 5 yr old level on all 6 skill sets. 5 y/o is lowest they measure so she could have been even lower. My son, on the other hand, was typical LD measuring adult (18 y/o) on several skills but low in one/two areas of skills. However, what happened next surprised all of us.

My son had more difficulty with the programs than my daughter. The programs helped uncover the underlying cause of my son's difficulties during school over the years. We always had the screaming fits for homework, the meltdowns with frustrations, the sensory processing symptoms, etc. Thanks to the programs, we identified that he was seeing double - seriously - and he did not know that no one sees double. He had no clue that letters were not supposed to jump off the page and so on. I called the creators of the program and said I could only get my son through partial pieces because of this issue. The creators stressed if we could get him close to a good portion the better. The reason: my son would have created new pathways that would allow for any intervention to make an impact in considerably less time than without the new pathways in the brain. So, we did what we could and then referred out to vision therapy. Guess what? It took my son only 6 sessions in-office to fix the double vision - no joke. So after the program portion and the vision therapy he began to pick up books and read which was fantastic!

My daughter on the other hand, kept to the programs and worked every day with me and let me tell you how choked up I was when Shannon could demonstrate memory skills. I'm sure there are moms out there that are so lost because their child cannot remember something from yesterday or last week. That was Shannon. She could not learn because on one hand, she had no foundational skills and on the other hand, what the teachers would give to her would be lost. If she learned 1+1=2 then even that afternoon she was clueless to 1+1=2. Well, you can imagine the waterworks when my daughter learned the 43 presidents (at that time 43) forwards and backwards! She still knows them today.

Shannon is my "extreme" example when I talk with parents. At the age of 8 she was unable to decode (read) let alone spell on her own. However, working with the program, she began to not only decode (read) but she started with fluency. This means she did not spend all her time sounding out each code (letter) but could sit back and read the words. I remember going to the movies with her and the screen flashed "Enjoy the Show" before the movie started. Well, Shannon sat there and said "E..N... Joy ... The ...SH... O ... W... " "Enjoy the Show!" Mommy I just read Enjoy the Show ... More tears .... of excitement. After that, when parents of children with special needs would talk with me, Shannon would interrupt and flat out tell them ... you should let my mom work with you ... because of the programs I can finally read. Nothing else helped me.

Shannon's progress is still ongoing because of her disability. We tried moving her into the intermediate public school but the anxiety from self-contained where the teachers prompt and make everything so nice and crystal clear for ya into a full inclusive setting was way too much. The schools do not have a great transition other than "all the kids go through this and she really needs to experience it" for an answer. We, unfortunately, just pulled her from school and began homeschooling her. It amazes me how my daughter has no clue what 2+3 equals yet the schools were moving along doing division and prepping for the standardized tests. Shannon just came out of 8 years of remission from OMS too. All her docs point to the stress from the 5th grade inclusion strategy as the cause. But I digress so lets save that for another topic. We still work Shannon through both programs and she keeps progressing. For example, we first put her through to a point last year. She finished with her skill sets around a 7 y/o level which is great consdering she was at a 5 y/o level. Then, before school started we assessed again and on her own she jumped to a 9 y/o level. You see, the programs help the student to train their brain go grow and develop on their own!

After seeing the positive impact on my own children and working many more students from my area through the programs, I am convinced without a doubt that these programs work and make a life changing difference. Today, I am beginning to spread awareness of these programs to make sure parents and teacher of students with special needs understand their is hope and a solution to your problems. If your child isn't doing as well as you expect and you can't figure out why, its most likely cognitive based. If your child gets easily frustrated with homework, beyond just not wanting to do it, its most likely cognitive based. If your child still can't read or was labeled dyslexic, its most likely cognitive based. Do NOT assume your child is lazy, stupid, dumb, unmotivated, a behavior problem or depressed because they are not learning in school. 80% of all learning problems are cognitive based according to U.S. Dept. of Education.

At ELSK we help parents from around the country and world - yes I've gotten contacted from parents in Europe, Canada and more - become aware of their options and help connect you with local providers in your area. So do not wait to get your child assessed today and begin to help correct the many problems that have been, up until now, compensated or worked around.

More notes to follow to discuss the programs, learning skills , research, studies to support the findings, how you can strengthen learnings skills on your own and much more or just visit http://els4kids.com for more information today. You can sign up for my weekly ezine, too!

Blessings,

Colleen
Recently Awarded Cambridge's Professional of the Year 2009 for Executives and Professionals.

Learning Skills 101- Sustained Attention

2009-01-26T11:07:00.001-05:00

Learning Skills 101 - Sustained Attention

So far, we have been discussing what learning skills are and how they impact a student on a daily basis. If you recall, we stated that learning skills are the underlying mental skills formally known as attention, visual/auditory processing, memory, processing, word attack and auditory analysis. Most of our children experience these skills through reading, writing, spelling, paying attention, remembering, recalling and how quick we can respond to a request.

To continue our discussion around the "attention" learning skill, we recall our student from last week's example was having trouble with selective attention. We said selective attention is the skill that enables us to literally choose what we will pay attention to. We can still take in everything in our visual span but we only "select" one thing at a time to pay attention to.

This week we talk about sustained attention. Sustained attention is the ability to direct attention and focus on one main thing for a period of time. The fact that you are reading this article and keeping your attention focused on these words is an example of sustained attention. For children, sustained attention can be seen when they need to stay on task for a period of time. If they are to be able to read for 20 minutes in a reading period, they need the skill to keep them on task.

Of course, the challenge is what to do when the child is not able to stay on task? Its important to recognize that the child could have weak attention skills. Sometimes, there are other variables that add to the weak attention skills. For example, weak auditory or visual processing along with memory skills could be part of the bigger problem. The best way to determine where your child skills reside is to have them assessed and then create a plan of action to strengthen them.

The good news is that the above skill is just one of many that you are able to strengthen due to the brain's ability to develop and grow. The Enhanced Learning Skills System was designed to strengthen learning skills required to learn and read easier and more efficiently. Call me today for an assessment and let's begin working together to help your child learn with ease.

Next time, we will discuss another learning skill and that impacts everyday learning ability and how there is hope and a solution. Call today for more information on your choices! Colleen can be reached at (908) 285-8352.

For more information on the article you just read, you can email or visit my website.

Selective Attention - Learning Skills 101

2009-01-18T19:35:00.006-05:00

Last week, we began to understand what learning skills are and how they impact a student on a daily basis. If you recall, we stated that learning skills are the underlying mental skills formally known as attention, visual/auditory processing, memory, processing, word attack and auditory analysis. Most of our children experience these skills through reading, writing, spelling, paying attention, remembering, recalling and how quick we can respond to a request.

To continue our discussion around the "attention" learning skill, we recall our student from last week's example was having trouble paying attention to more than one thing at a time. We said our student had weak divided attention and in our example, this student also displayed weak ability to process more than one item at a time. There are definite exercises to work our student through from last week that will strengthen the weaknesses cited. Divided attention can be identified, measured and strengthened.

This week, we will talk about selective attention and cite an example. Selective attention is the skill that enables us to literally choose what we will pay attention to. We can still take in everything in our visual span but we only "select" one thing at a time to pay attention to. Let's begin.

Mike is a 10th grade student in his local public school district where the number of students in his science classroom is now approaching 28 fellow peers, thanks to school budget issues. The teacher is a bit overworked and underpaid, the students in the class are a good mix of high performers, middle of the road workers and average to slightly below average students. The student population just happens to be mostly young ladies and only a few young men. Mike is the pick of crop according to the young ladies in his class. The few males in the class cling to Mike for dear life to try and survive the uneven balance of gender population. They also see Mike as their leader because he presents so cool and collective. This semester the class is exploring Human Biology.

A typical class scenario in his science class is Mike arrives and the girls swarm to him. The remaining males follow along and hope for some attention. The teacher tries her best to gain control, separate the students and get everyone organized and focused. The teacher begins first with lecture to prep and gain interest in what will be a long "lecture" with visuals on basic genetics and chromosomes. Yawn ... is what Mike begins to hear himself think. However, Mike needs this class and a good grade too because he thinks he may pursue science as a career. He knows he cannot afford to drift off and lose track of the discussion. In order to be successful, Mike needs to pull away from his friends, his fellow peers, stop the internal thoughts about the discussion that was just occurring and quiet his overall mind to begin focusing on the teacher.

Mike engages his selective attention and literally blocks out the noise in the classroom. The girls giggling, the guys whispering, the pencils falling, the teacher coughing, the students walking by the room in the hallway are just a few distractions that Mike chooses not to attend to with his focus. Mike's prefrontal cortex has just kicked into gear. This area of the brain decides what will receive attention, which cognitive resources will be used to analyze the incoming information and which distractions will be eliminated. Lucky for Mike, his selective attention skills are strong and he is able to focus on the teacher speaking, ignore the distractions around himself and his classroom and process the incoming information that will be on the next test. Not many students are as lucky as Mike and find it very difficult to block out distractions

Try this Selective Attention Test and see how you do.

Experience it from two different perspectives. One from being successful and paying attention to what was asked of you and nothing else. Second, from the perspective of weak selective attention and not being able to pay attention to what is being asked of you no matter how hard you try to focus and you understand what you are to pay attention to.

Selective attention is one of three types of attention in the broad sense. This skill can be easily identified, measured and strengthened. Do not wait to have your child's selective attention skills assessed today. Email now and save 50% off the cost. Everything you need to help your student is provided in my Enhanced Learning Skills System.

The good news is that the above skill is just one of many that you are able to strengthen due to the brain's ability to develop and grow. A student doesn't need to struggle with this weak skill set any longer. The Enhanced Learning Skills System was designed to strengthen learning skills required to learn and read easier and more efficiently. Call me today for an assessment and let's begin working together to help your child learn with ease.

Next time, we will discuss another learning skill and that impacts everyday learning ability and how there is hope and a solution. Call today for more information on your choices! Colleen can be reached at (908) 285-8352.

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Parents: If you child is having difficulty with reading and comprehension or learning in general, there is a solution. ELSK provides research based programs that provide impactful measurable results in as little as 12 weeks. Studies on the incredible results are available for your viewing. I provide services for children with learning challenges and specialize in students with reading and comprehension challenges. Your child will enjoy learning with much less effort. Go to my website today for more information.

=================

Colleen Bain has a Masters in Special Education. She is certified in special and general education. She has been married for 16 years and has been blessed with two children with special needs. She has over
eleven years of experience with special needs and over 20 years business experience. As Sole Proprietor of Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids, Colleen provides intense one-on-one cognitive training to individuals ages 8 and older, specializing in Reading and Comprehension.

Learning Skills 101

2009-01-12T23:06:00.005-05:00

Learning Skills 101

So what are learning skills anyway? Most of us were never taught about these underlying mental skills that lay the foundation for our ability to learn. We were always taught that we could learn if we set our mind to it. Between home and school we should be fine. If not, just see a tutor for a bit and you will be good to go. Unfortunately, not everyone is able to learn in this type of scenario. Why? Well, how easily and efficiently we learn is based on how strong our underlying learning skills are. This definitely turned out to be the case for my daughter and all of the students who have worked through my system.

The skills we use to learn with are technically known as working memory, attention, processing, auditory analysis (including auditory processing), visual processing, word attack and logic and reasoning. We see these skills play out everyday based on how well we can pay attention, how well we can remember, how well we can process what we hear(we hear fine - its the processing of the sounds), how well we can process what we see(letter reversals, etc.), how well we can read unknown words (beyond the words we may have memorized) and how well we can plan, organize and problem solve. For each of these learning skills there are sub-categories that exist too.

Lets explore an example of attention as a weak learning skill. In this example, we have a student is able to attend to one thing at a time only. However, the student will state that they get distracted very easily. After I work them through a series of exercises I can tell whether or not this is truly the case. 9 times out of 10 it is not the case. You see, students like this one tend to hyperfocus on their targeted input. They zone in on the teacher and everything else around them disappears. So, when an additional task is being introduced that requires processing, they are conflicted because they can only attend to one thing at a time and state they get distracted. In actuality, their "divided attention" skill is very weak along with their ability to process more than one thing at a time.

A student with the above weakness will stated easy distractibility but will also have great difficulty with remembering information coming from different inputs at the same time, especially is one is auditory. This student is able to take notes and process the input in the brain. However, if the teacher begins "discussing" the topic of the notes on the board, the student is lost. Similarly, if the teacher started to talk first, the student would be able to process this input but once the teachers asks the student to start writing notes along with the teacher speaking, the student would be unsuccessful. They are unable to share processing within the brain.

The good news is that the above weak skill is just one of many that you are able to strengthen due to the brain's ability to develop and grow. A student doesn't need to struggle with this weak skill set any longer. The Enhanced Learning Skills System was designed to strengthen learning skills required to learn and read easier and more efficiently. Call me today for an assessment and let's begin working together to help your child learn with ease.

Next time, we will discuss another learning skill and that impacts everyday learning ability and how there is hope and a solution. Call today for more information on your choices!

For more information on the article you just read, you can email or visit my website. Click HERE to Subscribe to my Ezine.

=========

Parents: If you child is having difficulty with reading and comprehension or learning in general, there is a solution. ELSK provides research based programs that provide impactful measurable results in as little as 12 weeks. Studies on the incredible results are ready for your viewing. I provide services for children with learning challenges and specialize in students with reading and comprehension challenges. Your child will enjoy learning with much less effort. Go to my website today for more information.

=================

Colleen Bain has a Masters in Special Education. She is certified in special and general education. She has been married for 16 years and has been blessed with two children with special needs. She has over eleven years of experience with special needs and over 20 years business experience. As Sole Proprietor of Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids, Colleen provides intense one-on-one cognitive training to individuals ages 6 and older, specializing in Reading and Comprehension.

Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTs)

2008-12-31T19:34:00.006-05:00

I wanted to write about this topic of negative thoughts because we all seem to have these types of thoughts. These types of thoughts can be devastating to anyone. I often see this pattern of thinking with students I work with on a daily basis. By the time they come to me for help in strengthening their ability to learn, they have lost all faith in themselves. They will easily give up and state they cannot do a task because they are stupid. Part of my job is to educate the student about negative thought patterns and how they can turn them around into positive statements. The following information is taken from Dr. Daniel Amen and his explanations around negative thought patterns. I summarize what Dr. Amen goes into great depth about in his many books.

Did you know that every thought we have releases chemicals in our brain? If we have a happy positive thought, we literally feel good because of the chemical released. Just the same, if we think bad thoughts, we will be impacted on a physical level to some degree. That is why we here students who are anxious or depressed complain about feeling ill. Their head hurts or their stomach aches. Most of the time, this painful cycle of physical symptoms are initiated by the very thoughts in their own minds.

Monitoring our thoughts is often recommended by doctors who tell us we have too much stress in our lives. Watch how you talk to yourself. Catch those bad thoughts they are not good for you. So, what do you do with these thoughts once you catch them running endlessly in a never ending loop inside your head? Dr. Amen came up with the idea of the acronym ANTs and made an analogy of our negative thoughts being like ants that invade a persons picnic area. If you do not "stomp" them out when one or two are present then the entire ant population comes to feast on your picnic.

Dr. Amen goes into detail on categorizing the different types of negative thoughts one can have according to types of ants. The following is a listing of the types of ANTs from Dr. Amen taken from Healing Anxiety and Depression Books.

ANT #1: All or Nothing Thinking. This is the black/white thinking of extremes. It is either yes or no and nothing in between. If I cannot answer this one question than I am stupid. End of story!

ANT #2: Always Thinking. I participate in this thinking quite often myself. :-0 So, if you use words like always, never, everyone, every time, no one and everything, these are examples of statements that shape the always thinking negative thoughts. For example, my favorite saying is "This (whatever the situation) always happens." Husbands might catch themselves stating “My wife is always yelling at me" or Wives might catch themselves saying “You never listen to me.” If you reshape this statement and talk back to it as Dr. Amen suggests, you can write down the statement and then rewrite or just verbally talk back to it. State instead of You never listen to me to "I understand things are a bit crazy right now for, (whomever the person you claim never listens) so they have a lot on their mind. They really are trying." Something to this type of talk back will help you to calm down and lessen the negative thinking cycle.

ANT #3: (RED ANT) Here is an example of categorizing the ANTs by types. Focusing only on the negative. A lot of students that I work with end up in this type of thought process. Until I intervene and help them see concretely that they are capable of learning, the student only focuses on their weak skills and how they cannot learn. A good technique is using the POLLYANNA approach. Dr. Amen points out that if we can find the good in anything negative we will overcome the negative thought. So, where you find yourself in distress because - lets say - a shopping cart just smashed up the paint job on your car ... you say ... well it could have been worse ... I could have been in a car accident, etc. Then you recognize you are not so bad off after all. The release of the positive chemicals overpowers the negative thoughts.

ANT #4: (RED ANT) Another Red Ant is called Fortune-telling. This is where we believe we are predicting the outcome of our fate and the outcome is always the worst possible situation. For example, a person believes without a doubt if they do a certain action the result will be disastrous. They just know it - they can see it and sense it. For this type of thinking an adult can challenge the prediction through logically reasoning and requesting proof. Talking back to the thought and requiring a fact to state the outcome will play out as predicted. For children, usually taking them through what they predict they will not succeed in completing is the best solution. The children I work with often refuse to work through exercises because they predict failure. By helping them understand and observe themselves being successful, their confidence builds and they start believing in their own ability. The will begin to doubt the negative prediction next time it surfaces.

ANT #5: (RED ANT) This next type of Red Ant is called Mind Reading. I often see this with students when they are trying to communicate with others. They often "mind read" what the other person is thinking and how the other persons thoughts will impact the outcome. When I point out that I did not know they were psychics and eagerly ask for a reading they start to giggle. Usually, I will the student understand what they are trying to ask of the other person. If they are so sure about the other person, I ask why is that the case? They will explain to me their "perception" of the other person. Then, together we shape the request in a way that allows for flexibility and options. The student asking feels less negative and more positive going into the conversation with the other person. So, a little social skills training and communication strategies can help in this area. We do not know what other people are thinking and 9 times out of 10 they are not thinking what we assume.

ANT #6: Thinking with your feelings. This type of negative pattern is a tough one, in my opinion. I state this because in this type of ANT we think only with our feelings. Therefore, if one is depressed, anxious, stressed, or in any other less than positive state, the impact can be an endless loop of physical symptoms from all the negative chemicals released in the brain. Here, again, as Dr. Amen points out, a great strategy for overcoming these thoughts are to write them down and talk back to them. If a person is feeling bad and needs to feel better than perhaps a good meditation or a journal entry on what the person is grateful for that day is in order. :-)

ANT #7: Guilt Beatings. Guilt is a useful feeling if you use it like a foghorn, to keep yourself off the sandbar or rocky shoreline – it is a navigator emotion. When guilt becomes the primary feeling it is not useful or helpful. One needs to explore what is behind the feeling of guilt and not get stuck at guilty feelings. When you hear the words ‘should’, ‘must,’ ‘ought to,’ or “have to’ one can recognize they are at a point of guilt and they need to move forward. Rephrasing what is in the negative guilt mode into a positive is a helpful quick remedy. “It’s in my own best interest to do my homework and make it the best work I can do.”

ANT #8: Labeling. In this case a person places a label on another person or even on themselves and begins to believe in the label. This is why labeling, relative to special needs, is always a debatable topic. Students will label one another when they do not know how to proceed in a situation. For example, instead of agreeing to disagree, you can hear children calling each other names because one or both are not getting their way. Here, I usually have the children write out the difficulty through the use of charting their options. Seriously. I will have children who cannot figure out what they want to do create charts with what they individually want to do. This way the inability to communicate using language is taken care of through the charts. Then, they need to "negotiate" to merge the charts into one agreeing on which activities will be done and when. Usually this helps solve the problem.

For adults, labeling can be dangerous if you tend to label yourself or worse your child. If we hear a negative label long enough, we begin to believe that we truly consist of the deficits represented by the labeling. Remember, if we think the negative thoughts we are releasing chemicals that do not make us feel good. We begin a downward spiral with physical symptoms and eventually we give up on ourselves. Take step back ask yourself why you, the adult, is even assigning said label to yourself or the child. Begin to understand what weaknesses you believe exist that are bothering you. Prioritize the weakness and begin to work the weakness into a strength. Instead of avoiding issues and assigning a label, take action and do something about the situation.

ANT #9: (THE MOST POISONOUS RED ANT) Blame. Dr. Amen states this as the most poisonous of the red ants because once you neglect to take responsibility or your actions, you are now powerless. If you did something and then blamed someone else, you are powerless to the overall outcome of the situation now. You, ironically, not the person you blame, become the true victim.

The next time ANTs start invading your picnic, remember to STOMP them out before the whole ANT hill arrives. Maybe you might want to rent POLLYANNA and watch it one night for some tips! The best takeaway from this article is that you have control over your thoughts. We can literally make ourselves feel good as every thought we have releases chemicals in our brain which then impact our physical well being. Think positive my friends!

Here is a link to .pdf from Dr. Daniel Amen detailing ANTs http://www.recoveryfound.org/pdf/ANTANTEATER%27s.pdf

Sources:

http://www.brainplace.com
http://patriciaswisdom.com/2008/10/factoid-friday-ants-or-automatic-negative-thinking/

The Amen Clinic - Day 3

2008-12-31T19:16:00.002-05:00

The last day of our visit to the Amen Clinic was pretty emotional for me. My sister stayed by my side through the whole consultation. The child psychiatrist that met with us was wonderful. He took us through the basics of the brain, the specifics of the brain, Shannon's overall report findings and of course the brain SPECTs.

The good news is that Shannon's findings are all manageable and no psychiatric issues prevail. We left the clinic feeling satisfied because we could concretely view the functionality within Shannon's Brain. We were also able to zone in on her cerebellum and determine that this area did not have huge blood flow rather lower blood flow. This for us, based on research, indicates Shannon's recent bout of OMS was not a new "active" case rather her ongoing battle. In other words the same bad antibodies are what we are dealing with and not that the body produced brandy new teams of bad antibodies that need to be put to rest.

Presently, we are in the beginning stages of implementing Shannon's overall care program. We are working on changing her diet, adding exercise and supplements and much more. So far, we believe we are heading down a good path.

I hope this series of articles on the Amen Clinic was found to be interesting, helpful and insightful. For more details and questions feel free to contact me at colleenbain@comcast.net

The Amen Clinic - Day 2

2008-12-31T16:20:00.002-05:00

On day two we came into the clinic to take pictures of Shannon's brain "at rest." Required for this to be successful was an other IV contrast and calm. Hmm? Yes, Shannon was required to sit in a calm, quiet room with sunlight as the major light source and a sound machine providing cricket ambiance. That's it. Do not talk, lay down, walk, or anything. Just sit on the couch quiet and rest. Okay, sure. Once the clinician left, within 5 seconds Shannon grabbed several stress balls and began juggling them. Then she tried to bounce them. Then she started bouncing her own leg so hard and fast I thought she was going to drill her leg straight through the floor. This was going to be very tough and uncomfortable for Shannon. In fact, the whole exercise proved to be painful. She wanted - almost needed - to jump up, open the office door and engage with another person. I was there with her through this but we were not supposed to talk or engage - just rest.

After a good 20 minutes or so, the clinician came back and was still in "quiet" mode. No talking just quietly follow her to begin taking the brain SPECTs. Shannon's body was twitching even more now because of all the pent up energy. I knew we were in for a difficult SPECT session. After several retries, we final got what we needed. We were then released (I think the clinician was happy to see us go) until tomorrow.

Obviously, laying still on a SPECT table that is very thin is difficult for folks with movement issues. However, the Amen Clinic offers sedation options out of the California location. We chose to get through this SPECT the best we could without sedation because that's another beast on its own for Shannon's issues. But I digress ...

We ended day 2 peacefully frustrated (oxymoron?) and on our way back to the local shopping areas. I treated Shannon to a new book each day she successfully completed the task presented. She purchased a new book and then we went home. I began to mental prepare for the final consult the next day. I don't think I slept very much this night. I was very apprehensive about the results.

For more on Dr. Amen and his clinics visit http://www.brainplace.com

The Amen Clinic - Day 1

2008-12-17T10:33:00.002-05:00

The first day at the clinic was surreal. On one hand, I was so thankful we were there to finally get a glimpse into Shannon's brain. The MRI's and CT's that we had done were more structurally based where the Amen Clinic provided a more functional base of activity levels based off of blood flow amounts into areas of the brain. We really needed the SPECTs because of OMS coming out of remission. We needed to see if blood flow was high or low in cerebellum. I was very happy to finally be getting an answer. On the other hand, I was a bit nervous to hear the results. I was not sure what to expect and was past the denial stage at this point. I wanted to finally see something concrete but then I knew hearing bad news would still send shivers down my spine.

When we were finally called, the first test Shannon had to perform was a concentration test. Now, Shannon has been off all medications that help her focus and concentrate so this was not going to be an easy task. Shannon basically focused on everything but where she was supposed to be paying attention. Poor kid.

Next, we had our IV contrast ready and were off to get our Brain SPECT pictures done in our "concentration state". I have to say, getting the pictures done was a bit of a challenge for Shannon because part of her issue is movement. She twitches here and there and rarely is she ever still even during sleep. Her body is on the move all the time. We had to do our best to get through the SPECT without sedation. Shannon was a real trooper and did manage to complete the task.

After we did these two things, we were then called into another office to meet their "Historian." This person took all the information from my head and files of documentation about Shannon's history. She then compiled this into a nice manageable file for the child psychiatrist to review for our final consultation in two days.

Once we completed these three things, we were free to go home and we only needed to confirm our appointment at the clinic for the next day.

I would recommend bringing someone with you if you plan to take your child to the clinic. If for anything else, to have a backup and a support person to get you through the appointments. A lot of information is exchanged, discussed and created. Having another person can help prompt information that you may have otherwise neglected to bring out to the staff. I even had my husband dial in for a conference call set up when I walked into the Historian's office. Together, myself, my husband, Shannon and my sister gave input and support to the overall process. The staff at the VA Amen Clinic was extremely supportive, patient, understanding and friendly.

For more info on the Amen Clinic ... http://thebrainplace.com/

The Amen Clinic - My Personal Experience and Opinion

2008-12-06T17:00:00.010-05:00

If you have not read about Dr. Daniel Amen and the Amen Clinics then this article will be an eye opener for you. If you have heard about the clinic, it most likely has been controversial. The type of science behind the Amen Clinics is considered by some to be futuristic. Yet others think the science behind the clinics is not necessary in the medical world at all. This article is my opinion of our overall experience. There are subsequent articles depicting the daily visits and what we experienced as we sought to obtain a targeted intervention for my daughter's struggles.

My 11 y/o daughter, Shannon, went through the Amen Clinic, as a patient to receive a Brain Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) and treatment plan for help with her Opsoclonus Myoclonus Syndrome (OMS). The OMS had caused brain injury at age 11 mos. but now at age 11 y/o we were once facing this monster straight between the eyes. We wanted to know if the OMS we were seeing now was active or chronic. We needed to know if there was any inflammation of the cerebellum. If there was inflammation, increased blood flow, we would know her recent OMS was an new active OMS attack that could lead to further brain injury. If we did not find swelling, rather decreased blood flow, we would know the OMS was flaring up in a chronic state. The brain injury from her OMS had also left her brain very unbalanced and not in a healthy state. We were looking for a targeted intervention.

We decided to travel to the Reston, VA. clinic location because my sister lives in Maryland. We stayed in MD and drove to VA each of the three days we had appointments at the clinic. The preparation time for the overall visit was tremendous for us. We took no shortcuts with the requested paperwork and medical trails from Shannon's long history. Coordinating medical files from every department a child is seen through relative to a neurological disorder and also Cancer can be a bit overwhelming. We managed to get all the information we needed down to every last name of medicine Shannon had to use over her 11 year journey thus far. Considering there is not much known on OMS, that means Shannon went through a lot of different medical trials. We also had to gather up the recent documentation from visits just completed.

Since Shannon was coming out of remission from her OMS, we were off to the big city of Philadelphia again to visit her docs at Children's Hospital. We usually see them once a year or as needed but now we were back in full force begging for help for Shannon. So, all of these visits, including MRI, blood work, etc. needed to be gathered and sent to the clinic as well. We were given approximately 2 months to data gather and prepare our documentation for the visit. However, with Shannon having a relapse, that meant I was basically putting this all together within 2 days of the visit.

The clinic staff was friendly and accommodating. They listened patiently to any questions or comments. They were supportive and respectful. The appointments were basically on-time and ran smoothly. The final consultation was very informative and helpful for us. They provided us with nutritional, physical and supplementation recommendations based on Shannon's results. We felt the trip was worthwhile and helped us to concretely see under the hood, if you will, of my daughter's brain. The results enabled us to understand and plan for the psychiatrist's targeted intervention of treatment for Shannon. The clinic presents you with a very nice, informative, organized binder of output information relative to your appointment and consultation findings and plan.

You can find out more about the Amen Clinic by visiting http://www.brainplace.com

All Natural Supplements for ADHD and Nutrition

2008-11-30T11:46:00.010-05:00

This morning I found myself typing away with great passion in response to a dear friend who asked a question about supplementation. Supplementing is part of overall brain health as is nutrition, exercise, sleep and brain training. My friend wanted to know how a person figures out what is needed for their child? A great question to be asked by a parent. I think every parent I have worked with over the years has asked me the same question. One misconception, I think, is that parents think that supplementing is based on the primary goal of the parent(s). For example, some parents ask what can be done for nutrition. Others ask what can be done for behavior? Still others ask what can be done strictly for ADHD? The list goes on and on.

A person must be in touch with your doctor relative to your plans to begin using supplements with your child. Most people do not realize that all naturals can be toxic if misused or combined with certain existing medications. Perhaps your pediatrician or even a naturopathic doctor can guide your choices and monitor progress in symptoms.

The following paragraphs will list out the supplements that we have found to be beneficial in our home. To understand healthy supplementation, I have included several resources for parents to research and gain a better understanding. You can find these resources at the bottom of the article.

Liquid Nutrition - Body Balance - http://www.liquidhealthproducts.com/liquid-vitamins.htm whole food supplementation (has vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids and more) I used this to help primarily with nutrition concerns because my children were not getting good nutrition. Neither child would take a pill either so liquid vitamins were a good solution. I take these vitamins, too.
We recently found Melaleuca Unforgettables to aide with ADHD and weak memory symptoms. http://www.melaleuca.com/ps/index.cfm?f=ps.productDetail&pid=8654&sCatId=2163. These have Omega's EFAs and other ingredients that aid in memory and antioxidants for overall brain health. I take their Vitality for Life Vitamin/Supplement Packs and have noticed a positive difference in my energy, well-being and even sleep. I do not need to take sleep supplements anymore.
Nature's Way EFAs for Children is a big hit with us, too. Soft gel caps that you can easily put within thick and creamy yogurt (yoplait) and then they are easy to swallow. http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Way-Blend-Children-softgels/dp/B00014DTQW/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=hpc&qid=1226624643&sr=8-1
Yummi Bears are a favorite here, too. There is a whole line of Yummi Bear products all natural, no additives or dyes, wheat or gluten. They cover calcium, fiber, minerals vitamins, whole food supplements, omega's, and more. http://www.yummibears.com/
We also looked into Juice Plus for daily fruits and vegetable intake. My children did not like their overall taste so we went to Yummi Bears for fruits and vegetables.

As promised, here are some resources you can use to further research supplementation. Most of these resources are backed by research either by the doctor promoting the supplement or industry research. Good Luck and remember to work with your doctor.

The following two documents are from Dianne Craft. She offers these free from her website.

Natural Supplement Research link http://www.amenclinics.com/brain-science/natural-supplement-research/ is provided from Dr. Daniel Amen.

This next link is for supplementing during traditional cancer treatment. http://www.lef.org/protocols/cancer/alternative_cancer_therapies_01.htm

An article on using supplements safely in your everyday nutrition can be found here http://www.healthcastle.com/herb_tips.shtml

Colleen Bain, M.A.
http://els4kids.com

50 Brain Dos and Brain Don'ts

2008-11-29T12:03:00.005-05:00

50 Brain Dos and Brain Don’ts
A Summary of Ways to Optimize Brain Function and Break Bad Brain Habits by Dr. Daniel Amens. This was taken from Dr. Amens Blog. Very Interesting overview of good habits to follow relative to keeping your brain healthy.
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Based on Dr. Daniel Amen’s research and the research of many other neuroscientists here is a list of brain Dos and Don’ts to optimize your own brain function.

Brain Dos:Edit Posts

Wear a helmet in high risk situations
Drink lots of water
Eat healthy
Take gingko biloba, Vitamin E and ibuprofen everyday
Think positive healthy thoughts
Love, feed and exercise your internal anteater to rid yourself of ANTs (automatic negative thoughts)
Everyday focus on the things you are grateful for in your life
Watch the Disney movie Pollyanna
Spend time with positive, uplifting people
Spend time with people you want to be like (you are more likely to become like them)
Work on your people skills to become more connected to enhance limbic bonds
Talk to others in loving, helpful ways
Surround yourself with great smells
Build a library of wonderful experiences
Be nice to others
Exercise
Eat in ways specifically tailored to your brain
Learn diaphragmatic breathing
Learn and use self-hypnosis and meditation on a daily basis
Remember the 18/40/60 rule
Effectively confront and deal with conflictual situations
Develop clear goals for your life (relationships, work, money and self) and look at them everyday.
Focus on what you like a lot more than what you don’t like
Collect penguins, or at least send them to me
Have meaning, purpose, excitement and stimulation in your life
Do not be another person’s stimulant
Use brainwave biofeedback or audio-visual stimulation when needed
Notice when you’re stuck, distract yourself and come back to the problem later
Think through answers before automatically saying no
Write out options and solutions when you feel stuck
Seek the counsel of others when you feel stuck (often just talking about feeling stuck will open new options)
Memorize and recite the Serenity Prayer daily and whenever bothered by repetitive thoughts (God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.)
Don’t try to convince someone else who is stuck, take a break and come back to them later
Use paradoxical requests in dealing with cingulate people
Make naturally oppositional children mind you the first time (through a firm, kind, authoritative stance)
Strive for wonderful experiences
Enhance your memory skills
Sing and hum whenever you can
Make beautiful music a part of your life
Make beautiful smells a part of your life
Touch others often (appropriately)
Make love with your partner
Move in rhythms
Use a skilled psychotherapist when needed
Use an EMDR therapist to deal with trauma
Take head injuries seriously, even minor ones
Take medications when needed
Take herbal remedies when needed to optimize brain function
Look for underlying brain problems in substance abusers
Do full brain evaluations for people who do terrible things

Brain Don’ts

Isolate a developing baby
Use alcohol, tobacco or drugs or much caffeine when pregnant
Ignore erratic behavior
Lie around the house and never exercise
Ignore concussions
Smoke
Drink much caffeine
Drink much alcohol
Do drugs (NO heroin, inhalants, mushrooms, PCP, marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamines (unless in prescribed doses for ADD)
Eat without forethought on what foods are best for your brain
Drive without wearing a seatbelt
Ride a motorcycle without a helmet
Ride a bicycle, skateboard, roller blade, snowboard, etc. without a helmet
Hit a soccer ball with your head
Bang your head when you’re frustrated (protect the head of children who are head bangers)
Bunje jump
Hang out with people who do drugs, fight, or are involved in other dangerous activities (unless you are looking for brain damage)
Allow your breathing to get out of control
Think in black-or-white terms
Think in words like always, never, every time, every one
Focus on the negative things in your life
Predict the worst
Think only with your feelings
Read other people’s minds
Blame other people for your problems
Label yourself or others with negative terms
Beat yourself or others with guilt (very ineffective)
Personalize situations that have little to do with you
Feed your ANTs
Use sex as a weapon with your partner
Talk to others in a hateful way
Push people away
Be around toxic smells
Be around toxic people
Focus too much on what other people think of you (odds are they aren’t thinking about you at all)
Allow your life to just happen without you directing and planning it
Take the “stimulant bait” from other people
Allow thoughts to go over and over in your head
Automatically say no to others, think first if what they want fits with your goals
Automatically say yes to others, think first if what they want fits with your goals
Argue with someone who is stuck
Isolate yourself when you feel worried, depressed or panicky
Allow naturally oppositional children to be oppositional
Listen to toxic music
Blame substance abusers as morally defective
Refuse to take medications when needed
Self-medicate, when there are problems get help from professionals
Deny you have problems
Refuse to listen to the people you love who are trying to tell you to get help
Withhold love, touch and companionship to those you love as a way to express anger

Brain Plasticity - the Brain's Ability to Learn, Grow and Develop

2008-11-25T12:15:00.005-05:00

A great video to demonstrate the Brain's ability to be trained to grow, develop and continually learn. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSu9HGnlMV0

Brain Gym - Exercises to Improve Learning

2008-11-24T11:36:00.029-05:00

When I was pursuing my Master's in Special Education, a major research project revolved around Educational Kinesiology. One of my roles on this project team, besides leading the overall project, was to provide the background on Brain Gym. Our team which had members in Japan as well as across the country, decided to work with a class of students in a Japanese classroom. The goal of the study was to implement successful teaching strategies resulting in effective learning in the selected 1st grade self-contained classroom. Achievement of the goal was demonstrated through the increased measures of reading abilities of the children in the class. The following is an introduction to what Brain Gym is all about along with an embedded youtube video of a set of Brain Gym Exercises.

Brain Gym is a program of physical movements that enhance learning and performance in all areas (Brain Gym International, 2005). Brain Gym includes 26 activities that promote whole brain learning resulting in rapid and often dramatic improvements in concentration, memory, reading, writing, organizing, listening, physical, coordination, and more. Brain Gym develops the brain's neural pathways through movement. Dennison Laterality Repatterning is a specific set of Brain Gym activities that helps the brain link information that the person takes in and makes the data useful (Hannaford, 1995, p. 111).

Brain Gym began in the 1970’s with the work of educators Dr. Paul Dennison and Gail E. Dennison (Hannaford, 1995, p.113). Dr. Dennison was struggling with his own dyslexia and visual difficulties. He put together the Brain Gym in the Valley Remedial Group Learning Center in California. Dr. Dennison has been helping children there for over nineteen years now.

For more than seventy years, early researchers in sensory-motor training, applied kinesiology and developmental optometry have provided statistical research relative to the effects of movement to learning (Hannaford, 1995, p.113). Dr. Dennison adapted this research, as it related to children with specific language disabilities into quick, easy, task-specific movements that help any type of learner.

Today Brain Gym supports people with or without learning disabilities. This program is making huge changes in many lives. Brain Gym is used in more than 80 countries and is taught in thousands of public and private schools worldwide and in corporate, performing arts, and athletic training programs (Brain Gym International, 2005).

An example of a Brain Gym movement from the Energy Exercises is called the “thinking cap.” Prior to doing it however, turn your head to the left and see how far you can look and notice if there is any tension in your neck. Now turn your head to the right and notice how far you can look and if there’s any tension in your neck. Massage your ears by unrolling the fold of them by beginning at the top and going all the way to the bottom. Do this three times. (In Brain Gym, we call this the “thinking cap.”) Now, turn your head to the left and notice how far you can look and if there is any tension in your neck; and repeat with your head towards the right. Most of you (98%) will notice a very positive difference in your ability to turn your head. You’ve just relaxed your mind/body system so that you are better able to organize yourself as witnessed by your body’s ability to subconsciously organize itself so that turning your head is easier (Koester, 2004.

Personally, I have begun to incorporate Brain Gym movements into my Brain Training sessions. Especially working with children who are weak, below their peers, in the areas of reading and remembering, reading and comprehension, spelling, listening, attending and processing both auditorily and visually.

Sources:
About brain gym. Retrieved May 12, 2005, from http://www.braingym.org/about.html
Hannaford, C., Ph.D. (1995). Smart moves: Why learning is not all in your head. Salt Lake City, Utah: Great River Books.
Koester, C., M.Ed. (2000). A summary of a brain gym research project on reading. Brain Gym Journal.

How Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids Came into Existence

2008-11-20T09:37:00.009-05:00

Mrs. Bain owned Kids of the Kingdom Tutoring since 2005 but due to her own children with special needs and her student's inability to transition into independent learners, ELSK was born into existence. The following tells the story of her journey with her daughter's brain injury and the quest to find solutions to help her daughter and others become independent learners and not just compensate for their weaknesses.

On April 26, 1998, Colleen and Thomas Bain rushed their 11 month old baby girl, Shannon, into Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (C.H.O.P.). Shannon was sent there from her pediatrician after the doctor witnessed Shannon's eyes literally "dancing" around. Shannon had a very bad cold, double ear infection and was starting to lose balance whenever she moved around.

After being in C.H.O.P. for two weeks, the neurologist came in and informed Mrs. Bain that if someone was to have Cancer, than Shannon had the better kind of Cancer!! The docs informed her that Shannon most likely had neuroblastoma. The fact that Shannon's eyes were dancing around probably meant she also had Opsoclonus Myoclonus Syndrome. The two usually pair together but the docs wouldn't know for sure until they found a tumor. They did find a tumor after looking for it for two weeks and the tumor was quickly resected. We would later find out that OMS is 50% paired with a tumor and 50% viral based.

Colleen and Tom would unfortunately discover that the OMS was worse than the cancer itself. Being a very rare disorder that impacts only a handful of children around the world each year, little was known about OMS other than it would cause a brain injury if not treated immediately. Apparently, there were only two doctors in the world, at this time, that were researching and studying OMS. C.H.O.P. was privileged to have a doctor on staff that was familiar with OMS and had seen it a few times before Shannon. They were quickly assigned to their first of many neuro-oncologists at C.H.O.P.

OMS turned out to be an auto-immune disorder where Shannon's B and T cells (antibodies) were attacking her brain on a daily basis whenever she had a viral or bacterial infection. The doctors used immunosuppressant therapy to stop the attacks and successfully placed her "bad" antibodies into remission within three years of treatment using ACTH (steroids) daily injections. However, Shannon's brain did suffer from injury but Colleen and Tom would not know the extent of the injury as OMS is thought to injure at the synaptic level. In other words, even if Tom and Colleen requested a picture of Shannon's brain, the injury would not be visible because the injury is so deep within the brain structure. Functional MRIs could tell us cognitive measures but doctors are not supporting these tests other than clinical trials. We are going to the Amen's Clinic in December for SPECT imaging. That is another blog entry :-)

Shannon was treated with speech, occupational and physical therapies immediately because the OMS completely stripped Shannon of all her learning skills. Once a child that was able to speak, crawl, stand, sit and communicate as little ones do, Shannon was now held captive within a small body that lay lifeless unless she had great assistance from those around her.

Shannon made great strides from the onset of OMS through the years to learn to sit, talk, walk, run and even ride a bike! Her disability is considered a hidden disability because in most areas Shannon looks and acts like any other girl her age. However, once Shannon needs to use her learning skills to read, write and do math (memory, visual and auditory processing, logic, attention) Shannon then exhibits the impact of her brain injury. She is considered to have a Language Learning Disability - Mild that impacts her academically and in every day life.

Like every other parent of a child with disabilities, Colleen and Tom sought after every possible therapy that might "cure" Shannon's brain injury and allow her to learn to read, write and do math. They did help Shannon compensate through individualized programs that worked her strengths and avoided her weaknesses. At age 10, Shannon resided at about a first grade level in reading and beginning second grade level for math. Shannon had no fluency in reading and could not do any math mentally. Tom and Colleen, like other parents, wanted to blame the school. They could not understand why the school was not "teaching" Shannon and why they were not helping to "close the academic gap". Later, they would realize that the teachers were teaching but Shannon did not have adequate learning skills (memory, attention, visual and auditory processing) to internalize, retain, and retrieve new concepts or material. Shannon currently has a 4yr. academic gap and is being homeschooled as of October 16, 2008.

Colleen had tutored Shannon for years but never saw true independent progress. Shannon was not retaining and recalling information easily and sometimes not at all. This prohibited successful progress in learning because her knowledge base was sparse and scattered. For Shannon, her entire educational journey has been with the use of prompting and she never became independent of needing the supports of an adult. Because she did not show strength in any of her learning skills, she could not initially use the support of an adult to introduce material and then promote her own learning skills to build upon that newly acquired knowledge.

Colleen recognized that Shannon required cognitive and processing training. She discovered a researched based program called Processing and Cognitive Enhancement (PACE) and became certified as a provider and trainer. Shannon continues through this program as medical challenges continue to present themselves and delay completion. At the time of this posting, Shannon has experienced another setback medically and is being treated. Shannon is mid-point through PACE and beginning the Reading Program called Master the Code. Both of these programs support educational establishments. Neither compete with teachers. In fact, they help to make the teachers more successful in helping the student to learn.

Shannon will be the first to tell you that PACE has helped her learn to read (fluency). This is because the program has strengthened her auditory and visual processing and memory skills. She is able to remember and recall words. She is processing her auditory and visual perception much better now and her visual acuity (eye teaming) has been strengthened. Shannon was able to read "Enjoy the Show" on the movie theater screen. She screamed out "I just read that all by myself!!"

Shannon has a way to go yet and the important message for her to internalize is that she is perfect the way she is right now. She is no "less" than others because she has an academic gap and that strengthening her learning skills will improve her academic abilities. She will still have to close the gap after the cognitive training but with the skills to learn she will progress and show success academically. Because her skills needed to read and comprehend, read and remember, listen, attend, focus, spell, visualize and others are being strengthened, Shannon has the chance to become an active participant in the learning process at school and in life.

Shannon's present skill levels reflecting mid-point in the program . Pre-test measures reflect initial assessment from 1/08 prior to beginning the program. The Post-test measures reflect her recent assessment (taken in august). You can see the gains made in her learning skill set.

All Scores
Test Name	Pre-Test	Post-Test	Change
Processing Speed GCTB	7	9.9	+2.9
Working Memory GCTB	9.9	14.5	+4.6
Visual Processing GCTB	8.4	10	+1.6
Word Attack GCTB	7.3	8.8	+1.5
Auditory Analysis GCTB	5	18	+13
Logic-Reasoning GCTB	6	10	+4

A Child's IVIG Experience - Help is on the Way!

2008-11-20T08:30:00.008-05:00

Thanks for your continued prayers for our family - especially for Shannon's well being. We appreciate everyone's support and understanding. Shannon is such a trooper !! She is so brave and courageous. She sat on her daddy's lap for the IV (needle) portion and even joked to the nurses that perhaps they should secretly get daddy with the needle instead of her? LOL ... Nurses found that hilarious - daddy - not so much. :-)

I got a bit nervous while waiting for IVIG MEDS to arrive because another little girl was so scared she ran away from nurses and parents screaming in horror. Shannon was the shade of a ghost by now .. so I found humor with it and no sooner had Shannon chuckling up a storm. The little girl was fine by the way. Behaviors like this are normal when their little bodies are not well. Shannon calmed down a bit and got a little color back in her face :-0

Next, we all hunkered down for what turned out to be 4 hours of IV drip within a total 6 hour day at the hospital. Children's of Philly is great and provided Shannon with whatever she wanted - we were even allowed to walk her and her IV pole to a computer room and set up shop there for a bit - so Shannon could play her webkinz online for a while. When she was just sitting in the chair in the pictures (via links below) they gave her a personal TV so she could watch a movie, play video games or watch cable TV. So, they really, really try their best to keep the kids minds off the discomfort. Of course, the water main break back home did not help and we tried not to show panic in front of Shannon while coordinating coverage for Sean who was getting let out of school with no prior notice. We got him home safely - Thank you Kathy (our sitter/teacher/tutor/the list goes on).

We had all the nurses and even the cleaning folks laughing hysterical at one point. I really do enjoy family like atmospheres ... we got all the people going with Tom does all the cooking and cleaning .. which Tom loved and the ladies were so jealous ... at first they looked at tom and laughed hysterically but Shannon made me come over and I admitted Tom does a lot of cooking and cleaning .. I did not say I have to tend to Shannon 24/7 but I know they could figure it out .. I did not want to add to Shannon's thoughts right now ... Thank God Tom steps up to help out. So then, I just took advantage of the humor for Shannon's sake and started telling the ladies what he can cook and they were like No Way? Get Out of Here! Tell me More! so you had to be there but we had everyone around "us" at one point which was great for Shannon. We got a good 30 minutes of belly laughs and by the time we left everyone was wishing we could stay just a bit longer. Call me a sap but I enjoy people and making a family wherever I go!

Blessings to all --- we will keep you updated on Shannon's progress. Thanks for continued prayers!