Fear is a Lie

Fear. I was reminded today how powerful fear can be. My father had been “invited” to the doctor’s office. No one likes that invitation, especially if you have been healing from cancer surgery. My logical mind said, “They have been discussing his healing, it probably has to do with that…” but my emotional brain was saying “OMG, what if “it” is back! I’m SCARED!!! And so it went…bigger and scarier as my mind ran with the story of what “could be”.

Somewhere during this difficult day, it occurred to me I had the same feeling when our son was diagnosed with a learning issue. At that time my mind was saying, “How was he going to complete high school, get through college, what would he do to feel good about him self, find a career and be a contributing part of society?” The story I was making up was based in fear and getting worse every time I thought about it.

WHAT DOES FEAR FEEL LIKE?

Fear feels like it crashes down on you. The weight can be unbearable. You start shaking (maybe literally), your thinking goes foggy and perhaps you say some things you wish you hadn’t. What is important to know is this is what fear feels like. You have to hang on until it passes. It will. It always does. All those fearful (full of fear!) thoughts are at the heart of the unreal part of the story you are telling yourself.

DISABLE THE FEAR!

Instead of making up our story from a place of Fear, why not choose another perspective? We make up stories of how our life is going every day and then live those stories in just that way.  It isn’t as simple as Think Like a Winner, Be a Winner, but starting from a place of fear, your story has a much greater chance of having a less than optimal ending. 

To disable your fear take a couple of simple steps:

•   Don't avoid Fear! That's right, don't try to pretend its not happening! Avoidance makes   the fear monster grow! Instead, label it FEAR. Say to yourself I know this is fear. Only by becoming familiar with it can anything be done about it. Familiarity allows you the power to make the choice that it isn’t real!

•   Recognize the flight or flight response that is beginning to flow in your body. Turn that response around by saying: “I am safe. I am calming down.”

•   Practice a simple technique of 3 Deep Breaths which will focus your attention on something other than the fear. Deep breathing, fully expanding your lungs to bring life giving oxygen, counter balances the stress hormones that run through our bodies during the fight or flight response. 

•   Make a choice to review other possibilities for how you could write your story. Right there, in the moment, think to yourself how else may this story play out. Many times we don’t realize we have not given the positive choices an equal amount of time in our thoughts!

CREATE A LESS FEAR-FILLED FUTURE

As an exercise, develop a daily practice of 5 minutes of quietly watching your breath flow in and out of your body.  This simple practice will make the 3 Deep Breath technique easy to access when needed. Research shows this daily practice helps train the mind to an awareness of our thoughts, physical sensations and emotions allowing us to calm down and refocus when under stress.

Have you felt fear around you or your child’s learning issue? Are your emotions in charge or are you making choices on how to write your story? If you are feeling fear it is likely your child is feeling it too. Try these techniques that will allow you to model behavior that will greatly reduce fear. This will allow your family to write a story with a happy ending!

Parents, do you have doubts raising your child with learning issues? You can raise confident capable kids despite learning issues. Reach out for answers to your most perplexing questions today!

Becky Scott

www.TheNavigatorsWay.com 

BScott@TheNavigatorsWay.com 

610-783-5676 

What it Takes to be a Good Reader

What Does it Take to be a Great Reader?

What a great question for any parent or educator to ask!  We know the answer.  The National Reading Panel (NPR), after looking at all the research, concluded that effective reading instruction addresses five areas of necessary skills.  Every child needs to develop this core foundation to experience reading success. When parents understand what these are they can better assess the quality of their child’s reading curriculum and work collaboratively with the school and teachers to ensure that each element is being addressed.  Here they are:

           1)  Phonemic Awareness

Words are made up of speech sounds, or phonemes.  Phonemic Awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate the individual sounds in spoken words.  These skills are a precursor to print awareness; before a child can identify the sounds of letters (which are presented through print), (s)he must become aware of how the sounds in words work.  An example is the ability to recognize words that begin with the same sound (e.g., bat, bike, and ball all start with /b/).  Another is blending, recognizing that /c/ + /a/ + /t/ = “cat”.  You can make up games pertaining to these skills at home with your child. 

Parents will often hear the term phonological awareness as well.  Broader in nature, phonological awareness includes phonemic awareness, but expands to incorporate the child’s understanding that there are patterns within words that can aid in both reading and writing.  Children use phonological awareness skills to rhyme and manipulate syllables as they learn to play with the sounds of words. 

            2) Phonics

It is very common for parents to confuse Phonics with Phonemic Awareness, but they refer to two different sets of skills.  As you just learned, Phonemic Awareness refers to the child’s understanding of the auditory elements of language, distinct phonemes.  Phonics is the relationship between a specific letter and its sound; it pertains only to written language.  

When a child “sounds out” a word, she is engaging phonics.  For example, for the word desk, the child decodes each individual sound /d/ /e/ /s/ /k/, this is employing phonics.  She then blends those sounds to create the word desk, thereby using Phonemic Awareness as well. 

Phonics is used in reading and writing.  In the first instance the child decodes words: goes from letter to sound.  In the second, he encodes, going from sound to letter representation. 

            3) Fluency

Fluent readers can read text with speed, accuracy, and proper expression.  Fluency depends upon well-developed word recognition skills, but such skills do not inevitably lead to Fluency.  Fluency develops from reading practice.  Classroom practices that encourage repeated oral reading with feedback and guidance leads to meaningful improvements in reading expertise for students—for good readers as well as those who are experiencing difficulties. 

           4)  Vocabulary

Reading comprehension is largely comprised of two skills: vocabulary and reasoning.

Vocabulary is essential to a reader’s understanding of text.  The broader one’s word knowledge, the more readily they comprehend what they read (and what they hear).  

Vocabulary needs be taught both directly and indirectly, while being incorporated into reading instruction.  The more connections that can be made to a specific word, the better it is learned.  Making connections with other reading material or oral language in other contexts has a better effect than learning a word in isolation.  It is also best for a student to encounter vocabulary words often and in various ways, rather than in regards to only one reading passage or lesson.  Students should be given items that will be likely to appear in many contexts, not just reading.  The context in which a word is learned is critical.  It is essential that vocabulary words are useful to the learner in many contexts.  

How can you help to broaden your child’s vocabulary?  Easy, talk to him/her, lots (!), and read to him/her, daily! 

          5) Comprehension

This is the goal!  We teach reading so that the student has access to material, vast and deep, through printed text.  The NRP concluded that these seven comprehension strategies are most effective and promising for classroom instruction:

·         comprehension monitoring

·         cooperative learning

·         summarization

·         graphic and semantic organizers including story maps

·         question answering

·         question generation

·         “multiple strategy,” where readers and teachers interact over texts

For more information on reading development or to see the full report of the National Reading Panel, go to www.nationalreadingpanel.org.

And be sure to take some time to read with your children today!

Be Well,

Jennifer

Cognitive Exercises that Develop Reading, Writing and Math Abilities

Difficulties in tracking, sequencing, and visual discrimination can get in the way of the learning process for reading, writing and math. Furthermore, letter, number and word reversals can make school a chore.  However, these are core skills, and many students need to strengthen these cognitive areas before they can manage language and numbers with success.  To help students strengthen these areas and allow teachers and parents to try activities, Dr. Warren is now offering a sampling of her workbooks, Reversing Reversals Primary, Reversing Reversals and Reversing Reversals 2. Through fun, game-like activities such as coloring and mazes, students quickly master the skills necessary for improved decoding and comprehension.

To learn more about these products,  Click here 

To go to a direct download of this sampling:
Click Here

Helping Your Anxious Child

When kids show signs of anxiety, it impacts the entire family. Parents often talk about their concerns for the child and want advice about how to help. Here are a few tips I frequently give parents in distress:

1. Is it Fear or Anxiety? Help your child to distinguish the difference between fear and anxiety. Fear is defined as the feeling that occurs when there is a legitimate threat to one’s safety, such as being in the street when a car is coming. Anxiety, on the other hand, is the feeling that occurs when the body reacts to a stressful situation that is not truly dangerous, such as being in the dark. Our bodies are programmed to react to fearful situations with a burst of adrenaline so we’ll have the energy to outrun a predator. Unfortunately, we often have similar reactions to our modern day fears, like giving a presentation, where we no longer need this type of energy! Start by helping your child determine if they are reacting to a true threat.

2. Slow the Body Down: Once the situation is identified as anxiety, the next step is to slow the body back down. Help your child practice taking deep breaths from the abdomen, in through the nose and out through the mouth. If your child does this quickly, aim for a count of 3 in and 5 out as you count aloud to cue the breathing. 

3. Talk through the problem: Try to have your child identify the specific worry. Once it is identified, it is much easier to talk through and determine how to proceed. For example, one child I worked with in my practice worried that he would trip and fall in school. After the worry was shared, I asked, “What is the worst thing that could happen?” The boy explained that if he fell, he might hurt himself and others might laugh at him. He then thought about if this were to happen and realized that although that might hurt or feel embarrassing, he could tolerate these scenarios. I then ask children, “What’s the best thing that could happen?” Kids with anxiety almost never think of this! In this case, the boy smiled and said that he could go through his day without tripping. I always follow this line of questioning with, “What’s the most likely thing that will happen?” This boy thought about the question, then admitted that he rarely falls and it was not a likely possibility. It’s important to help kids not only explore the fear, but also measure the likelihood of it occurring. An anxious mind will fixate on the negative and see no other possibilities, even when the situation is not likely to cause the anticipated problems.

These are just a few of many ways that can help your child overcome anxiety. If the worry persists or keeps the child from participating in activities, consider asking for outside help.

Emily Herber is a child and family therapist at the Center for Psychological Services.

Students with learning disabilities may be eligible for specific private scholarships to help finance their college educations.  Below are samples and descriptions of some of the more popular scholarship opportunities for LD students:

Marion Huber Learning Through Listening Award:

Sponsored by Learning Ally is the Marion Huber Learning Through Listening Award.  High school students with diagnosed learning disabilities who are members of Learning Ally may be awarded gift money ranging from $2,000 to $6,000 for demonstrating excellence in their academics, leadership and service. (https://www.learningally.org/about-learning-ally/awards/)

RiSE Scholarship Foundation, Inc.:

Students who have shown perseverance in dealing with their learning disabilities may be eligible for scholarships awarded through RiSE Scholarship Foundation, Inc.  Candidates must have a high school GPA of at least 2.5 to apply. (http://risescholarshipfoundation.org/)

Shire ADHD Scholarship Program:

If a student's diagnosis is ADHD, the Shire ADHD Scholarship Program should be considered.  In addition to the $2,000 scholarship awarded, recipients receive a year of ADHD coaching provided by Edge Foundation.  (http://www.shireadhdscholarship.com/)

P. Buckley Moss Endowed Scholarship:

Aspiring artists with an LD diagnosis may be eligible for the P. Buckley Moss Endowed Scholarship.   Candidates should be able to demonstrate their artistic talents and plan to pursue a career in art. (http://www.mosssociety.org/page.php?id=69)         

Anne Ford and Allegra Ford Thomas Scholarships:

Finally, a $10,000 award, provided by the Anne Ford and Allegra Ford Thomas Scholarships is available for LD students who serve as role models and are committed to improving opportunities for all those with LD diagnoses. (http://www.ncld.org/about-us/learning-disability-scholarships-awards/anne-ford-allegra-ford-scholarships)

These are just a few of the more popular scholarships for students with learning disabilities.  Students are encouraged to also explore scholarship clearinghouses such as www.fastweb.com for additional scholarships.

Thanks!
Kristen

Listening Differently to Help More

This week I spoke with a mom of three kids who all have learning disabilities. What a busy household! To top it all off, she has learning issues herself.  Listening to “everyone’s everything” can feel a bit overwhelming to her at times. No doubt it feels that way to you sometimes too. 

Listening differently to learn more

Learning issues can make an average challenge into a super challenge in the blink of an eye. How we listen to a challenge is the first step in handling the challenge in a positive way. Listening creatively and with clarity set us up to help in the best way possible.

Think about the last time you listened to a challenge your child, your spouse or a friend shared with you. What is the first thing that happened as you were listening? The most common answer is, “ I began to think of how I could help the person solve their problem”. This is a noble answer. However, what it really does is take your “ears” and mind away from the job of listening. This noble answer maybe not the best answer. 

Even a good listener can amp up the quality of listening by learning how to use Level 1, 2 & 3 listening. Use the skills below to hear more of what is happening whenever you find yourself listening. Each of the 3 Levels of Listening will provide different information. Try all three for a few minutes as a part of each conversation you engage. What different information do you learn as a result listening in different ways?

Listening at Level 1, 2 and 3

Level 1 listening puts attention squarely on us listening to our own thoughts judgments, feelings and conclusions about the conversation at hand. Is that what your conversation partner really wanted? Maybe not! Maybe they wanted help thinking through THEIR questions! What were their questions and their interpretation of what is happening? You don't really know if you are lost in your own interpretation. There is much to learn with greeting a story with questions instead of “telling” what you think. Level 1 listening only shares your thoughts about what you think is happening.

Level 2 listening, in contrast, has the attention of the listener with a sharp focus on the other person. Every word, emotion and shifting energy of the speaker has an impact on the listener. A great example of Level 2 listening is two lovers talking on a park bench. They appear as though the rest of the world has melted away. There is a lot of learning by the listener happening in this scenario.

Level 3 listening has the listener aware of everything that is happening in the space where the conversation is being held: the conversation at hand, sounds and actions around the conversation and how the listener and speaker are thinking and feeling. In other words, Level 3 incorporates parts of all three levels. There is a softer focus than the intensity of Level 2 and a partial attention to self as in the Level 1 conversation. Level 3 focus allows for non-verbal cues to be center stage and intuition to play a vital role. 

Improve your communication capacity by becoming familiar and actively engaging in level 1, 2 & 3 listening.  It will not take long to see the impact on how children, spouse and friends make choices, move themselves toward what they want and what they value all because of being heard differently. Listening deeply and creatively will better prepare you to truly make a difference. 

Parents, do you have questions raising your child with learning issues? We can help you raise confident, capable kids despite learning issues. Reach out for answers to your most perplexing questions today!

Becky Scott 

BScott@TheNavigatorsWay.com

www.TheNavigatorsWay.com 

The Real Meaning of Dyslexia

There is a brave man in the British county of Durham in the north of England. His name is Professor Elliot and he has suggested the term dyslexia is not as useful as some may think:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2567690/Dyslexia-meaningless-label-used-middle-class-parents-claims-Professor-Julian-Elliot.html

This kind of statement always produces a howl of protest when someone says this, from dyslexics and dyslexia specialists!

Perhaps he is being unnecessarily inflationary, but I think there is actually an important question lying in what he is saying: “what does the word dyslexia really mean?”

What is undeniable is that the answer varies. It all depends on who you are talking to, which is bad news for any word! The whole point of our vocabulary is that a word provides a shortcut for lengthy definitions.

Personally, I believe dyslexia is a very useful term if it refers to any situation where someone is reading and writing less well than expected for their intelligence and education. It then becomes a helpful umbrella term that should prompt exploration of the underlying literacy patterns that can cause this situation.

Some people now refer to it as a “thing”, like a medical condition, that can be diagnosed. I have been teaching children to read for 12 years and have never come across this “thing” dyslexia. We just see bright children with lots of potential who, for a variety of neurological reasons, are not reading and spelling well.

It is these root neurological reason, the 8 Causes of Reading Difficulty, that interest us. Once we know what the problem is, fixing it becomes much easier. You will not find any items called "dyslexia" listed there, but the patterns we describe for each cause will resonate with some of the “signs of dyslexia” that you will find on long lists elsewhere on the Internet.

The danger of thinking of dyslexia as a medical condition is that people become defeatist and lose hope of reading and writing normally. That is a tragedy every time. In our experience, almost everyone can learn to read and write with the right help.

—

David Morgan is CEO of Oxford Learning Solutions and founder of the Easyread System, an innovative online program for struggling readers and spellers. He has devoted his life to resolving literacy difficulties for English speakers around the world. 

Solving Homework Struggles

Students with learning disabilities do not typically come by the development of study skills naturally. Good instruction and guidance in understanding how they learn and tools that enable them to digest, internally organize, and then recall information on demand can be critical to their success.  Of course good study hygiene includes factors such as a non-distracting place to study, energy and focus (as opposed to being sleepy or hungry), and access to all pertinent materials. 

Beyond that here are list of strategies that benefit a wide range of students. Of course, any given individual needs to pick and choose the approach that works for them.  Pick away!

Strategies that Enhance Retention of Material:

*  Use elaborative interrogation by generating a reasonable explanation for why a fact or concept is true.
*  Use self-explanation: One way to engage this tool is to explain how new information is related to already known information.  Another is to explain the steps taken during a problem solving task. Doing so aloud enhances the use of this strategies for many students, particularly those whose verbal skills are stronger than their visual skills.
* Highlight or underline:  The key is to mark only those portions of the material that are essential to learning, such as critical words, phrases, or facts.
*  Use the FACT strategy: Focus attention, Ask questions, Connect ideas, Try to picture important ideas. 
*  Paraphrase: put what you hear and read in your own words.
*  Visualize: create a picture in your head of what you hear and read.
*  Create acronyms. 
*  Draw illustrations or use Clip Art to make mnemonics. 
*  Review at the end of each page.
*  Take notes as you reads or listens to teacher instruction.
*  Use the Keyword method: pair a new word with a word that sounds like it and is easily pictured (e.g., barrister/bear); visualize the two interacting (e.g., a bear arguing her case in court).
*  Imagery: form mental images of materials while reading or listening.
*  Summarize: write or verbal explain to another person a summary of the material you are learning.
*  Break memorization into short time periods.  Use short, spaced practice over several days.
*  Recite information aloud from note cards or notes. 
*  Test yourself by shutting your eyes and asking and answering questions.
*  Have another person test you.

Ideas to Enhance Retention of Reading Material:

·      Read material in textbooks twice, the first time to get the idea and the second to concentrate on specific facts.  Rereading a third time after time away from the text will further reinforce knowledge.

·        If you own your books, highlight material and write notes in the margin as you read.            Pictures are also great. 
·         Review the chapter summaries, end-of-chapter questions, and headings in bold throughout the chapter before reading the text.  This will familiarize you with the themes of the chapter and make it easier to read and remember.  If there is a quiz at the end of the chapter, take it!
·         Have conversations with your mom, dad, or tutor about the material before and after you read something.  This will help you understand it better, particularly those abstract parts that aren’t so obvious.

One Last Tip:  
Your brain keeps processing information while you sleep. This is why we say “sleep on it.”  So, rehearse or review important information such as material for tomorrow’s test or quiz as the last thing you do just before going to sleep at night.  You’ll remember more when you wake up!

Be Well,

Jennifer