The Myth of Practice-Makes-Perfect When Sheila came to see me, seeking reading therapy for her son, Kyle, she was skeptical when she learned that reading therapy was not the traditional tutoring she had imagined. It’s normal for parents to think their child just needs more one-on-one practice. For many of us ‘practice-makes-perfect’ is the only…
Continue ReadingDoes your child have difficulty distinguishing one number or letter from another? Are they clumsy or do they have poor motor skills? Do they skip lines or words when reading or mistake a letter or word for a similar one? If letter reversals persist past age seven or affect your child’s ability to make gains…
Continue ReadingThink that dyslexia is all bad? Think again. Individuals with dyslexia use their brain differently and therefore have incredible gifts and abilities. Some of the world’s most successful and intelligent people are dyslexic–and their success is due to dyslexia not in spite of it! Dr. Sally Shaywitz at Yale University concluded that dyslexia is completely…
Continue ReadingDeveloping visual memory is key to improving reading and learning ability since 80% of learning occurs through the visual system. Visual memory is a crucial component to your child’s ability to read and effectively learn. It has actually been found to exceed auditory memory; in fact three quarters of learning both in and outside of…
Continue ReadingIn my last article, I wrote about how poor working memory affects learning disabilities. Poor working memory can have a significant impact on the ability to decode and comprehend written text. Up to 70% of students with learning disabilities in reading score ‘very low’ on working memory. Working memory can be compared to a video…
Continue ReadingLet me tell you about a client, Nick. When he first started my program, his parents were certain he would need additional reading therapy on top of addressing behaviours related to autism spectrum. They said, “let’s do iLs first to address behaviour and processing and we’ll deal with reading afterwards.” Yet in those next few…
Continue ReadingIf you’re confused about the cause of dyslexia, you’re not alone. It seems there are a dozen theories all claiming to find the ‘real’ reason why some people struggle so much with learning to read. When I first plunged into this line of work–I was confused and overwhelmed myself. There was more information than I…
Continue ReadingHow Does Reading Happen? Brain imaging research shows that poor readers have fewer reading brain circuits and in the wrong places. This makes reading laborious and too slow for good comprehension. Remedial reading alone will rarely fix this problem. A brain plasticity intervention like Cellfield is required. Beginner readers use the parieto-temporal of the brain…
Continue ReadingHow Genetics and Essential Fatty Acids Come Together My last post on essential fatty acids (EFA’s) explained how a deficiency in EFA’s can have huge impacts on coordination, eye function and the brain’s ability to focus and learn. Dr. Jacqueline Stordy concludes in her book, The LCP Solution what numerous studies and researchers have also…
Continue ReadingThe process of reading involves the processing of visual, auditory, oral, and motor functions in the brain. These processes all occur in the sub-cortical areas of the brain involved in automatic functions. If these processing components are disturbed in their interrelatedness, it causes the brain to contemplate cognitively what the sub-cortical areas are not doing…
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