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HOW I OVERCAME MY LD AND LEARNED TO LOVE SCHOOL

The Jewish Press, January 11, 2006
Arrowsmith Program - A Testimonial:
(Name Withheld)

Innovative Program Brings Hope And Confidence To Children With Learning Difficulties
`An idea is salvation by imagination' — Frank Lloyd Wright

As a little guy I learned early on that school was not going to become a great love of mine. My inability to successfully accomplish what it was my teachers were asking of me, very quickly revealed to my teachers my learning disability.

The discovery of my learning disability marked the beginning of my mother's search to find a solution to my problems with learning. This search carried us both through 10 different programs, all of which claimed to have a solution to my learning problems. I was in programs that had me crawling on the floor for hours a day, programs that had me playing with blocks, programs that gave me drugs, programs that had me trace shapes on chalk boards, programs that worked on my pronunciation, programs that had me listen to distorted classical music, and none of them worked. All of these programs were well intended; however they failed to show a significant positive impact on my ability to learn.
I was 13 years old and my reading and math skills were at a grade 3 level. I had grown older and the seriousness of my problem had become a great concern. My parents brought me to Tufts University for a series of Neuropsychological and educational tests to help determine just how bad their son's situation was. The University's conclusions were that I would never graduate from high school, that I would be financially dependent upon my parents for the rest of my life, that I would most likely work in a gas station, and that I should be sent to a school where other kids are ``wired'' up like myself. Needless to say my parents were rather disheartened.

Through a friend, my mother heard about the successes a program called Arrowsmith had with her daughter, Cindy. After much deliberation my parents and I decided I would go through testing at Arrowsmith, giving one last program a chance to solve my learning problems. We were not optimistic.

I began going to Arrowsmith at the age of 14. When I first started the program I was at a grade 4 reading level and a grade 3 in math. For the first year, I only worked on a series of cognitive exercises for my specific problems and after half a year, we could see significant progress in my test results. This was the first time that we ever saw progress that showed measurable gains. I was able to read and understand basic math formulas at a level that I was unable to, prior to doing the exercises, by the end of the year. My capacity for understanding had grown.

I spent three years in the Arrowsmith Program. At the end of my three years, I was at grade 10 in both reading and math. For the first time in my life I was at my grade level. I went directly into a mainstream class for both my grade 11 and 12 years.
Arrowsmith strengthened areas of my brain which enabled me with the gift of being able to participate in learning. Before Arrowsmith I lacked the ability to grasp the concepts that were essential to surviving in the world today.

I went on to graduate from high school and college. Today I work for a high net worth individual doing many different things ranging from: venture capital acquisitions of industrial and educational companies; joint ventures in Russia; high level foreign diplomacy; commercial real estate; property management; e-commerce strategies; and around the world ballooning adventures.

I know that without Arrowsmith I would not have graduated from high school and would not be where I am today. There is no question in my mind that Arrowsmith can help anyone with learning disabilities that is willing to work.

Whether it's the ability to follow the plot of a Harry Potter novel or learning how to read Hebrew, learning disabilities offer unique and unexpected challenges. Fortunately, they can also inspire unique and unexpected ideas and solutions. Just ask Barbara Arrowsmith Young. Born with learning disabilities, Young went on to found the Arrowsmith Program, a cognitive program based on 25 years of neuroscience research currently being implemented in seven publicly funded schools in Toronto and eight private schools in Canada.

"In researching the issue, (Young) decided the best way to deal with learning disabilities is to strengthen the underlying weak cognitive capacities rather than compensate for them. Her program tests and identifies 19 specific cognitive areas critical for learning, and then uses exercises to improve them — "retraining" the brain," says Naoibh O'Connor of the Vancouver Courier. Some of the 19 areas of dysfunction involve auditory memory for information or instructions, visual memory for objects and symbols, logical reasoning and thinking, planning and problem solving both in language and non-verbally.

"Unlike conventional programs, which tend to teach compensatory strategies, this program works on directly strengthening the weak cognitive capacities underlying the learning dysfunctions," says Rabbi Dr.  Heshy T. Glass, Principal of Hebrew Academy of Long Beach.

This fall, the Arrowsmith Program made a successful debut on Long Island when the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach (HALB), in collaboration with a small group of concerned parents, established a pilot class utilizing its philosophy and technology. HALB is the first yeshiva to implement innovative programs to treat LD, which is widely used in public and private schools in Canada.

Annette Goodman is a parent who helped bring the program to New York. "I knew the program could make permanent changes that will benefit my children not only in academics, but in life. I didn't want a program to treat the symptoms, I wanted a program designed to treat at the source of the problems."

Accordingly, HALB implemented the Arrowsmith Program in September 2005 with a group of 10 students in grades 1-8 working on reading, writing, mathematics, comprehension, logical reasoning, visual and auditory memory, non-verbal learning, and attention deficit. Each of these students had previously undergone remedial programs to address their specific learning disabilities. Despite possessing average to above average intelligence, students in these programs experienced limited progress.

Within two months of starting in the Arrowsmith program, parents at HALB began reporting changes they were noticing in their children's academic and social performance. For example, one child's handwriting had improved so dramatically that his father thought a writing sample presented to him was from a teacher rather than his son. The same boy's mother reported that her son could now write in complete sentences and successfully use punctuation. "His thoughts are more organized when he is asked to write a paragraph," she says. "He can line up math problems. And most importantly, he can express himself verbally in a more organized manner." Both his parents and his teachers say he is a different child: happy and willing to try because now he knows he can succeed. "I didn't think I could go to college," the boy declares with pride. "Now I can go to Harvard."

Another mother was pleased to find her son's book report included clear, coherent sentences and a logical progression that had been absent in previous writing assignments. "He is more organized about the materials he needs to complete his homework," she states. "He is able to do his homework on his own, he gets it." She has never seen such a big change in a child's temperament, announcing, "He has a completely different attitude towards life now!"

"My son can now follow the plot of a Harry Potter novel, which he had not been able to do previously," reports the mother of another HALB student. "One of his resource teachers reported that he could process a paragraph much more easily while another said he understands the math concepts on his own. In the past, he needed it explained many different ways." The exercise that enables children to understand math concepts similarly increases their capacity to understand Mishna and Gemara the first time they learn it.
Then there was the young girl at HALB who — when she entered the program in September — had been unable to recognize all of the letters in the Hebrew alphabet. "All of a sudden, out of nowhere, she started catching on to reading," her teacher says. "She's now able to recognize and sound out five-letter words." In addition to working on her memory for visual symbols, the girl is also working on her auditory memory. Her English teacher says her memory has improved to the point where she can follow a lesson, remember the lecture, and join in class discussions.

Another student, previously too shy to raise her hand in class, is working on her ability to interpret nonverbal cues and has started participating in class. In addition, thanks to an exercise designed to improve her handwriting and eye tracking for reading, she no longer complains of her hand hurting her while completing writing tasks.

"Over time," Barbara Arrowsmith Young explains, "the repetitive cognitive exercises for the weakened areas intensely stimulate these areas of the brain with a result of the student becoming an effective, self-directed learner for life."

At least one young student at HALB concurs with Ms. Young: "If I won a million dollars," he announces, "I would drop out of school and do Arrowsmith all day long."
Hmmm, now there's an idea.

For more information on how to bring this program to your child's school e-mail info@arrowsmithschool.org