The Family That Trains Together, Grows Together (Part III)

The Williams Kids Speak Out

When a reporter sat down with the gregarious Williams siblings and theirmother, Jenny, the goal was to discover how the LearningRx model helpedthese students achieve exciting breakthroughs in their education. Butas you will read, she also uncovers a stunning change that neither thetrainer nor the Williams family could ever have anticipated.

In the two recent Brain Buzz stories, determined father Mark Williams sharedthe touching stories of his two children, Rebekah (Rebbi) and Cody—bothof whom are overcoming dramatically different learning challenges withhelp from LearningRx. Now we let the kids speak for themselves. You canread Part I and Part II.

Editor’s Note: The family members’ names have been changedto protect their privacy.

“At first I thought it would be a lot of fun, but we really had towork hard,” Rebekah Williams grouses, as would any child who hassacrificed her precious free time instead of spending it knocking aroundwith a basketball.

Although she worked a bit harder than she had anticipated, Rebekah is alsoquick to add that her LearningRx trainer is a master at introducing differenttechniques to help keep things fun. “She was so supportive,”the 13-year-old gushes. “I knew I could be successful. The visualizingexercises really helped me with my memorization. Instead of having torely on remembering by reading, I learned how to use my eyes to picturewhat I need to remember.”

“I used to be a C and D student with maybe one B, but now I haveall A’s and B’s with only one C. And I still play on the basketballand volleyball teams,” she smiles. “I used to not care thatmuch about how well I did in school, but now I do. I freaked out whenI saw how much better I was doing. My math grade has shown the biggestimprovement.”

Like Rebekah, her brother Cody was equally averse to having to spend hisfree time “learning how to learn,” but as he soon found out,his sessions with his LearningRx trainer could be entertaining and educational.

“I freaked out when I saw how much better I was doing. My math gradehas shown the biggest improvement.” —Rebekah

“My trainer and I had some great times together,” beams theprecocious 11-year-old, whose Asperger’s Syndrome was originallymisdiagnosed as classic autism. “He showed me how to study betterand all of my grades went up, especially math. I learned how to focusand now I use what I learned in the real world.”

“Even though I’m a teacher, I knew I couldn’t help them.”— Jenny, mom

“I can see my skills continuing to improve as time goes by,”Cody continues with excitement. “My trainer gave me a reward atthe end of my sessions—a $15 gift card to use on anything I want.That was my favorite part. Everyone gets a reward based on how hard theywork.”

But hard work for Cody and Rebekah didn’t happen by chance. Theirtrainers designed individual programs for each child based upon theircognitive skills assessments.

“Cognition is how you learn,” explains their LearningRx Director.“Each of us uses different areas of the brain for attention, processing,and long- and short-term memory. Visual processing helps us put wordsinto pictures. Logic and reasoning helps us understand questions and putour thoughts down in chronological order.”

“But how you learn is different from how someone else might learnand the challenges you face are different as well,” she continues.“We identify any underlying skills that are deficient and causingpersistent learning problems.”

“There was nothing about the original cognitive skills tests thatsurprised me,” inserts Jenny Williams, the mother of Rebekah andCody. “I thought the tests accurately pinpointed each of their deficitsas well as their strengths. The biggest insight was to see their variouscognitive skills on a graph. We could see exactly where each child stood.I also think it’s been very beneficial to have Cody and Rebekahsit down with an independent person to help them.”

But, one of the more interesting aspects of the Williams’ familyis that Jenny is herself an elementary school teacher with a special interestin reading. She readily acknowledges her limitations when it came to helpingher own children overcome their learning roadblocks.

“The training at LearningRx made perfect sense and it’s definitelynot part of the regular curriculum. I thought it was creative how thetrainers pinpointed exercises that could help the kids with certain partsof school and build on their strengths,” she says.

“Tutoring wasn’t the answer and my husband and I both knewthat. The LearningRx techniques run so much deeper. The fundamental skillsof learning go far beyond what they teach in school,” Jenny adds.“Even though I’m a teacher, I could see how difficult thechallenges were for both of them and I knew I couldn’t help them.The kids needed to learn how to learn.”

The most startling transformation in the Williams’ household hasbeen homework time and its effect on bringing the family closer.

Rebekah used to spend most of her time crying while her father, Mark Williams,became increasingly frustrated with his daughter—often angry withwhat in his mind was an unwillingness to apply herself. Their relationshipbegan to suffer and it affected the entire family.

“[My trainer] showed me how to study better and all of my gradeswent up.” — Cody

But it turns out Rebekah just didn’t know how to apply herself. Evensimple addition was a challenge. Now both children come home from schooland immediately dive into their lessons.

“To see Rebbi get out her math book and do her homework without helpis amazing,” Jenny smiles softly. “Cody comes home and getsstarted on his lessons without prompting. We’re just tickled withthe results. Our family dynamic has completely changed. With help fromLearningRx, we’ve improved our entire family relationship. That’ssomething that will have a positive impact on the rest of our lives. That’shuge.”

“Rebekah really had to work at learning. Since her sessions at LearningRx,I can really see a remarkable improvement. She is at least one lettergrade higher and I feel it’s because of the skills she’s learned.Most importantly, her confidence has improved. It is now apparent thatshe knows she can do her work. I think she has learned some great strategies.”—Sharon Taylor, Rebekah’s math teacher