Academic Concerns? (Don’t Just Label It)
Charlotte’s parents had academic concerns and shared: “Our 9 yr. old daughter is a struggling learner. She has difficulty reading (she still sounds out almost every single word, including two- and three-letter words), concentrating, she can’t sit still when she’s thinking, and word recognition is slow. It seems there is a problem that is at the root cause of all these struggles. We want learning to be easier for her (right now her brain seems to be working too hard to accomplish every single task); and I want her confidence levels to grow.”
When parents describe their child’s struggles, they often use language like, “there is an academic concern” or “my child is smart, but something is not clicking.”
The key to learning is strong cognitive skills. However, if any of these skills are weak – memory, processing speed, attention, reasoning, etc. – it often undermines or mutes a child’s ability to understand and excel.
Many families seek a diagnosis like ADHD or dyslexia. These can be helpful, but the key is to identify the root cause. What is causing this academic concern and how do we improve things?
The first step was to administer an initial assessment at LearningRx for Charlotte. Unlike many assessments that cost thousands of dollars and can take 4-8 hours, the LearningRx assessment is a fraction of the cost and takes 90 minutes. More importantly, it provides actionable answers to a child’s learning struggles!
Charlotte’s initial assessment revealed weaknesses in long-term and working memory, logic & reasoning, auditory processing and processing speed. Tasks like reading, reading comprehension, problem solving, math, and attention were all difficult for Charlotte.
She did not need a label, Charlotte needed these skills to be stronger.
For example, her weakness in long-term memory and auditory processing made reading difficult. Memory is a critical part of word recognition, spelling and reading comprehension. Auditory processing is needed as it represents a child’s ability to process sounds. When auditory processing is weak, blending sounds and decoding is difficult. This is true for students who have general reading struggles or are diagnosed with dyslexia. Academic concerns, very true!
The key to unlocking her reading ability is to remove these barriers holding Charlotte back.
Charlotte’s slow processing speed impacted her attention skills as her brain had to work so hard to complete a task, that she was not able to maintain this high level of energy and she would zone out or get distracted. In fact, for most students who struggle with attention or are diagnosed with ADHD, processing speed is one of the most common root causes.
(Read more on this topic in the Mental Health Journal for more detailed information)
From Academic Concern to Academic Success!
Charlotte completed her LearningRx training and all of these cognitive skills improved significantly – most by 3 to 4 times where they were initially!
Charlotte’s IQ increased 16 points! More importantly, her parents are seeing huge changes. Her mom shared simply that “Charlotte’s gains and improvements are amazing. Thank you, LearningRx!”
If you have a child who struggles and appears to have an academic concerns, we can help. The first step is to schedule an assessment at the LearningRx Fort Collins location to identify the root cause. Call us today at 970-672-2020 or go to our Get Started area.
[Note: The child’s name has been changed for privacy reasons]
