LD Therapy Tools

tudents with gifted profiles and learning disabilities need special support to achieve their best.  Typical class settings do not easily include students who are facing special challenges such as ADHD or an audio processing delay.  These students are walking a thin line between fitting in and making use of accommodations in their Individualized Education Plans.  In gifted programs, students often struggle outside of class, when their time is not structured and they are outside of their community of learning.

Internet videos and gaming compound the issues for students with special learning needs.  Screens are a structured, fast reward activity that draws their young brains in but do not equip them with many transferable skills.

My approach is a balance between coaching and environment modification.  Coaching is a collaborative goal setting process and my relentless encouragement to try new strategies and get the deep rewards of earning real life rewards.  Modifying a student’s environment essentially builds on the factors at school and elsewhere that support a student’s learning.  This could involve a quiet study space, timed study and breaks, or even group accountability.

In this linked video, I share an activity I do with young students who have recently received a psychological education assessment and are trying to integrate its findings into their academic life.  It represents the collaborative coaching process that marks all my work.