Cognitive skills are important for academic success. A deficit in any of the cognitive skills will make learning difficult. The assessments used in my program identify and target problems in these areas:

• Attention

• Memory

• Processing Speed

• Visual Processing

• Auditory Processing

• Logic and Reasoning

Since these cognitive skills are interdependent, a deficit in one skill can impact the other skills needed to learn. If a student has trouble focusing, then the student will not be able to retain the information in order to process the information. If the processing speed is slow, then the information stored in the working memory may be lost before it can be used. If the student has a Visual Processing deficit, the student may have trouble with math, reading, and comprehension because the student cannot visualize the concepts. If Auditory Processing skills are weak, the student may have trouble reading and spelling. If Logic and Reasoning skills are weak, a student may have trouble with math, comprehension, and problem solving.

At The Liberty Lake Learning Center, the focus is on finding the underlying cause(s) of learning problems and developing cognitive skills. In order to be successful in any subject area, cognitive skills are essential for learning.

Signs of Vision-related Learning Problems:

• Avoidance of close seat work

• Blurred or double vision

• Closing or covering one eye

• Difficulty remembering what is read

• Eye-hand coordination problems, such as writing or general clumsiness

• Squinting while reading, writing, or looking at the chalkboard

• Getting headaches, dizziness, or nausea unrelated to any sickness

• Holds head close while reading or writing

• Illegible handwriting

• Difficulty finishing work/poor concentration

• Becoming tired shortly after starting work

• Inability to track or copy from the board

• Blinking or rubbing eyes too much while doing work

Signs of Dyslexia:

• Confuses letters n-u, m-w, p-q, d-b

• Has trouble sequencing

• Difficulty telling time and managing time

• Reading and writing shows repetitions, omissions, additions, substitutions, and reversals in letters, numbers, and words

• Trouble with directionality -up/down, under/over, left/right

• Distracted by sounds

• Delayed speech - leaves sentences incomplete, looses train of thought in the middle of a sentence, mispronounces long words, transposes words, phrases, and syllables in words when speaking

• Trouble copying

• Illegible handwriting

• Clumsy, poor at ball or team sports

• Poor attention

• Poor math skills - word problems

Signs of Dysgraphia:

• Illegible handwriting

• Trouble expressing thoughts on paper

• Has trouble with visual orientation on paper

• Trouble sequencing

• Tight or unusual pencil grip

• Writes very hard and dark

• Says words out loud while writing

• Omitted words in sentences

• Omitted letters in words

• Trouble with syntax and grammar

• Running words together to make one long word

• Inconsistent spacing of words while writing

• Irregular sizes and shapes of letters

• Slow, labored writing

Signs of Sensory-Integration Disorder:

• Overly sensitive to touch

• Overly sensitive to movement

• Overly sensitive to sights (bright lights)

• Overly sensitive to textures, smells, and tastes

• Overly sensitive to noise

The opposite of the above can also be indicative of Sensory-Integration Disorder. In this case, children are under sensitive and seek out stimuli such as cravings for spicy foods, playing with mud, liking strong smells, or rocking, swinging, and doing daredevil-type stunts.

Signs of ADD/ADHD:

• Poor attention

• Problems following written and verbal directions

• Poor working memory

• Poor sense of time

• Inconsistency

• Low frustration level

• Poor judgement

• Excessive fidgeting/trouble sitting still

Signs of an Auditory Processing Disorder:

• Speech and language delays

• Easily distracted

• Bothered by a loud environment

• Difficulty following simple directions

• Difficulty with reading, writing, comprehension, and spelling

• Difficulty understanding abstract concepts

• Difficulty with word problems in math

• Disorganization

• Forgetfulness

• Difficulty following conversations

• Poor listening skills

• Takes longer to process information

Different types of Auditory Processing Disorders:

Auditory figure-ground: This is the inability to function in a noisy environment.

Auditory memory problems: Children may not be able to repeat something back right away, or there is a delay in processing that makes it so that they cannot remember what they've heard.

Auditory discrimination problems: This is the difficulty to differentiate between similar sounds, which makes learning to read extremely difficult.

Auditory attention problems: This is where children cannot listen long enough to understand directions or complete a task.

Auditory cohesion problems: This is the inability to complete more difficult listening tasks such as making inferences, or drawing conclusions from context clues. This auditory problem can greatly interfere with reading comprehension or comprehension in general.

Many of the symptoms of these common learning disorders overlap. It is very important not to label a child, but to carefully watch for any of these symptoms and when they might occur. All of these symptoms are inter-related and are very telling of how the brain is functioning.

Getting an assessment is the first step. These learning problems can be helped. At The Liberty Lake Learning Center, the primary goal is to detect the underlying cause(s) of the problems in learning to read, write, and do math.

Don't hesitate to get help if you feel your child has some of these symptoms. These symptoms could possibly be interfering with his/her development academically, socially, physically, and emotionally.

Thank you.

An article I wrote as published in Spokane Family Magazine, September/October 2010:

What is Dyslexia?

For many, the thought of having dyslexia sounds scary. The good news is that something can be done to correct and/or minimize dyslexic symptoms so that one can achieve academic success.

Dyslexia - impaired (dys) + reading (lexia) - is primarily neurological in origin. Current research and neuro-imaging have shown that there are differences in how the left and the right sides of the brain function. The left side is the academic and orderly side of the brain, where language, speech, math skills, logic, reasoning and sequencing take place. The right side is where the random, artistic, creative and intuitive thinking happens. Left-brained people see the details or parts of the picture, whereas right-brained people see the whole picture. Ideally, we all need a balance between the left and the right brain so that we can see how the details make the bigger picture.

Dyslexia is said to be a right brain issue. Dyslexics are usually right brain dominant and tend to reverse letters, have speech and language delays, trouble with math, poor working memory, poor concentration, retention, balance/coordination issues, poor handwriting and visual/auditory processing difficulties. This is because the right brain doesn't process language, math skills or sequencing.

Dyslexia is a "brain" thing rather than an "academic" thing. The brain, like our muscles, can be retrained and strengthened. Non-academic activities that promote coordination like juggling, jumping rope, riding a bike, playing an instrument and musical/listening games are helpful in developing and strengthening the parts of the brain needed for academics. Just like a balanced diet, the brain needs a balance, too. SFM