The dePaul School - Louisville

Joshua* was a very bright six year old. Anyone who spoke with him would be struck by his wit and intelligence as he shared his made-up jokes or explained his idea for a new invention. The vocabulary he used was advanced for his age, perhaps due to how much time he spent having people read books to him. He had an extremely active imagination, and he frequently talked of imaginary trips to exotic places and looked for "jewels" in the yard outside. Anyone would expect a child like Joshua to excel in school.

However, Joshua's parents were worried. In spite of his gifts, he was not flourishing in school. In fact, his teachers were recommending that he repeat his Kindergarten year. Joshua daydreamed a lot, showed poor organizational skills, and worked at a very slow rate. He had difficulty remembering and following directions. Although he was strong in math, he was making little progress in reading or writing. Joshua was aware of these difficulties, and his self esteem had withered. He compared himself to the other students, and became easily frustrated when he could not do what his classmates could do.

On the surface, having Joshua repeat Kindergarten seemed the right idea for several reasons. First, he simply didn't have the reading skills necessary for first grade. Second, moving him to first grade would only increase his frustration. Third, Joshua seemed better suited socially for Kindergarten, since he preferred to play with younger children rather than his peers. However, his teachers were not aware that research shows that repeating Kindergarten rarely benefits children with reading disabilities.

Fortunately, Joshua's mother had the benefit of experience with learning difficulties. She had been diagnosed as having dyslexia when she was in the seventh grade, and had received appropriate tutoring. She knew that if Joshua had dyslexia, he was not simply "developing a little more slowly" in reading; he had a learning difference. Having him repeat Kindergarten would not help him, because what he needed was a different kind of instruction. She contacted The de Paul School.

The Sources of Difficulties are Identified

As part of the admissions procedure, the de Paul's assessment team used specific tests to determine whether de Paul was a good match for Joshua's needs. Through this battery of assessments, the school was able to identify three key points regarding Joshua:

1. Joshua was capable of learning. On tests of mental ability, Joshua scored well above average. He scored in the top 15% of children his age on expressive language abilities, and his knowledge of the world around him was impressive.

2. In spite of his capabilities, he was not learning certain skills that would normally be expected of a child his age. In some areas, Joshua was learning adequately; he scored in the 47th percentile in mathematics -- average for his age. Yet it was obvious that he had not been learning to read. He was able to recognize only 14 of the lower case letters, and only seven sounds. He had not learned to recognize or sound out words, even words made up of the letters he could recognize. In attempting to read basic stories, he made up all of the words, based on the picture on the page. He was unable to spell any words asked of him, often giving single letters to stand for entire words.

(Tester: "Spell 'is' for me." Joshua: "o.")

3. Joshua's learning difficulties stemmed from perceptual deficits -- ways in which his brain processed information differently from most children. Specifically, he had severe difficulty sorting visual-motor information and phonological information, and this was impairing his ability to learn to read and spell. His visual-motor deficits resulted in greater difficulty distinguishing between letters (he said that "a" and "e" looked the same), keeping the order and position of written symbols straight (he experienced more reversals than typical for his age), and keeping his written work organized. Joshua's phonological awareness deficit -- difficulty processing the sounds of language -- made it difficult for him to recognize and remember specific sounds, and to isolate the individual sounds within words. Without such skills, one cannot learn to read or spell.

Alphabet

"Write the numbers from one to one hundred in the boxes that you see.
Please show me your best writing."

The Rewards of Early Intervention

At de Paul, Joshua enjoyed the increased attention he received in his smaller class groupings, and the stigma of his difficulties disappeared when he began working with other bright students who had similar difficulties. The structure of de Paul's program -- highly interactive instruction, short activities, a familiar class routine, and clear directions -- helped Joshua learn to focus his attention and stay organized. He retained information more successfully, because he was given ample opportunities to practice and apply his new skills. While receiving remediation for reading and writing, he was able to continue his growth in math, science, and social studies.

Focusing on one letter and sound at a time, Joshua began to make progress in reading. Multisensory activities allowed him to learn the shapes of letters through touch and movement, as well as sight. By tracing letters on various surfaces using specific techniques, Joshua was able to learn to write the letters accurately. de Paul's Language Arts curriculum taught him how to build words and break them apart while writing and reading. Each lesson was organized for him to experience success.

Writing

Joshua made good gains his first year at de Paul, and then great leaps in his second year. Now beginning third grade, Joshua is reading on grade level! He and his teachers are currently working to improve his reading comprehension by using strategies which keep him actively involved in the text. He and his teachers also continue to focus on improving his organization of class materials. While his handwriting has improved dramatically, he will need continued work on his fine motor coordination.

Fortunately, Joshua's difficulties were caught early, thanks to parent insight and diagnostic tools which can predict difficulties early. Because of this, Joshua avoided years of failure and low self esteem, as children with learning differences frequently experience. He has come to take for granted what he should never have doubted in the first place:

He is intelligent.
He is capable.
A world of opportunities lie ahead for him!