My Dear Son,
Your diagnosis of learning and processing delays in 2nd grade was scary for me. You were only 7 years old. I did my very best to hide my fears from you, but I know you sensed something was up. And you were right.
I was afraid for your future because auditory processing is involved with almost everything you do. The clinician explained that It affects your listening, your language, your reading and your ability to focus. And if it doesn’t get better it will hold you back for a long, long time.
In all honesty, I had no idea how hard your day was until someone recommended the Rick Lavoie video on what a child with a learning difficulty goes through in class. It horrified and saddened me, and I knew right then that we had to be proactive.
The First Signs
You were a late talker, which a lot of people associate with language processing delays. And then you had trouble rhyming, which is a famous early warning sign of reading difficulties ahead.
All of that had me worried. My radar was up, looking for confirmation that you might have a developmental delay.
But then your speech seemed to improve and so I stopped worrying as much. You loved being read to, you seemed happy and content at preschool and so it seemed like you might have grown out of whatever had been affecting your language early on.
However, once you entered elementary school, the issues started to mount. And that’s when I knew that we had to take action.
Difficult School Days
I know your school days are hard. Struggling with learning in 2nd grade is a lot to handle.
I know your teacher likes her students to read out loud. And so it breaks my heart to think what that must be like for you. I know what lengths you will go to avoid reading at home, no matter how much I tell you not to be embarrassed about your reading. It must be torture for you to have to do that in front of your friends and your teacher.
I know you get a bit lost during class and tend to drift off. Your speech therapist told me that’s a natural reaction for child with auditory processing delays. You have to concentrate hard just to hear the teacher’s words, you get exhausted and so you take a rest. You tune out.
The speech therapist also told me that background noise can be a real problem for children with your kind of delays. That is probably why you feel you miss so much of what your friends say on the playground. And it’s what I tell your soccer coach also, who complains to me that sometimes you are not listening to him.
Couldn’t Wait Any Longer
You are frustrated more often these days, and I fear you are falling behind in your reading and at school in general. I see glimpses of improvement, but then it seems to fade. And so I have decided I cannot sit on my hands any longer. I need to help you become a better learner. At the very least I would love to see you happier about school and about reading.
We tried tutoring, but now I think we need to try something big, something dramatic that can change how you learn once and for all. So I have been doing my own research and talking to other parents.
The good news is I have found something that will help. It’s called Fast ForWord, provided by Gemm Learning. You will work on computer games at home that will exercise your brain. You know if you practice something, like taking basketball shots, you get better. The same goes for learning and the brain. That’s what Gemm Learning does to help children just like you.
It will only be for a few months. And imagine what life could be like if learning is easier for you. How much more fun you would have at school and at home. Just remember that we are in this together.
And so Johnny, are you ready to give this a try?
NOTE:
This is a letter that many of our families could write. We know, because at Gemm Learning we have heard their stories many times over – in more than 5,000 cases. Not all of our children have this child’s issues, and there are many other symptoms not mentioned. Our programs activate new brain activity associated with language, learning and reading. Check us out here to see how Gemm Learning can work on with your family.
