Why? What? Assistive Technology for Learning!

What? Why? Assistive Technology for Learning!
ATTENTION! Parents-Teachers-Social Service Providers-Students of all ages!

FREE Presentation!
Sponsored by the Jefferson County Literacy Council

DATE: Nov 1, 2007 Thursday evening
TIME: 6:30 - 8:30 PM
PLACE: Jeff Co Library Pt Hadlock

LEARN
Learn how assistive technologies---voice recognition software, etc.---are used as effective learning tools by people with all kinds and levels of learning challenges to improve reading/writing/computer literacy.

Learn about WATAP--Washington Assistive Technology Act Program. WATAP serves Washington residents of all ages with disabilities of all types, their families, employers, and employment service providers, educators, health care and social service providers, and others seeking information about assistive technology (AT) and assessible information technology.

Melinda Pongrey, MSEd will present an introduction of learning disabilities and how multi-sensory input supports learning and the learning process.

Maria Kelley, OTR/L Assistive Technology Specialist will present an overview of AT software and programs useful for individuals with learning disabilities. She will explain WATAP and related services.

Find out how WATAP, a non-profit organization, partners with other agencies to help people with disabilities learn about, try-out, compare, borrow and/or acquire Assistive Technology that can support educational, employment and independent living skills.

Deciphering Differences

Sequim Gazette Wednesday, May 14, 2003

By Betty Oppenheimer
Sequim Gazette Staff Writer

Education therapist Melinda Pongrey helps people of all ages figure out how to learn.

Focusing on clients who have been struggling with learning, Pongrey works to understand how their brains process information, using the body's auditory, visual, motor, tactile, spatial and language systems. She then creates exercises and tools to help them catch up on reading, writing, math, social skills, time management or whatever areas are problematic in their lives.

"People with learning differences are not lazy or abnormal," she said. "They have different wiring, which can distract them. I work to help the person and those around them understand those differences, and learn to function with them."

As a way to comprehend how learning differences might be distracting and discouraging, she suggests trying to draw or write while looking at the pencil and paper in the mirror. Most of us cannot do it.

"Amazing things can happen when people are given the tools they need to learn," she said.

Ary's Story
Ary Webb, now 12, went to public school until third-grade, when he just didn't seem to be progressing like the other students. His mother, Kerry, began to home school him, but she didn't have much luck teaching him reading and writing, either.

"At a program at Olympic Peninsula Academy, I met Melinda Pongrey, who talked about different ways of learning...Her methods have become the main core of our home schooling, " she said of teaching sons Ary and younger brother, Corbin.

Pongrey spent time "playing games" with Ary, and in the process recognized that he comprehends in a more visual way than most. She gave him exercises to help him recognize letters, including flash cards of the identifying features of different letters, which look like hieroglyphics to the average eye, but help dyslexics differentiate between similar letters. He completed dozens of exercises in which he identified similar grouping of letters, so that, according to his mother, "he no longer has to decode each word separately."

Pongrey's literature explains, "Reading includes figuring out how the marks on the page represent sounds and words, then figuring out what those words mean by linking words and sentences to their meaning, and then storing the information in your memory bank by linking the information to something you already know. If you read effortlessly, reading is like balancing when riding your bike--after you learn, the process is automatic and mostly unconscious...If you haven't mastered riding, it requires your full attention and riding is a scary, fatiguing, usually short-lived event."

Pongrey worked to find books on topics that would interest Ary, including sumo wrestling and medieval knights. She taught him to take "picture notes," instead of words.

When he was doing his homework on knights, Kerry was taking notes on cards, and Ary started taking picture notes.

"Then I use my picture notes to type notes into the computer," said Ary, showing a pile of papers with small drawings, some recognizable, some not.

"From my notes, he wasn't able to type the report, bu his own notes made sense to him. I realized that we simply don't think alike," Kerry said.

Kerry said that dyslexia runs in her family. When she noticed the learning problems in Ary, she worried that he, too, would not progress. But since spending eight months with Pongrey, everything has changed.

"I used to put books down without finishing them. But now, I read the whole book," said Ary.

"Now that he has these tools we can really see Ary going to college," said Kerry.

Learning how people learn
Pongrey grew up in Port Angeles, but now lives in Port Townsend. More than a decade ago, she got a job in special education in the Chimacum School District, where she was required to take continuing education classes. As one workshop, she met Judy Schwarz, the author of "Another Door To Learning,: the program where she learned how to assess and teach those with learning differences, including various kinds of dyslexia, attention deficit disorder, language delays, motor-spatial and visual-spatial difficulties.

"I just couldn't stand watching kids who were failing kindergarten," she said, explaining what sparked her to additional training.

Often, she said, people who suffer from a learning problem also experience psychological and/or social ramifications, as their differences impact how they interact in society.

After training in Tacoma with Another Door to Learning, seven years ago Pongrey opened an office for them in Port Townsend. When the Tacoma home office folded, she started her own private practice, called Sisiutl, named after a mythical beast that transforms people's greatest challenges into their greatest gifts. She provides assessment, instruction, workshops, training and consultation to clients of all ages as well as parents and teachers.

Sequim office
After working with Dr. Al Phillips' patients in Sequim, she recognized that having a Sequim office might be helpful to Clallam County clients. She now works three Tuesdays per month in Phillips' Sequim office in the Blue Mountain Professional building on Old Olympic Highway.

Pongrey works with private pay clients, often referred by teachers and therapists, as well as those referred by the state Department of Vocational Rehabilitation.

"She's a gifted teacher and a very non-critical person," said Phillips, a psychiatrist.

Phillips said he has several patients who had a terrible time in school and were convinced that they were not bright and not able to learn.

"She has been able to talk with them, hear information that enables her to develop an approach that they can use for learning," he said, mentioning a student struggling to get through junior high school, who after 10 weeks with Pongrey, was able to work at college level.

"He gained the confidence," said Phillips, stressing that besides learning, the attitude changes are all-important, "to believe he can learn and tackle anything life presents...If teachers could approach teaching in a similar way, we'd have a great deal of improvement in the rate of learning and pleasure in living."

It goes beyond school. Sixty-two percent of students with learning disabilities were unemployed one year after graduation and 31 percent will be arrested within five years out of high school.

"It could be a lot more fun at school for a lot more people if more teachers understood (these assessments and specialized study tools)," said Pongrey. "Even within large categories like dyslexia, each person is different. That's what makes direct instruction so important," she added.

Ary's Letter to the Sequim Gazette

Sequim Gazette,

I am Ary, from "Ary's Story" in the article printed last week on learning differences. I am writing to tell you about how great dyslexics are. These people are good at learning other things besides school. Most of these people had a hard time with school but turned out to be famous dyslexics. Bill Cosby, John F. Kennedy, Sylvester Stallone, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Cher, Thomas Edison, Mozart, Tom Cruise, Robin Williams, Nolan Ryan, Abraham Lincoln, Henry Ford, Whoopie Goldberg, and Dustin Hoffman. I think this list is cool, because I am a dyslexic.

Ary Webb
Age 12
Sequim

To Label or Not? The Learning Assessment

Understandably, many parents are reluctant to have their children identified with a learning disability label. Concerns range from the possibility of stigma, shame, or embarrassment, to not wanting the child to use their learning difference as an excuse not to work hard or achieve to their potential. While no child’s or adult’s unique potential can be encompassed within a learning label, naming a learning difference can be useful when the label leads to increased self-awareness, understanding, appropriate instruction and accommodations.

More than one model may be helpful in describing how a child functions. Since learning differences can affect a wide range of life-skills, understanding why a unique, wonderful, intelligent, and gifted child cannot achieve up to expectations in certain areas, is very healing both for the child and the family. Instead of the child collecting labels of “lazy,” “stupid,” or “space cadet” one can gain an understanding of learning strengths, what gets in the way of those strengths and how to use strengths to meet challenges. Labels describing a person's experience then become a tool for building confidence.

Assessments are tools for self-understanding, healing and empowerment---Mel Levine, M.D. uses the term, "demystification" to describe how a learning assessment works. By carefully observing at how an individual processes different types of information and approaches different tasks, a picture of how different areas are developing emerges. From this individual learning profile, appropriate direct instruction and accommodations can be developed.

Carefully designed, individual direct instruction builds more efficient neural pathways and connections as well as builds specific skills. Individuals try new methods to approach difficult tasks, and in the process, personalize strategies that work for them. Additionally, Instruction in how and when to use appropriate accommodations and assistive technologies builds independence and success.

Dyslexia and High School

Whew! Halfway through the fifty minute class and already, I could see the difficulty of really understanding what having "severe dyslexia" means for a student in our educational system. See Dyslexia and High School, Part One

Being inside a learning difference or disability can feel so invisible. Imagine that you have to go through your day walking across a tightrope. Imagine that no one, including yourself, can see that you are always walking on a tightrope. So everyone treats you as if you can walk without any special considerations. You keep trying to keep up, and can't figure out how everyone else seems to zoom ahead of you all the time. Teachers tell you to "try harder!" and then assign extra laps for you as an "incentive" when you are too slow! You get so tired, when others seem to expend any effort...

Seemingly "simple" tasks, like copying a definition from the board, or writing down a question dictated by the teacher, become Herculean challenges!

Back to the class - - - I sit in the back of the literature class and note the remaining activities and the tasks that the teacher assigns. The student I am shadowing has a very high IQ, most likely one of the highest in the class. Yet, having a dyslexic learning profile affects his ability to use language efficiently. Everything language computes slower. Reading and writing are labored, inaccurate and so slow that he frequently loses his train of thought. Seemingly "simple" tasks, like copying a definition from the board, or writing down a question dictated by the teacher, become Herculean challenges!

Fourth Task---
Read "To Kill A Mockingbird silently for 15 minutes.
This student has documented difficulty reading!

From my work with this student, I know that this is a waste of time. He will have to go home and listen to an audio tape, or use reading software on his computer at home so that he can read with audio and visual support. Probably, his parents will read the book aloud to him. In class, he sits with his book open, appearing to read, yet I know that this is difficult and inaccurate at best.

Dyslexia used to be known at "word-blindness" which is not completely accurate, but might be a helpful concept when thinking about assigning reading to students who have trouble reading print. You wouldn't ask a blind student to sit and read a book for fifteen minutes! You would provide a different format for the book - audio or braille.

Alternate ideas:
The teacher, knowing that the class is behind on their reading, and nearing the end of school, is trying to be helpful. Interestingly, quite a few students don't pick up their books, but sit doing other things for fifteen minutes. I suspect many others in the class would benefit from using various types of software support to "read" the text.

I note that many students have iPods and cell phones. My guess is that because this class is the "rowdy" class, many of the students may not read easily. Perhaps the text could be accessible in various formats so that students could pick how they "read" best. Some might like to listen to a recorded book, usually read by an actor, in mp3 format on the iPods. Some might like to read along with audio and visual support, for instance using WYNN Reader. Of course, some like reading books the traditional way!

Fifth Task---
Listen and write four dictated questions on a piece of notebook paper.
Too much writing, too fast, with difficulty trying to spell words correctly.

Again, back again to the language processing difficulties. Listening requires processing the meaning and being able to focus on what is important---quickly and automatically. Think of how quickly and accurately you process information when learning a second language.

Writing down a dictated sentence requires:
-translating what comes in your ears into printed shapes that make letters
-putting the right letters together to spell words
-funneling the correct information through the end of your pencil.

This is easy if all systems are go! You need:
-an accurate memory for letters and for spelling words
-efficient language processing to sort all the information in your head
-an accurate, automatic fine-motor memory for forming letters and words
-motor-planning skills
-accurately "seeing" and being able to read your writing to edit spelling

Alternate ideas:
Because listening and writing are not accurate and automatic for many students who have dyslexia, the seemingly "simple" task of copying dictated questions is NOT EASY. Processing difficulties could be bypassed by using the traditional format of handing out a paper with the questions printed on it.

Or, more interestingly, the teacher could post the questions on a classroom blog or website for students to access in the class or in the library or the cafe or when at home! Even more engaging, would be to text message the questions to the student's cell phones. Students could text-message the answers back to the teachers e-mail using the free software Jott? Cool? Even cooler is the word prediction support on cell phones, which aids spelling and writing!

Sixth Task---
Listen to class discussion, then handwrite the answers to the dictated questions!
Again, the information is presented in one format---through talking. The student must listen for the main ideas while trying to write down the correct answers--all quickly in a classroom full of distractions.

Okay. The teacher is asking good questions about the story. He has the students write the questions with the answers from the discussion in preparation for a test next week. Many students seem engaged by the "overarching" questions of race and justice in the story.

Alternate ideas:
All of this information could be posted on a blog or webpage so that the material is already written, and available for text-to-speech support. Expanding from the paper-pencil modalities, the teacher could have the students view a movie made from the book. Students could write a play and perform the important events from the book, and/or write a rap about the story. In other words, expand on multiple intelligences using multi-sensory inputs.

By adding free software programs, like Microsoft Reader, or CLick,Speak, a text-to-speech reader for Firefox, Google Docs with Google Docs spell check installed, Jott and ScanR for cell phones, mp3 recordings for iPods, as well as more complex programs, such as WYNN Wizard for more study supports, the classroom becomes more accessible and engaging for all students. Integrating options into the classroom for all students allows all students choices to access information in the way that works best for them. No student had to sit and "pretend" to read.

Live with Francinne Lawrence!

Francinne Lawrence, MRE, MSW, LICSW is a well–seasoned professional with 25 years experience working with non–profit organizations serving persons with mental illness and their families. While Francinne has worked with charitable agencies and faith–based initiatives on the national, state, and local levels, her involvement with Attention Deficit Disorder Resources is especially gratifying because it allows her to combine her professional work with her personal experiences.

As a parent and former spouse to persons with ADHD, Francinne knows first hand, the challenges that face not only the individual with the diagnosis, but their loved ones. Francinne is an Alumnus of The University of Maryland Graduate School of Social Work and The Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary at Wake Forest, N.C. Francinne has employed her skills as an adjunct professor at Louisiana State University Graduate School of Social Work where she taught non–profit management and group facilitation. An advocate by nature, Francinne has enjoyed her involvement with Federal and State advocacy campaigns affecting mental health systems reform.

Francinne happily resides with her husband in Maple Valley, WA. She is the mother of three spirited and diverse young women who are in college preparing for their own careers. Francinne is an avid swimmer and lover of nature. She enjoys getting together with her daughters for adventures in the wild outdoors and long slow walks with her aged Australian Shepherd.

Cyd Imel, Executive Director of the LDA of WA

Cyd Imel is the Executive Director of the LDA of Washington. She brings with her experience with ADAWashington issues in the learning disabled community, both as a disabled person and a professional. She has authored three nationally recognized curriculums on social skills development for LD/ADHD adolescent and adults. Cyd has provided training nationally and internationally for 14 years in this field. She works with employers and employees dealing on workplace accommodations.

As an adolescent with an undiagnosed learning disability and attention deficit disorder, Cyd spent time in trouble with school and the law. "It was better to be bad than stupid. This is an uncomfortable world to be in when you have a learning disability and/or attention deficit disorder. It was better for me to get in trouble with my teachers and the law than it was to appear stupid to my peers." Diagnosed at age 35 as dyslexic and having attention deficit disorder, Cyd has successfully completed her education process and is a Certified Criminal Justice Specialist and Registered Counselor. She has worked for the Learning Disabilities Association of since 1987.

Press Release

Strategies for Success: Reaching All Students

STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS: REACHING ALL STUDENTS

Want to know what do to with your hardest to reach students?

Find out what is getting in the way of reading success!

Improve your assessment strategies!

Know how to target your instruction and add to your tools to reach your struggling students!

Webinar Workshops: Tuesdays 4 - 7 PM PST $180
You will need computer with internet access!

May 20: Performance Clues: Identifying Learning Differences
May 27: Reading/Writing I: Reading Components—Build Fluency
June 3: Reading/Writing II: Building Grammar for Comprehension

Nine OESD Clock Hours Pending for webinar format
Please note with registration if required!
School PO VISA Checks accepted
Register early — Class size limited!

$180 for Nine Hours of Course and Materials:
Fees include workshop materials
Upon receipt of payment packet of materials is mailed to you!
Register early to allow for mailing time.

In this interactive 9-hour training you will:

• Identify markers of ADHD, dyslexia & motor and visual spatial planning problems
• Increase understanding of the neurological processes of learning
• Increase understanding of how learning differences affect classroom performance
• Use “learning layers” model to assess student areas of challenges & strengths
• Rehearse multi-sensory instructional methods that build fluency & comprehension
• Rehearse strategies to increase reading, writing, spelling, and memory performance
• Combine effective, fun instructional strategies to meet needs of different learners
• Reach more students by creating successful learning environments
• Integrate research based strategies into instruction—at home and school!

May 20 Tuesday 4-7 pm PST
Performance Clues: Identifying Learning Differences
Experience learning differences in this interactive, informative workshop.
Learn how dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia are related. Find out how motor or visual spatial delays affect learning and written performance. Parents: Understand how to observe and to support your child’s learning efforts. Teachers: Learn to recognize affected learning layers from student performance so you can differentiate instruction effectively. Choose

instructional routes based on assessment observation so your student moves from success to
success! Rehearse picture notes to build memory for tests, vocabulary & comprehension.

May 27 Tuesday 4-7 pm PST
Reading/Writing I: Reading Components—Build Fluency

The second evening adds to the first. Learn to spot the five necessary components
of reading from your student performance. Match instructional strategies to build reading
components. Learn to make letters stay on the page with no reversals. Have fun practicing hand's-on multi-sensory methods that dramatically improve spelling and reading fluency!

June Tuesday 4-7 pm PST
Reading/Writing II: Building Grammar for Comprehension

The third evening builds on information and your questions from previous two sessions. Practice atypical teaching strategies that are keys to improving reading comprehension and written composition. Rehearse questioning strategies that build cognition across the curriculum. Match learning layers to various instructional needs and plug in your new strategies for your students!

For more information reach Melinda at 360-379-1223

Strategies for Success—Participant Responses:
Strengths of this workshop—

• “Tools presented/knowledge of instructor –”
• “Melinda’s knowledge & experience with real people”
• “Melinda is strongly devoted to all learners succeeding and her strategies are specific, practical, effective.”
• “Melinda’s enthusiasm and examples of success – “
• “I’m very excited to try the things that we have learned.”
• “Engaging, interesting, flexible, relevant information.” “Range of applicability”
• “Insight to how people learn —examples of ways to help.”
• “Found that we got right into issues related to the students and tools to use.
• * Excellent! In such a short time I was hoping to come away with activities to try...Definitely met my expectations.”
• “Great strategies to use immediately”
• “Lots of refreshing and useful info we don’t get in
• “Great material—moved fast—kept interesting —interaction—questions—group participation.”
• “Really helped me to understand student’s difficulties in regard to their learning.”
• “ Very helpful…”

MAY 2008 Online Webinar Workshops
Register Early! Materials will be mailed to you upon receipt of payment

For more information reach Melinda at 360-379-1223

• Make registration checks payable to SISIUTL
  Mail registration fee to:
  SISIUTL Center for Learning
  230 Taylor Street Suite C
  Port Townsend, WA 98368
  
  
• Credit Cards Accepted - Call 360.379.1223 or email mpongrey@gmail.com
• Please note if you require OESD Clock Hours for class
• Include your e-mail address: class packets e-mailed before each class.
  
• Include your correct street mailing address - packet of materials will be mailed upon receipt of payment

WHAT IS LEARNING ANYWAY?

Why do physical activities affect reading, writing or attention?

The June 2003 Volume 24, Number 6 issue of Discover magazine includes an interesting article outlining neuroscientist Paul Back-y-Rita’s current research into the plasticity of our senses. His thesis is that our brain is so adaptable that any of the five senses can be rewired. By placing a copper electrode on a subject’s tongue, and sending electrical information in place of visual information, blindfolded subjects can catch balls or pick up objects 9 out of 10 times! Sensory information on the tongue is used by the brain to “see.”

Young children explore the world by manipulating objects and taste-testing them. But if you pick up a piece of paper and put it in your mouth, you can’t get much sensory information from the print. Dyslexics tend to have difficulty translating 3-D objects to 2-D representations or visa-versa. By making tactile memories from feeling 3-D alphabet letters, dyslexic learners create more accurate visual memories for letters and words! Reading and writing fatigue decrease, decoding and fluency increase!

Sandy Roberts teaches kids to juggle, beginning with scarves, using lots of bilateral movements to increase eye-hand coordination. Fifth-grade teacher, Sara Murto, asked for her help when she found she had a classroom full of kinesthetic learners. Sandy helped Sara for a year, integrating juggling activities into the weekly classroom routine. The students presented a culminating performance with all sorts of juggling and the teachers presented data that showed an above-average improvement in reading and writing scores for the year. Typically, students who began the year behind grade level, ended the year above grade level.

Because we use the same neurons to throw and catch balls that we use to write letters, all sorts of directed physical activities enhance learning processes! Dr. Frank Belgau set out to find activities that produce the most benefits for learning processes. Through careful observation, he developed the Belgau Balance Board and the Learning Breakthrough Program, which take advantage of the integration and fine-tuning of the vestibular or balance system.

The Learning Breakthrough Activity program that Dr. Belgau developed over many years is used successfully in schools and private programs. The program can significantly increase the test scores in any school and does not only improve scores of children with difficulties, but also improves the scores of normal and gifted students. The program’s greatest value is that it develops intelligence and improves lives. Many years of careful observations made it possible to select the most productive and powerful activities and materials for the Learning Breakthrough Activity program.

“Dr. Frank Belgau’s Learning Breakthrough Program was an integral part of a most successful three year education pilot study in Seattle. The results of the program demonstrate its value.

• Student IQ scores increased an average of 24 points
• Academic scores increased an average of four grade levels in spelling and reading
• Behaviors negative to learning were almost totally eliminated
• All children in the study knew that now they had the skills to learn and were eager to do their school tasks.”

---Dr. Jerald C. Winger, Cognitive Rehabilitation Specialist, Seattle School District

On the Fast Track; Innovative Ways to Overcome Reading Disability, cont:

" A lot of people said you need to practice reading and you'll figure it out," Short said. "It didn't work."

Short, who grew up in Port Townsend, has one of the most severe forms of dyslexia.

Adept at finding ways of coping with life without being able to read, he is now learning ways around the roadblocks that prevented him from learning in the first place.

"I was stuck until I came here, " Short said. "It made me realize what to do."

Here is the second floor in the American Bank Building in downtown Port Townsend where Melinda Pongrey moved the SISIUTL Center for Learning from its uptown home last year.

Learning Disabilities

For the past three months, Short has been meeting with Pongrey, who specializes in assessing and helping people with learning disabilities.

After only 30 hours of work, Short is now reading at the seventh-to-eighth-grade level where he was able to read at only the second-grade mark before, Pongrey said.

"Melinda showed me some paths to take," Short said.

"I'm not fluent, but I read a whole lot better. It's really paying off."

It was his employer, Lee Short, who set Anthony on the road to getting help. A distant relative, he knew Anthony could not read when he was hired to work at his business, Lee's Truck Repair on Center Road in Chimacum.

Anthony had the skills, having grown up near Four Corners, where he rescued power weed trimmers from the nearby junkyard.

"I'd take them apart and repair anything I could get my hands on," Anthony said.

But at school, his inability to put letters together into words put him in the special education program at Chimacum schools, where he spent 13 years before graduating in 2002.

Repeatedly told he needed to try harder, he spent several hours after school every day when he was in junior high, working with his grandfather on a phonics program.

That proved fruitless as well as frustrating, he said. But he didn't say no when his employer suggested he try again.

"I'm game. I"ll try anything," Anthony said.

Customer's Suggestion

A customer at the shop suggested contacting Pongrey, who set up an assessment for Anthony in January.

Lee and Bonnie Short paid for the first set of sessions, Anthony said; he's now paying for them himself.

In addition to instruction, Pongrey also introduced Anthony to balance activities developed by Dr. Frank Belgau of Port Angeles, that help people with visual processing, reading, learning efficiency and academic as well as physical performance.

They include balancing on a balance board while tossing bean bags in the air and tracking a pendulum ball with his eyes.

Pongrey has also introduced a program of balance activities, called Balametrics, into Port Townsend and Quilcene school curriculum's.

"It builds neural networks, builds several areas of the brain, including the cerebellum," Pongrey said.

"The cerebellum coordinates motor movements and recently has been shown to effect automatic language responses. With the development of the cerebellum, research shows that the symptoms of dyslexia decrease."

Pongrey also recommended an eye exam.

Dr. Neil Cays, a Sequim optometrist told Anthony that he had a lazy eye, something that is not uncommon with people with dyslexia, Pongrey said.

Now, he has glasses that help his eyes work more efficiently together, she said.

With his new skills, Short, who could only read a little before, is starting to read recipes and menus.

He can also write in cursive, something he's never done before---he wrote "Today is my 21st birthday," on the board last Thursday.

He's still not great at spelling --his brain transposes letters ---but dictates stories about his life to Pongrey that he can read to others.

He's also reading a book on his own.

His favorite is Brilliant Idiot, a biography by Abraham Schmitt, a man who coped with dyslexia in a less-tolerant time--his teachers beat him--but who persevered.

"He got a Ph.D.," Anthony noted.

Anthony also has ambitions--to go to diesel mechanic school and specialize in repairing diesel engines.

It's a goal that up until now has been thwarted by his inability to read the manuals, which use technical terms the average person would have trouble with.

To help, Pongrey has Anthony draw pictures of engine parts and practice matching them with word cards.

"It's been an education for me, too, " Pongrey said.

Determined to continue

Reading is still a lot of work for Anthony, and is easier some days than others, he said. But he keeps on going, determined not to let anything block his way.

"I want to be able to read everything," he said.

"I want to be able to read shop manuals, bank statements, whatever I come across."

"That's what 's keeping me motivated---to be able to read whatever I come across in everyday life."

For more information on learning disabilities and upcoming lectures, workshops and conferences in the Puget Sound area, contact Pongrey at SISIUTL Center for Learning, 360-379-1223.

The International Dyslexia Association website is www.interdys.org, or check out links on the SISIUTL website, www.welovelearning.com.

EDUCATIONAL THERAPY

Educational Therapy offers children and adults with learning challenges and/or learning disabilities a wide range of intensive, individualized interventions designed to remediate learning problems.

Combining a knowledge of how learning takes place in the brain with knowledge of specialized teaching methods, Educational Therapy demystifies learning problems.

Clients increase awareness of their learning strengths in order to use those strengths to best advantage overcoming or compensating for areas of weakness.

Educational Therapy empowers children and adults with learning challenges to learn and to develop optimally. The mission of SISIUTL is to empower you to —

Learn in a way that works for you!

LIVE with Domenic Greco, Ph.D.

i-Radio Show: Friday February 8, 9:00am (PST). You can listen to the live show or access the podcast on this blog.



Domenic Greco, Ph.D., CEO Smart Brain Games, has been in the business of delivering Biofeedback services, both peripheral and EEG NeuroTherapy since 1982. He has successfully developed and operated treatment centers specializing in Biofeedback for stress related disorders, and EEG NeuroTherapy for ADHD on both the East and West coasts. Dr. Greco is an innovator in the ADHD field and has operated some of the largest ADHD, EEG NeuroTherapy centers in the country. He has lectured nationally and appeared before NIMH as an expert in EEG NeuroTherapy

Article: ADHD patients play video games as part of treatment (USA TODAY)
Article: Playstation Neurofeedback Hybrid for ADHD Treatment
Mark Dombeck (Mentalhelp.net)


In 2007, Smart Brain Games was awarded the First Annual National Center for Technology Innovation (NCTI) Peer Awards for Brightest Idea.

The National Center for Technology Innovation (NCTI), funded by the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), advances learning opportunities for individuals with disabilities by fostering technology innovation. They seek to broaden and enrich the field by providing resources and promoting partnerships for the development of tools and applications by developers, manufacturers, producers, publishers and researchers.

Dyslexia-Overcoming day-to-day challenge of living with learning disability

Wednesday Jan 12, 2000
By Janet Huck
Leader Staff Writer

Shelley Wolff, a single mother of two young boys, thought the only job she would be able to get was hanging clothes at a department store. "I wanted more, but I couldn't see how I could get a better job because I could barely write, and working a cash register was out of the question," she said.

But the 25-year-old woman learned to overcome her learning disabilities by working with Port Townsend's Melinda Pongrey, the owner of SISIUTL: New Paradigms in Learning. SISIUTL was names after a mythical beast which transforms people's greatest challenges into their greatest gifts.

Pongrey works with people from age 6 to 60 who have a range of learning differences, from dyslexia to spatial disorders. She provides assessments to establish learning profiles. Then she teaches one-on-one classes that show her clients new strategies to overcome difficulties.

"Just because we have learning difficulties doesn't mean we are dumb," said Shana Cannavaro. "We may be smarter, in fact."

Last Saturday, four of Pongrey's clients gave an informal talk about their achievements after working with Pongrey. The Upstage Restaurant had a full house.

"Many people who don't experience learning disabilities firsthand don't realize the problems exist," Pongrey told the crowd. "But the personal experiences of these four people can open up the world of learning disabilities and give us a peek into the myriad of daily challenges faced by people all around us."

The four speakers said they all recognized their challenges early in life, but they were rarely given help to overcome their disabilities. Wollf said she was having trouble in the second or third grade with reading because the letters were switching back and forth. "I told my teacher at the time, and she told me to flip them the right way," remembered Wolff. "I didn't even question her, but I had no clue what to do. I wished the world could read backwards like me, so it would be easier for me."

Melodie Haugen said she couldn't get the letters to stay still on the page in elementary school. But she was too embarrassed to tell anyone. Cannavaro said she was constantly in tears in fourth grade because no matter how many times someone would explain something, she couldn't grasp it.

And John Vass told how his third-grade teacher took away all his school books for the rest of the year because be couldn't do the work. "It was only January," he said. The teacher would taunt him in front of the other students, giving what, Vass thought, was covert approval for the kids to tease him. "I work every day on trying to forgive her, but sometimes I hope she ended up in teacher's hell," he confessed.

When the schools did try to help, they didn't always help the students overcome the problems. Wollf was in 10th grade when the school finally tested her for dyslexia. "But instead of teaching me how to get beyond my problem, they showed me how to get away with it," she said. "If I couldn't do something, then (instructions) were written to get me out of it."

After graduating from high school, the four found they were still failing. Haugen wanted a better career. When she started at the Port Townsend School of Massage, she found she couldn't pass the required chemistry course. "I was crushed," she said. 'I really wanted to do good."

Instead of giving up, she ended up at SISIUTL. Vass, too, found that SISIUTL was the first thing that helped. "When I found Melinda, it was life-changing moment No. 18," joked Vass.

The four clients had to work hard to learn "coping" skills. If they lost track of the math problems or stories they were reading, they learned to use cues to get them back on track. Wollf used index cards to write detailed notes and pictures to help her remember where she was. She also began using a pink overlay sheet that helps the letters and words jump out oat her instead of dancing all over the page.

Pongrey's instructions worked for these four clients. Wollf, who used to write backwards, found she couldn't do it any more. When she wanted to get her food handlers permit, she worked six months on learning the necessary skills for the test. The test was supposed to take 30 minutes. "I did it in 10 minutes and only got two wrong," said Wollf, who now wants to enroll in community college to get her associate arts degree.

Haugen can read with the letters staying still. "They don't swim around anymore," she said. She is getting A's and B's at the massage school instead of F's. "I keep plugging away," she said proudly.

Cannavaro plans to finish her program at Peninsula College. And Vass will take the last of his GED tests in the next two weeks.

"Nobody else should have to go through what we did," said Vass. "I hope these kind of problems are spotted early, so the kids get the help they deserve. They shouldn't fall through the cracks. I hope they throw out their arms like I did, so they won't fall through the cracks. We aren't the victims; we are the survivors."