5 IEP Myths Parents Should Stop Believing

If your child is struggling in school, it can be difficult to know what kind of help they actually need. Is it tutoring? Reading support? An evaluation? Help with attention or memory? Or is there something deeper affecting the way they process and learn information? At Keeping Pace Learning Center & Reading Clinic, we work with students who are struggling with reading, processing, attention, memory, executive function, and other learning challenges. Our approach goes beyond simply helping a student complete schoolwork. We use cognitive and academic assessments to better understand why a student is struggling and then create individualized, one-on-one intervention based on their specific needs. We receive many questions from parents before they get started. Here are some of the questions we hear most often: What does Keeping Pace do? Keeping Pace specializes in individualized programs for children with processing disorders and other learning difficulties, including dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, ADHD and executive-function challenges, auditory and sensory processing difficulties, memory issues, and receptive or expressive language challenges. Our first step is understanding how your child learns. Through a comprehensive cognitive and academic assessment, we look at your child's strengths, weaknesses, and underlying skills. This helps us determine which areas are getting in the way of efficient learning and which of our intervention methods are likely to be most beneficial. From there, students work one-on-one with a trainer in an individualized program designed around their needs. Our goal isn't simply to make schoolwork easier for the moment. We want to strengthen the underlying skills that allow students to become more confident, capable, and independent learners. Is Keeping Pace a tutoring center? Not exactly. While we can provide assistance with homework when appropriate, homework help is not our primary focus. Our primary service is one-on-one intervention through specialized programs. Our programs are cognitive-based, with academic skills incorporated into the intervention. That distinction is important. Traditional tutoring often focuses on the academic content a student is currently struggling with. At Keeping Pace, we also look at the underlying processing and cognitive skills that may be making that academic work difficult in the first place. For some students, strengthening skills such as attention, memory, processing speed, auditory processing, phonemic awareness, visual processing, sequencing, or executive function can make learning more efficient. What if my child is bright but still struggling? A child does not have to lack ability to have difficulty learning.In fact, many of the students we see are bright, capable children who are working much harder than they should have to in order to keep up. A student may understand a concept when it is explained one-on-one but struggle to remember it later. They may know how to read certain words but have difficulty reading fluently. They may understand what they hear but struggle to follow multi-step directions. They may work for hours on homework that seems like it should take much less time. These patterns can sometimes point to underlying processing, attention, memory, or executive-function difficulties. The important question isn't simply whether a child can learn. It's whether they have the underlying skills they need to learn efficiently and independently. How do you know which program my child needs? Every student is different, which is why we don't take a one-size-fits-all approach. We begin with cognitive and academic assessment to get a more complete picture of your child's learning profile. We look at both academic skills and the underlying cognitive and processing skills that support learning. The results help us identify your child's strengths and areas of weakness and determine where intervention should begin. The idea is to identify the level at which a student can work successfully while also addressing underlying weaknesses that may be holding them back. How many days or hours per week will my child need? The recommended schedule depends on what we learn from your child's assessment and what their individual needs are. In general, we typically recommend 3-4.5 hours per week, usually divided into two or three 90-minute sessions. Because every student is different, the appropriate schedule may vary. Our goal is to provide enough consistent intervention to support meaningful progress without giving a student more than they can effectively handle. Who will work with my child? Your student will be assigned a personal trainer who will work with them each week. One-on-one instruction allows the trainer to adjust the pace, activities, and level of instruction specifically for your child. Students receive immediate feedback and can move forward when they are ready, rather than having to keep up with a group or classroom pace. Just as importantly, the consistent relationship between a student and their trainer can help children feel comfortable, understood, and successful as they work through areas that may have been frustrating for them in the past. How does scheduling work? Because your child works one-on-one with their personal trainer, scheduling can be flexible. Days and times are arranged based on your family's availability and the trainer's schedule. If you need to reschedule a session or arrange a makeup, those details can be coordinated directly with your child's trainer. We understand that families have busy schedules, and we do our best to accommodate them whenever possible. Do you offer homework help? We can help with homework, but homework is not the main purpose of our program. If a student needs help understanding an assignment or completing schoolwork, that can be incorporated when appropriate. However, our primary goal is to identify and address the skills that are making learning difficult. In other words, we're not just asking, "How can we help your child finish this assignment?" We're also asking, "Why is this assignment difficult for your child in the first place, and what skills can we strengthen to make learning easier?" That distinction is at the heart of the Keeping Pace approach. Do you work with students with dyslexia? Yes. Dyslexia is one of the learning difficulties we commonly support. Our approach can include structured reading intervention as well as work on underlying processing and cognitive skills. Keeping Pace currently offers programs including Foundations in Sound and Barton Reading Systems for students who need targeted reading support. Reading difficulties can look different from one child to another. Some students struggle with decoding, phonemic awareness, fluency, comprehension, or remembering what they have read. That's why assessment is an important part of determining where intervention should begin. Why isn't traditional tutoring always enough? This is one of the most important questions parents ask. For some students, traditional tutoring is exactly what they need. But when a child has an underlying processing or cognitive weakness, simply spending more time practicing the same academic skill may not address the reason they're struggling. At Keeping Pace, we look at the broader learning picture. Our Learning Continuum includes foundational skills such as sensory and motor development, processing and cognitive skills such as attention and memory, executive-function skills, and academic skills such as reading, writing, language, and math. The goal is to find the point where a student can benefit from intervention and build upward from there. Still Have Questions? We know that deciding what kind of support your child needs can feel overwhelming. You may know that something isn't quite right, but you may not know whether your child needs tutoring, an assessment, reading intervention, or something else entirely. That's where we can help. At Keeping Pace, we start by getting to know your child and understanding how they learn . From there, we can identify the areas that may be getting in the way and develop an individualized plan to help them move forward. If you're concerned about your child's learning, reading, attention, memory, or academic progress, we'd love to talk with you about your concerns and help you determine what the next step should be. Reach us at (866) 979-5706 or email anna@keepingpacelearningcenter.com.

The pattern almost every parent notices, what it actually means, and what helps. 

Weak underlying processing skills can cause even very bright students to have to work harder or longer than expected. These skills are not usually addressed at school, but they are essential to reading and learning. When a child is working harder than he/she should, it’s time to look at why and what can be done so that the child can become the most confident, efficient, and independent learner possible. An estimated 30% of students in school have some difficulty with auditory processing; 20% are dyslexic and 50% of those who are ADHD are said to have hidden auditory processing challenges. Students who struggle, including those diagnosed with specific learning disabilities, dyslexia, and ADHD, can strengthen these underlying processing skills. This requires specific therapeutic approaches. Intervention – Not Tutoring Traditional tutors and schools approach learning at a curriculum and content level. While this approach works for select students with above average processing skills, it does not solve the difficulties of the percentages mentioned above. Those students need an approach that strengthens the underlying skills that enable them to become comfortable, independent learners. When underlying processes are working together, students who have previously struggled can read and learn easily and efficiently. What makes a good reader? Strong readers don’t have to think about reading. They have good auditory and visual processing skills, and a memory system that supports decoding and reading. These foundational cognitive skills come naturally for good readers, however, poor readers must explicitly be taught these skills. Skills like auditory and visual processing, and working memory are not directly taught in classroom settings or traditional tutoring centers. However, these are the skills that SUPPORT a good reader. Without them, reading will always be a struggle. This is why intervention - not tutoring - is necessary to solve these processing inefficiencies and develop a strong reader. “They’ll catch up by 3rd grade” Myth Many parents are told not to worry about their child in Kinder, 1st, or 2nd who is struggling in reading. Maybe they are told their child is a “late bloomer.” However, by 3rd grade decoding skills are no longer taught in the classroom and many kids began to struggle in other topics due to their struggle with reading. Additionally, kids start comparing themselves and self-esteem plummets. Teachers may call it lack of focus or attention, when in reality, it’s frustration and fear. Students begin to dislike reading even more and the desire to read lessens. As a parent, if your gut says something is wrong, don’t wait. Seek early intervention K-2 and don’t rely on the school’s timeline.

Are you unhappy with your child’s IEP, but not sure what you can do to improve your child’s goals and progress?Or maybe you’re new to the IEP world and need some guidance on how to advocate for an IEP that serves your child and their educational needs. We want to make parents feel comfortable and confident in an IEP meeting and give them the knowledge needed to advocate appropriately. Below are 5 red flags to look out for in the IEP process and documentation that if addressed, can substantially benefit your child’s special education experience.

So far, we've discussed how visual and auditory processing difficulties can impact a child's life and education. How our brains interpret and perceive what we see and hear heavily impact how we can function in our daily lives let alone a classroom or academic setting. As we've noted already, difficulties with perceiving are characterized in numerous ways and not all children with a learning disability will experience the same struggles. Kinesthetic processing, while some may argue to be less critical to the academic experience, is actually crucial in a child's development, most specifically as it interacts with our visual and auditory systems. Without all three of these perceptual functions working together, a child cannot learn easily and effectively.

In the simplest terms, Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) is a difficulty in processing sound. Because we learn a great deal by listening to others, problems processing what we hear can have far-reaching and devastating effects. Here are some common auditory processing problems: Auditory Sequencing Some students cannot remember the order in which they hear information. Following verbal directions is often hard for them. They may also have trouble remembering a phone number that someone just told them, or the steps for completing an assignment or math computation. Auditory Discrimination or Sound Awareness To understand what others are saying, one must perceive the subtle differences among word sounds. Many words sound similar. Some examples are: “tab-tap,” “Paul-ball,” “are-our,” “half-have,” “ladder-latter,” and “pin-pen.” For some students, perceiving these subtle differences is hard. This can make learning phonics difficult. Many students with auditory discrimination problems alos mispronounce fairly common words. They don’t process all teh syllables they hear and, as a result, mispronounce them. For instance, “installation” may come out as “instigation.” Verbal Concepts Difficulty understanding abstract ideas can severely limit students’ understanding of what they hear. Some students tend to think concretely. They understand ideas they can see, hear or feel or ideas that have obvious application to daily life. They have trouble, though, making sense of abstract ideas. These students may do well on test questions about factual information, but have trouble with those requiring inferential reasoning or critical thinking. Auditory Memory Some students understand what they hear – they simply can’t remember it. Like visual emory, auditory memory can be short-term or long-term. Some students have poor short-term memory. A short-term memory stores information for a few moments only. For instance, when you hear a phone number, you need to remember it long enough to either write it or dial it. When someone calls out a word spelling, you need to retain it long enough to spell it yourself. Students with weak short-term memories find these routine tasks hard. These students often have trouble with long-term memory because the information doesn’t get registered to begin with. Other students may have good short-term memories, but have trouble storing information long-term. These students may do well on pop quizzes that measure how well one listens in class that day and do poorly on the same information that’s tested two weeks later. Processing Speed Some students understand what they hear if the information is presented at a pace they can keep up with. If they listen to too much information too quickly, however, they lose it. They cannot absorb, connect, and remember condensed information. They need time to process and review information, yet often don’t get to or take this time. Related Language Problems Auditory processing problems can lead to other language related problems. People who misperceive or forget what they hear often have trouble communicating with parents, teachers, friends, and neighbors. They may misinterpret a comment someone made and feel insulted or respond inappropriately. They may have trouble expressing themselves. These students might know the answer to an essay question, but cannot write it in complete, well-phrased and logically organized sentences. These students often say, “I know what I want to say; I just can’t say it,” or “You know what I mean.” They may have difficulty constructing sentences with proper syntax or word order. Their grammar may be incorrect in spite of teachers’ and parents’ patient instruction. Their vocabulary might be weak and they may have experienced delayed speech when they were just learning to walk. Because they miss so much of what they hear, some students with auditory processing problems have limited general knowledge. Their basic understanding of such topics as government, geography, human behavior and science is low. This makes learning new information in class difficult. They have nothing to connect this new information to. Tools: - Take your time. Be purposeful in taking longer pauses between words; make them do the same. - Add additional emphasis. Longer and louder. - Nod when you are done speaking. - Don’t ask, “Do you understand?” They think they do understand. Ask, “What are you going to do next?” - Be careful not to say, “You’re not listening.” - Use listening ears/puppy paws hand gestures for younger ones to draw attention and focus. - Be careful not to over praise. It interferes with processing and rhythm. Instead, compliment. “Did you notice how well you…” What do you do if you think your student does not listen and it interferes with learning and behavior? 1. Get a quality assessment to determine the strength of listening skills, auditory processing skills, auditory memory skills, and other components of listening that very smart kids can have weaknesses in and cause learning to be difficult. 2. See an audiologist to confirm that there is not a hearing loss at some particular frequency level; the hearing tests they do in the doctor’s offices and by the school nurse are not sufficient.

Visual Sequencing Some students have trouble perceiving and/or remembering the correct order in which they see something. For instance, a student learning to spell may write “kicthen” instead of “kitchen.” She remembers most of the letters in the word, but not the order of their arrangement. Another student may understand the teacher as she demonstrates the sequence for a long division problem, yet not remember this sequence long enough to do one independently. Other students may accurately perceive and remember the order of information they see, but at a slower pace than their classmates. They may work well at their own speed, yet make numerous careless errors when they feel rushed. Visual Discrimination and Pattern Recognition Some students have problems perceiving the distinguishing features between two words, shapes or other configurations that look similar. They may have trouble perceiving the differences between such words as “what-want,” “three-the re,” and “on-no.” Learning certain letters can present problems for these students. These letters, for example, look very similar - “b-d-p,” “m-n,” “w-v-y.” Some students have trouble recognizing the common visual patterns found on maps and graphs, such as key maps, the north-south-east-west directions and the configurations of specific countries. As a result, they study the map or graph by moving their eyes over them in a haphazard manner instead of in a planned sequence. They gain little information. Other students have problems recognizing math computations for what they are. In spite of previous exposure to the skill, they fail to recognize an arrangement of math numbers and signs as being a long division problem, so they don’t know how to divide the numbers. Or they fail to recognize another pattern as adding fractions with unlike denominators, even though they just completed ten of those problems for yesterday’s assignment. Visual Tracking To read fluently, students must learn to move their eyes from left to right and from top to bottom. For many math exercises, they must move their eyes from right to left and from top to bottom. Some students have difficulty tracking their work. Their eyes may skip around the page or miss an entire line of text. They might read the first two syllables of a word and miss half of the third syllable. They might skip the next step in a math computation because their eyes lose the visual sequence. Visual Detail Paying attention to such visual details as commas, apostrophes, positive and negative numbers, accent marks and word endings is difficult for some students with visual processing problems. Their eyes don’t seem to lock onto these small symbols that are often tucked between other letters, numbers, and signs. These students may be able to recite their capital and punctuation rules well, but forget to use them when writing. They might know how to solve an algebra problem, yet inadvertently use a positive sign instead of a negative one. Students who have difficulty processing visual details often lose points on tests and homework grades for what appear to be careless errors. These students may translate a sentence in a foreign language correctly, but lose five points because they didn't write the accent marks. On their research paper, they might get a B for their content grade and a D for writing mechanics, because they omitted commas, capitals, and word endings like “ing,” “es,” and “ed.” Visual Concepts Some students have trouble visualizing two and three-dimensional objects. They may understand a geometric theorem about congruent angles, but have difficulty mentally picturing this concept when asked to complete a proof. Students who have trouble picturing objects and angles most often rely solely on their memory of theorems, postulates, and rules to get through geometry. While it's entirely possible to pass geometry this way, it requires more work. Other students may be able to tell you how to get from Point A to Point B, but have difficulty drawing you a map with roads, landmarks, and distances in relative proportion. They can process verbal directions but not visual ones. Visual Memory Some students have trouble remembering certain types of information they see. They may be able to picture a person’s eye color and what they wore a month ago, but cannot picture the looks of words for a spelling test or word spellings when they write paragraphs and essays. This difficulty visualizing words interrupts their thought processes repeatedly because they must stop what they’re doing and spell. Some students cannot picture math facts. With enough practice, most students can mentally picture 7 x 9 = 63. They don’t have to think the fact – they simply recall what their minds see. Whenever they think or hear the fact 7 x 9, they also picture the answer 63. Other students can look at the fact, write it several times, but lose their mental image of it when they look up. They have poor short-term memory for visual symbols like numbers. These students often have trouble copying notes, math problems and sentences from the board. They look up at a math exercise, look down to copy it and forget what they just saw. This forces them to look from the board to the paper many times to copy one item. In spite of their efforts, they may still miscopy the information. Difficulties in visual processing effect they way children learn and perform basic academic skills. These difficulties make learning hard and only proper cognitive intervention can solve these struggles. If you've seen these struggles in your student, fill out an intake form on our website today, and stay tuned next week for ways auditory processing effects learning and how these difficulties manifest in daily life!

Characteristics of Students with Learning Disabilities While most everyone experiences minor learning problems from time to time, students with learning disabilities experience them much of the time, especially during their school years. Depending on how one defines a learning disability, which can vary from state to state, estimates of the prevalence of learning disorders range from 2-10%. About 5% of students in the United States public schools are certified as having a learning disorder. There are some problems students with learning disabilities experience. Because there’s a wide range of variation among this population, no one student may experience all of these difficulties all the time. He or she may experience any combination of them at different times. Difficulty learning basic reading, writing, spelling, math, and/or language skills despite average to superior intelligence Problems pronouncing words Difficulty gripping the pencil and writing neatly Difficulty generalizing information and transferring it from one situation to the next Inflexibility and rigidity Problems learning to tell time Problems managing time Trouble finishing homework and following directions Short attention span Confusion with left and right Clumsiness Impulsivity Distractibility Disorganization Social immaturity Over-reacting, heightened sensitivity Low frustration tolerance The federal government defines a specific learning disability as: …a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations. The term includes such conditions as perceptual handicaps, brian injury, minimal brian dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. The term does not include children who have learning problems which are primarily the result of visual, hearing or motor handicaps, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage (DOE, 1995). Part of this means that, in spite of their average to above average intelligence, students with learning disabilities aren’t learning at a rate that's suggested by their intellectual potential. There’s a significant discrepancy between their potential and their actual achievement. These learning problems aren’t due to such factors as a visual or hearing impairment, mental retardation, or emotional problems. For instance, let’s say a student has an intelligence quotient, or I.Q., of 100. Since this is in the average range of intelligence, we expect her to handle grade level work fairly well. What if she doesn’t, though? What if she’s in fifth grade and reading on a third grade level and spelling on a second grade level? If she doesn’t have visual or hearing impairment, or a severe emotion, psychological or environmental problem, why isn’t she performing grade level work? What’s the reason for this discrepancy between her ability and her actual achievement? While no one is completely sure of the exact causes of learning disabilities, we do know that students with learning disabilities have trouble in one or more of these areas – interpreting what they perceive, developing receptive and expressive language, remembering what they learn, and paying attention. Learning disabilities are often called perceptual disabilities. More specifically, a perceptual difficulty is a difficulty in processing what one sees, hears, and/or feels. A student with learning disabilities may have good eyesight, acute hearing, and good use of his muscles; however, his brain doesn’t efficiently process or interpret the information received from his senses. A learning disability can include memory problems. Some people accurately perceive and interpret what they see, hear, or feel, but they don’t remember it. Determining if a student has a memory or perceptual problem can be challenging. Students who don’t accurately perceive and interpret information will obviously have problems remembering it. The information doesn’t make sense to begin with. Some students, however, accurately perceive the information. They might understand most everything their teachers tell them, but they can’t remember it. Memory problems are often specific. Some students can’t easily remember the letters and numbers they read and write, but can easily remember a room design, a person’s eye color, or a location on a map. Learning disabilities range in severity. Some students have mild disabilities where their ability to learn is only slightly impaired. Others have moderate to severe disabilities. These students, without proper treatment and support, can experience significant learning handicaps. We perceive, interpret, and remember information through our five senses – sight, hearing, touch/movement, taste, and smell. The three senses that have the greatest impact on school success are sight, hearing, and touch/movement. Our sight is our visual sense, hearing is our auditory sense, and touch and movement are our kinesthetic sense. To better understand how learning disabilities can interfere with learning, over the next few weeks, we will take a closer look at the problems some students have in perceiving, interpreting, and/or remembering information from their visual, auditory, and kinesthetic modalities, and how these problems practically impact learning.

J ust like physical exercise, your mind needs some exercise too. Playing sudoku actually exercises your brain extensively. This is why we incorporate these number puzzles into our brain intervention training at Keeping Pace! Sudoku is a logic puzzle played on a 9×9 grid where the goal is to fill in the missing numbers so that each row, each column, and each 3×3 box contains the numbers 1 through 9 exactly once. The puzzle starts with some numbers already filled in, and players use reasoning and logic, rather than guessing, to determine where the remaining numbers belong.