A Letter to a Hesitant Parent

December 30, 2025
Dear Hesitant Parent,  

You asked me to help explain why one should consider Keeping Pace Learning Center over the various other options available. I am going to give you some background information and then on the last pages tell you “why” Keeping Pace Learning Center is the best fit for Adam.

Since you were able to watch the whole assessment, you understand that when learning, behaving and/or paying attention is difficult there is at least one underlying developmental system that has not matured or integrated enough for things to be easier. For optimal learning, these many systems must work together automatically. Weakness in any of these systems cause a learner to have to expand a great deal of energy on forcing the eyes to work the way they should, the ears to take in information as they should and body to maintain its posture and attention effortlessly. They then have no reserves for the active participation that is necessary to learn and behave. The kids with these weakness just wear out, shut down or misbehave.  



 
The three developmental systems that are the foundation for learning and behaving are: 

Visual system – This includes what the eyes do to see and the part of the brain that processes visual information that has been “seen.” 
Auditory system – this system includes what the ear receives as well as the parts of the brain that process this auditory information. 
Vestibular system - is the precise internal guidance system of the body for maintaining a sense of balance and organization of the body. 

Here are some basics about these systems that will be helpful to understand prior to making a final decision as to when and where to start interventions and when or where to consider medication. 

All three systems are designed to mature together and work together. When one of the systems is not working correctly, maturity and development of the other systems can be negatively impacted. In a great majority of kids, if two systems are intact and working correctly it allows for the third system to be “pulled along” and maturity of the third system can happen in time. The kid really does mature. This has not been the case with Adam and left alone, these systems will stay delayed and un-integrated.  

 


Who primarily “treats” these difficulties?  

Most Occupational Therapists ( OT’s) that work in schools focus only on getting a child to write something that is read-able and not on the vestibular system. Most occupational therapist that work with children through the medical model work on children until age 3 or 4 and really just work on the things that a child must do to “survive in the world” – such as button, zip, tie shoes, use a fork and knife. They are not afforded the luxuries of fixing the system.  

Most Speech and Language Pathologist (SLP’s) work on the child’s ability to say the words they need to say (articulation). They sometimes work in language processing – how to talk in complete sentences using the correct grammar. School based SLP’s do not work on auditory processing. Some even believe that there is not much you can do if your child does not process information well. They consider it a permanent learning disability with no possible means of remediation. 

Most Developmental Optometrists work on ways to get a child’s eyes to track (saccadic movement), follow (smooth pursuit) and process near and far information. It is difficult to find a developmental optometrist and the interventions normal require multiple days per week.  

Most “tutoring” centers focus only on academic skills such as reading, writing and spelling and math without regard to the developmental systems that are not yet in place. They just provide a different curriculum and more targeted practice of the skills the students should have received at school if the child was ready to learn it when it was presented. Since Adam is just at the beginning of his academics, you have yet to see the difficulties that will arise if the appropriate intervention is not put in place.  



 
About Adam:

Adam has some significant difficulties in each of these three systems. His visual system does not function efficiently, so he has to work extra hard to get correct visual information. His auditory system does not take in correct information, and he has to work extra hard to process. Listening is just HARD work for him.   

His vestibular system is so unregulated thus he has to move, look all over the place, squirm, flap his hands and lick his lips and wipe his face just to stay in his body to be present and gather information to feel like he has some sense of control and safety. He at times can’t even participate unless he is fidgeting with something. When he just can’t do it anymore, he shuts down, melts down, refuses to do something, strikes out in frustration or has to take a nap. 

We find that if you were to watch a student (like Adam) they might look like a student whose primary difficulty was attention. These symptoms of inattentiveness are just that - symptoms. Parents often ask what you are asking: If we medicated the child would the underlying cause of the difficulties in behavior/learning mature and the symptoms subside? When the answer to the question is NO - then medication is not the answer. Adam's handwriting and pencil grip would not be better because it is related the delayed primitive reflexes and the visual and auditory systems not working together. His ability to process auditory information would not be better because of the medication. The ability to regulate his system and learn to manage his own attention and emotions would not improve. 
 
Remember that with Adam, these are delayed developmental systems. Some say that medication might allow the system to be able to potentially begin to mature. Medication does not do anything to specifically target each system and give the system what it needs to CATCH up and close the gap that is present. That is why we see kids on medication for many, many years. The minute the medication is stopped, the symptoms reappear.   

    


Why Keeping Pace Learning Center?

1. Our procedures and programs sequentially integrate the three systems simultaneously - not just one isolated system at a time. This is why we can see dramatic changes in just a few short months. 
            When we are working on one system the procedures are designed to pull the other systems in also. As an example, when we are                   working on visual (smooth pursuit) by tossing the weighted bean bag he would be on a balance board thus placing demands of                   the vestibular system at same time. Since he has to follow verbal information while doing the practice, it involves the auditory                       system also.  
2. Precise parent involvement and training combined with home practice. The more a parent truly understands, the greater the parent participation and the faster the response to intervention. We know that Adam has had a lot of interventions but typically a parent has not been trained by the SLP or OT and involved in daily practice - thus no dramatic response.
3. Academic and IEP/ school-based support. We know how to interpret school-based assessments such as Ed-Psych reports and know when the school should be assessing for further understanding of what the child needs. We can help determine if the services at the school are quality services or a waste of time and energy for the child.  

I hope this answers some of your questions and gives you the background you need. Feel free to call anytime. 

Sincerely,
Keeping Pace Learning Center