The Key to Reading Confidence

Meet Joe, a college student struggling in his classes. Recently, he sat down to talk about his experience in school. “I can remember reading out loud in class and then not being able to answer the questions. Reading the words was no problem. But, then when I couldn’t answer the questions, the kids would laugh at me. The worst was that I had a teacher in high school that continually called me stupid…maybe I am. Am I?”

Joe’s problem with literacy isn’t that he can’t decode the words, it’s that he can’t comprehend the concepts. Telling him to “pay attention” or “think when you read” doesn’t help him. As Joe reads or listens to language, he processes “parts”—the in-one-ear-and-out-the-other syndrome. He remembers a few details, but he can’t get the big picture.

He has always had this problem, and not just when he reads. When he tries to follow directions and can’t remember all of them, he gets in trouble for not paying attention. When he tries to express himself, verbally or in writing, it comes out disjointed and out of sequence. When he listens to conversations or classroom presentations, it goes by him before he can get it. When he tries to participate in conversation he can’t make salient points because he spoke to the “parts” he processed. When he tries to think critically or problem solve, he is constantly frustrated. Though Joe can read and spell words, he has a language processing problem that has permeated the quality of his life and eroded his self-esteem.

Joe’s symptoms can be traced to his difficulty in getting the gestalt, the whole—necessary for processing language and thinking. Most importantly, his difficulty in getting the gestalt can be traced to his weakness in the sensory-cognitive function of concept imagery—the ability to visualize the whole.

While researching the relationship of imagery to comprehension and trying various steps to develop imagery, Nanci Bell, co-founder and director of Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes, discovered that individuals who had difficulty understanding could not connect the parts to form an imaged whole. Instead, they got “parts” —bits and pieces— and could not get the main idea, draw a conclusion, make an inference, or evaluate.

This processing of parts instead of the gestalt contributes to a range of symptoms, most of which Joe has experienced:

• Weak reading comprehension
• Weak oral language comprehension
• Weak oral language expression
• Weak written language expression
• Difficulty following directions
• Difficulty with critical thinking
• Difficulty with problem solving
• Weak sense of humor

Unfortunately, weakness in concept imagery can be a hidden problem in the field of reading. It is often misdiagnosed, and it interferes with processing both oral and written language. Those who do not have the problem cannot know how painful it is. Individuals describe it as feeling foggy, like when you go to sleep in a movie and then cannot put it altogether. They say that they have hidden the problem behind good social skills, noting when to smile appropriately in conversation or when to laugh at jokes they really didn’t get. They say that they go to tremendous lengths to cover this problem because most people just think they aren’t as bright or aren’t good listeners or communicators. A graduate from MIT said that when he was in class trying to grasp a lecture, it was as if someone was going along with an eraser and erasing the language before he could get it.

As we process information through our sensory system, concept imagery brings the sensory information together, enabling us to create the gestalt. And, the gestalt is a necessary piece for cognition. Furthermore, there is little question that imagery is directly related to cognition. Aristotle said, long before phonemic awareness was thought about, “It is impossible to think without a mental picture.”

For someone like Joe, the sensory system must be stimulated and taught to image and process the gestalt, enabling the higher order thinking skills of main idea, conclusion, inference, and prediction to be improved. Reasoning, logical thinking, problem solving, and perhaps even creativity can be developed.

18 New Learning Centers to Open for Summer.

To help families not currently located near one of Lindamood-Bell’s Learning Centers, we are opening a Seasonal Learning Clinic in the local communities of Maui, HI; Henderson, NV; Santa Rosa, CA; Spokane, WA; Stillwater, MN; Baltimore, MD; Ft. Lauderdale, FL; El Dorado Hills, CA; Jacksonville, FL; Ann Arbor, MI; Austin, TX; Suffolk County, NY; Naperville, IL; Montgomery, AL; Camarillo, CA; Birmingham, AL; Baton Rouge, LA; and Northern Virginia.

Our unique instruction stimulates basic sensory functions related to learning and are recognized as being effective on the symptoms of dyslexia, hyperlexia, autism spectrum disorders, ADD/HD, CAPD, and learning difficulties in general with our authors’ programs:
• Seeing Stars^®: Symbol Imagery for Reading Fluency, Sight Words, and Spelling
• Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing^® (LiPS^®) Program for Phonemic Awareness & Phonics
• Visualizing & Verbalizing for Language Comprehension and Thinking^® (V/V^®)
• Talkies^®: for Oral Language Comprehension and Expression
• On Cloud Nine^® Math

Getting started on this successful path is simple.  First call to schedule a diagnostic learning evaluation to determine specific strengths and weaknesses.  Following the testing is a consultation that will clearly explain what was found and any instructional recommendations if needed to then schedule instructional sessions.  It is simple and worth it.

Our philosophy is that accurate diagnosis and relevant instruction enables individuals to learn to their potential.  Additional information is available online at www.LindamoodBell.com or by calling 800-233-1819.

Teaching Reading and Comprehension with the Right Instruction.

With more than 30 years of clinical research experience, the internationally renowned organization Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes offers instructional programs that help identify and correct learning weaknesses. Their approach focuses on individual needs by helping students develop the skills necessary to become independent and self-correcting learners.

Lindamood-Bell® instruction addresses phonemic awareness (the ability to hear and manipulate sounds in words), fluency, spelling, vocabulary, comprehension, critical thinking, writing, and math.  The goal is to develop language processing so every student learns to his or her fullest potential.

Founded in 1986 by Patricia Lindamood and Nanci Bell, Lindamood-Bell^® Learning Centers are now found in 42 locations across the country, along with one in London, UK and one in Sydney, Australia. Lindamood-Bell also collaborates with hundreds of schools nationwide to provide innovative instructional programs, professional development, and consulting.

“What really makes our program implementation unique is our Lindamood-Bell® Instructional Model,” explains Jody Gilles, Director of Instruction. “The Lindamood-Bell® Instructional Model is the combination of our programs [authored by our founders], diagnostic learning evaluations, instructional environment, and layered instructional quality control.”

To establish a learning profile, each Lindamood-Bell® student undergoes a number of standardized tests. Then a consultation is held to explain the student’s strengths and weaknesses, and an instruction plan is discussed. Each instruction plan is tailored to the student’s learning needs, and embodies an interactive, balanced approach.

“We provide one-on-one instruction in our programs to develop the student’s ability to accurately receive and efficiently process language,” says Gilles. “It is our core belief that if you develop the sensory cognitive skills as applied to language and literacy development, you can then apply that to any content topic, instead of band-aiding a single area of difficulty.”

In addition to the instructional focus, the intensity of their programs is another notable difference between Lindamood-Bell and other centers that provide learning assistance. Regular instruction entails daily hourly sessions, while intensive instruction consists of two to four hours per day. “Our average results with intensive instruction are two to three years’ growth in the areas we are trying to improve in as little as four to six weeks,” Gilles says.

To keep each day as active as possible—particularly during intensive instruction—each hour students work with a different clinician that helps reinforce information in a multitude of ways. Once sensory-cognitive processing is stable, follow-up assistance may range from one consultation per week to daily sessions, based on a student’s learning needs.

“By developing students’ abilities to read, spell, comprehend, and compute math you prepare them to learn on their own,” says Gilles. “The old adage ‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime,’ applies to language processing as much as it does to hunger.”

To learn more about testing and instruction at Lindamood-Bell, call  1.800.233.1819, or visit their Website at www.LindamoodBell.com