ASSESSMENT & REMEDIATION

Overview

At Learning Solutions, many of the children we see have already received a label such as Dyslexia, Autism, Dyspraxia, ADHD or others. Whilst these labels are very important in order to access funding and support through school and the NHS they often do not help you to understand the individual challenges that your child is experiencing.

We concentrate on the causes of current difficulties rather than the symptoms and seek to help your child develop the underpinning skills that are so important for learning, listening and daily life. So if your child has been assessed as Dyslexic, we look at what is causing their challenges with literacy at a more fundamental level. If your child has been diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum clearly the social communication issues or delays in language development are a reflection of developmental delay and neurological differences in function.

Many parents, following the assessment process, comment that they have never really understood why their child is currently experiencing their difficulties; so many assessments only assess and report on the symptoms. We can then offer individually tailored remediation programmes combining movement and sound based programmes.

Assessment

An important area of our assessment process is to help you understand, where possible, the underlying causes of the outward functional behaviour you are seeing.

Our assessment process does not seek to measure reading age, spelling or specific language abilities or IQ; many assessments are available in this area and schools already have these.

The Learning Solutions assessment combines the following:

Hearing ability

It is important to discount hearing problems as this will of course affect listening abilities. A screening of hearing ability using normal audiometric procedures is undertaken.

Auditory processing

Once hearing is known to be at normal levels we can then assess the ability to listen. This includes many areas such as listening in background noise, memory, perceiving pitch and patterns in sound as well as being able to assess the location of a sound signal. It is important that we are able to process sound effectively in order to concentrate, focus and maintain attention. We use a number of assessment techniques that will be fully explained during the individual assessment.

Visual processing

A screening of visual skills such as tracking, vergence and eye dominance will highlight any challenges that can affect reading, sequencing and other visual perception skills. We also assess visual motor skills as well as important areas of visual memory.

Vestibular function - Balance and coordination

The vestibular system is contained within the inner ear. It is vital for organising many functions such as balance, muscle tone, visual skills and others. We assess how well this ‘hidden’ sense is functioning and how static and dynamic balance as well as coordination may be impacting upon learning and development.

Proprioception - Body awareness

Proprioception is essentially the internal awareness of where all the different parts of our body are located and how to move appropriately in relation to objects in the world around us. It is closely linked with vestibular function. If we have poor proprioception this can affect such things as walking downstairs fluently, lead to clumsiness in movement and affect our awareness of personal body space.

Primitive reflexes

We are all born with a number of reflexes that help our development and survival early in life. As we move through the normal developmental stages these reflexes ideally become inhibited. Sometimes these reflexes remain active and can impact upon our daily life and the development of everyday skills. We also assess for any retained primitive reflexes that can be having a negative impact upon development and daily life.

The assessment process

An initial assessment usually takes between 1½ and 2½ hours dependent upon the age and ability of your own child. It is essential that at least one parent or guardian attend the assessment and you may ask any questions you have at any time. Much of the assessment is fun and takes place in an informal atmosphere. You will find that by being there you can learn more about what your child is experiencing every day. The different parts of the assessment will be discussed and explained. This helps to give you a powerful insight as well as understanding how you can help your child to find things easier day to day.

We are happy to offer a free initial telephone consultation in order to assess the suitability of this type of work for your child. If you wish to discuss your individual requirements or book a suitable time for an assessment, feel free to contact us at info@learning-solutions.co.uk or telephone us on 01274 777250.

The cost of the full assessment including a comprehensive report detailing all the findings and recommendations for remediation is £199 (inc. vat)

We will then develop an individual programme designed for your particular needs to enhance performance in those areas identified. Much of the work can be done at home in a few minutes each day.

As well as welcoming many families to our offices, we are also able to offer a distance service if travelling is difficult or impractical. We work with many clients in areas as diverse as Lebanon, Spain, Bulgaria, Dubai and of course all areas of the UK; you can always be sure of the same personal service.

Remediation

At Learning Solutions we are proud to be the UK representatives for The Listening Program^® and the Learning Breakthrough Program^®. However we have a wide range of tools to help developmental processes as well as the processing of sensory information. These include:

• The Listening Program
• The Learning Breakthrough Program
• Brain Gym
• Bi-lateral integration programmes
• Reflex integration work

We also regularly use technologies such as BrainBuilder and BrainFit which are designed to help memory, attention and concentration skills.

Our aim is to develop a specific programme for your child using individual tools that are appropriate and easy to use at home. We have many years of experience of working with developmental programmes and you can be sure that we will only recommend those that are most suitable for your child's development.

All these programmes can be followed at home, reducing the cost of regular weekly or monthly visits to our offices. We will develop an appropriate contact schedule to support your child through their individual programme and adjust this as necessary.

Once the fundamental skills for learning and development improve, then benefits can be seen in learning, language, balance, sports, writing, sleep, mood and a host of other areas.

Grants Available

In certain circumstances you may be able to access financial support to fund the purchase of specific programmes such as The Listening Program® and the Learning Breakthrough Program®. The following charities are able to fund our programmes and you can find more details of financial assistance and the appropriate application forms by clicking on the banners.

Cerebra is a charity offering direct and practical assistance via a grant scheme to improve the quality of life of children and young people affected by neurological conditions. Help is available to anyone of 16 or under and covers such things as cerebral palsy, autistic spectrum disorder, epilepsy, learning difficulties, ADHD, behavioural and emotional problems or developmental delay.

Caudwell Children is a charity available to anyone under the age of 18 who is in special need of equipment and therapy services. They are able to fund a range of services.

You will need to check that you are able to qualify under the guidelines and then complete the application form and return this to Caudwell Children. Please note: to view the application form properly; you will need the latest version of Adobe Reader ...




The Family Fund helps families with severely disabled children up to 17 years old. They are able to fund a range of services.