Phillip
We became aware of our son Phillip's learning differences when he was two years old. He was attending a regular pre-school program and his teacher was concerned about his ability to focus, and stay on task. He seemed overwhelmed by the number of children in his classroom, and all of their activities. We decided to move him to a different pre-school with a smaller student-teacher ratio, but Phillip was still overly sensitive to sounds and touch. He was easily frustrated, and beginning to show signs of disruptive behavior. We looked for answers from private doctors and our local public school system. Then, Phillip was diagnosed with overall global delays and attention problems, and special education services were recommended.
Phillip attended public school through 4th grade, where he received special education services. He also received private occupational therapy, and play therapy with a child psychologist. Phillip did not have an easy time in public school. He didn't know how to interact with his classmates. He was never invited to a birthday party. To make matters worse, our district started having the children change teachers for different subjects in 3rd grade. This was very difficult for Phillip. He lacked the organizational skills needed to succeed in that environment. He never had the right books in the right room. He was unable to pack his own backpack at the end of the day, and he rarely brought the things he needed for homework. He also lacked the confidence to do his homework independently. Even when he could do assignments by himself, I had to constantly prompt and guide him to complete his work. At the end of the day, he could not tell me what he did at school. Instead of formulating a plan to help him with these things, his teachers just stopped requiring him to do them. In Phillip's first week of 3rd grade, his teacher told me that he would not copy the work assignment from the blackboard. She felt we should just let this go too. Things like these happened over and over again.
Now that Phillip is at Learning Circle Academy, he is being taught how to organize himself and how to learn. He is also learning how to interact with his classmates. Every day after school, he gives me a "full report" on what happened. He is learning to understand and use language, including things like multiple word meanings, expressions, comparisons and idioms. For example, in our carpool ride the other day, Philip and another boy from the school explained what "Hold your horses" means. He does his homework independently too. At Learning Circle Academy, Phillip is learning these and many other things that help him now, and in the future. Now we have hope for his future.
Jean and Peter