Sounds of Reading: Decoding and Fluency Activities By Kristin Barbour, CCC-SLP, Cristin French, M. Ed., Ken Scott, M.Ed., 2005, NILD, 79 pages.

Recent synthesis of research has identified three foundational concepts that serve as the framework of effective intervention for diverse learners – those at risk of reading disability and reading failure. For students whose reading skills are substantially below the skills of their peers, intervention organized around these foundational concepts allows for the most effective and efficient use of limited and valuable time.

Reading research indicates that students must acquire skills and knowledge in at least five major areas to become proficient readers by late elementary school. These five areas are: Phonological processing, specifically phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.

From the back cover: "Is your child restless?  Impulsive?  Easily Upset?  Hyperactive?  These symptoms may indicate ADHD or Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.  An attention disorder can affect all areas of a child's life, producing feelings of failure, difficulty in learning, inability to make and keep friends, and stressful relationships with family members.

This updated and expanded edition of The Hyperactive Child, which has sold more than 50,000 copies since it was first published in 1992, will help you to:

Identify the symptoms and causes of hyperactivity (ADHD) Find caring professionals who can offer effective treatment Evaluate the pros and cons of medication and ADHD

Improve the way you deal with your child at home Devise appropriate educational strategies at school and home Discover sound spiritual guidance for the problem"

From the back cover: "Everyone agrees that what we do in schools should be based on what we know about how the brain learns.  Until recently, however, we have had few clues to unlock the secrets of the brain.  Now, research from the neurosciences has greatly improved our understanding of the learning process, and we have a much more solid foundation on which to base educational decisions.

In this book, Patricia Wolfe makes it clear that before we can effectively match teaching practice to brain functioning, we must first understand how the brain functions.  In Part I, several chapters act as a minitextbook on brain anatomy and physiology.  Then, in Part II, Wolfe brings brain functioning into clearer focus, describing how the brain encodes, manipulates, and stores information.  This information-processing model provides a first look at some implications of the research for practice--why meaning is essential for attention, how emotion can enhance or impede learning, and how different types of rehearsal are necessary for different types of learning.

In Part III, Wolfe devotes several chapters to practical classroom applications and brain-compatible teaching strategies.  This section shows how to use simulations, projects, problem-based learning, graphic organizers, music, rhyme and rhythm, writing, active engagement, and mnemonics; and each chapter provides examples using brief scenarios from actual classroom practice, from lower elementary to high school.  The book also includes a glossary of terms.

From the back cover: "Tailored expressly to ADD learning styles and attention spans, Delivered from Distraction provides accessible, engaging discussions of every aspect of the condition, including new diagnostic procedures; whether ADD runs in families; links between ADD and other conditions; ways people with ADD can free up their inner talents; the truth about the new drugs and how they work; exciting advances in nonpharmaceutical therapies; sexual problems associated with ADD and how to resolve them; and strategies for dealing with procrastination, clutter, and chronic forgetfulness.  Delivered from Distraction is a wise, nurturing guide to releasing the positive energy that all people with ADD hold inside."

From the back cover:  "What happens in our brains to make us feel fear, love, hate, anger, joy?  Do we control our emotions, or do they control us?  Do animals have emotions?  How can traumatic experiences in early childhood influence adult behavior, even though we have no conscious memory of them?  In The Emotional Brain, Joseph LeDoux investigates the origins of human emotions and explains that many exist as part of complex neural systems that evolved to enable us to survive.

One of the principal researchers profiled in Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence, LeDoux is a leading authority in the field of neural science.  In this provocative book, he explores the brain mechanisms underlying our emotions--mechanisms that are now only being revealed."

From the back cover: "In this landmark, bestselling assessment tracing the roots of America's escalating crisis in education, Jane M. Healy, Ph.D., examines how television, video games, and other components of popular culture compromise our children's ability to concentrate and to absorb and analyze information.  Drawing on neuropsychological research and an analysis of current educational practices, Healy presents in clear, understandable language:

From the back cover: "Few parents and educators stop to consider that computers, used incorrectly, may do far more harm than good to a child's growing brain and social/emotional development.  In this comprehensive and practical guide to kids and computers, Jane M. Healy, Ph.D., author of the groundbreaking bestseller Endangered Minds, examines the advantages and drawbacks of computer use for kids at home and school, exploring its effects on their health, mental development, and creativity.  In addition, this timely and eye-opening book presents:

From the back cover: "Learning Disabilities, Eighth Edition, is the text for both students working toward certification and inservice teachers.  It provides a comprehensive view of approaches within the field of learning disabilities; procedures for assessing and evaluating students; and teaching methods, strategies, and materials."

"For the most part, children with learning disabilities are like any other children.  Their vision and hearing are usually normal.  They have no physical handicaps.  They have average or above average intelligence.  Yet they do stand out from their classmates.  They do not learn in the same ways as other children...Children with learning disabilities can be helped.  First, they must be found, and as early as possible....Some of the problems your child with learning disabilities may have are described on the following pages.  Most children experience some of these difficulties in the normal course of growing up.  But children with learning disabilities face a number of them over and over again." --p. 5.

"For the most part, children with learning disabilities are like any other children.  Their vision and hearing are usually normal.  They have no physical handicaps.  They have average or above average intelligence.  Yet they do stand out from their classmates.  They do not learn in the same ways as other children...Children with learning disabilities can be helped.  First, they must be found, and as early as possible....Some of the problems your child with learning disabilities may have are described on the following pages.  Most children experience some of these difficulties in the normal course of growing up.  But children with learning disabilities face a number of them over and over again." --p. 5.

Research over the last decade has indicated that the most distinguishing characteristic of students with learning disabilities in reading appears to be phonological processing deficits, especially evident on measures of phonemic awareness.  The Sounds of Speech has been developed in conjunction with the Blue Book Method to give the educational therapist specific activities that can be done with their students to stimulate phonological processing.  The Phonological Awareness Skills Survey (PASS) will help the educator identify student weaknesses in the components of phonological and phonemic processing.  The Phonological Processing Activities can then be used to help the student improve phonological processing skills so that the most benefit can be gained from instruction using a phonetic approach to reading like that presented in the Blue Book Method.

This book is designed as a resource for teachers and educational therapists.  All form included may be photocopied for use with students in the classroom or therapy station.  Therefore, for the NILD Educational Therapist it is recommended that programs provide one copy for each therapy station.

From the back cover:  "In this 2^nd edition Eric Jensen has completely revised and updated his classic work, featuring new research and practical strategies to enhance student comprehension and improve student achievement.  In easy to understand, engaging language, Jensen provides a basic orientation to the brain and its various systems and explains how they affect learning.  After discussing what parents and educators can do to get children’s brains in good shape for school, Jensen goes on to explore topics such as motivation, critical thinking skills, environmental factors, the “social brain,” emotions and memory."

."

From the back cover:  A Work of His Grace portrays the very personal history of the National Institute for Learning Disabilities.  From the myriad of treatment options espoused for students with learning disabilities, God clearly led Deborah Zimmerman in the development of a therapy-intervention approach.  From Deborah, this approach was adopted by Norfolk Christian School in 1974 through circumstances that were God ordained.  Thus, Grace Mutzabaugh became God's instrument of grace in establishing the first school-based program utilizing intense one-to-one cognitive strategies designed to teach students how to correctly perceive, process and convey information.  The amazing success of students in the program soon led to an appeal for similar programs in other schools throughout the United States and around the world.  A Work of His Grace tells this amazing story--a story of hope in considering the challenges of learning disabilities, but even more, a story that will encourage you to trust God through the challenges of your own life.

Abstract: Much can be gained by applying knowledge and insight gleaned from the field of neuropsychology to the field of education.  Diagnosis and treatment of learning disabilities (LD) could be enhanced through an increased understanding of neurolinguistic functioning.  The present study examined the effect of five instructional techniques aimed at stimulating the cognitive functioning of students with diagnosed learning disabilities.  The defining characteristics of each of the five techniques is the use of interactive dialogue to stimulate oral language production leading to greater cognitive efficiency.  Evidence is presented for the need for interhemispheric collaboration in complex linguistic tasks such as reading, writing, spelling, and arithmetic.  Students with learning disabilities could be viewed as having a breakdown in dynamic functioning impacting neurological systems.

The intervention model developed by the National Institute for Learning Disabilities (NILD) assessed in the present study is based upon the theoretical foundations of Feuerstein (1980), Luria (1981), Piaget (1959), and Vygotsky (1962/1975).  The interrelatedness of thought and language, the creation of the zone of proximal development, the recognition of the plasticity of intelligence and the belief in the importance of a human mediator in the learning process, each contributes to the design of techniques used in the NILD program.

Abstract: There are numerous educational approaches to teaching children with learning disabilities.  Over 300 Christian schools in the United States and 37 other countries have chosen to educate students with learning disabilities through a specific program of educational therapy offered by the National Institute for Learning Disabilities (NILD), headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia.  Educational therapy has been designed to provide deficit stimulation in perception and cognition through an individualized pull-out program of two 80-minute weekly sessions.

This study is the first to examine the process of educational therapy by analyzing the discourse of students and therapists.  From 25 NILD techniques, three core techniques - Buzzer, Dictation and Copy and Math Block - were chosen for analysis based on the use of interactive language and the multiple activities imbedded in each technique.  Four experienced therapists and their students were taped three times throughout one school year.  Thirty-six segments of these sessions, twelve for each of the three core techniques, were transcribed and the discourse was analyzed.  The study looks specifically at the forms and functions of discourse structures and strategies in therapy talk.

Two typical discourse structures - the IRE (Initiation - Response - Evaluation) and a five-step dialogue frame; and four discourse strategies - the use of questions, intonation, repetitions, and pauses - were observed and analyzed in therapy talk.  This study suggests that the discourse strategies of intonation, repetitions and pauses provide a foundation for effective questioning.  In turn, the questions support the discourse structures as therapists pose directive and interrogative inquiries to their students.  The study proposes a five-step dialogue therapy frame that employs the principles of mediated learning and scaffolded instruction.  The study also offers an application of discourse analysis for use by educational therapists or other practitioners who work in individualized educational settings and seek to improve their own practice through an analysis of their discourse.

Abstract: Many approaches have been developed to help students with learning disabilities become independent learners.  One such program, developed by the National Institute for Learning Disabilities (NILD), is a one-on-one model of educational therapy that is designed to stimulate students' neurological weaknesses and improve deficits in perception and/or cognition.  As an educational therapist, I am always looking for ways to enhance my ability to mediate my students' learning and to help them transfer what is learned in educational therapy to other settings.  In my search I became acquainted with the Cognitive Enrichment Advantage (CEA) approach to learning.  As an adaptation of Feuerstein's theory of mediated learning, the CEA approach gives students an explicit way to learn how to learn that I saw could be incorporated within the NILD Educational Therapy™ Model.

I chose a case study approach and used action research as a way to examine my 'new' practice systematically and carefully.  The purpose of this study was to look at my practice to see what my students, their parents and I would experience if I focused on mediated learning as we collaboratively developed meta-strategic knowledge through the learning of CEA's Building Blocks of Thinking and Tools of Learning.  I collected data through a reflective journal, audio recordings of student research team meetings, parents' focus group meetings, and individual exit interviews of students and their parents.  I analyzed the data in multiple ways to ensure validity.

My students and I used the CEA approach during educational therapy and research team meetings.  The findings showed that the students could use meta-strategic knowledge to develop learning strategies that were meaningful to them and transferable to other settings.  The findings from parent meetings and interviews also showed that learning the CEA approach was helpful to them as they mediated their children's learning.

Implications for future research focused on the possible need for more collaboration within the one-on-one educational therapy model, the need for parent training workshops, and the call for further research to validate the findings of this study.  Suggestions for NILD's corporate use of these findings also were given.

Children should wake up each day with the promise of tomorrow in their eyes.  For students with learning disabilities, that promise is often threatened by significant academic struggles and repeated failure.

Traditionally, intervention has focused on teaching children ways to circumvent their difficulties and utilize their strengths.  While helpful, this approach leaves them bound by what they cannot do.  However, new horizons lie ahead for those with learning disabilities!  Exciting new medical discoveries confirm that proper intervention can improve weak learning skills and allow these capable students to become independent learners.

The National Institute for Learning Disabilities (NILD) has developed a program of intensive, individualized language stimulation.  Developed in the 1960's, NILD Educational Therapy™ has changed the lives of thousands of children and adults around the world.

Take a glimpse into the techniques of NILD Educational Therapy™ and the rationale behind their use.  Be encouraged to believe for a brighter tomorrow for students who struggle to learn.

This exceptional video is designed to reach parents and educators with a message of hope and encouragement.  Four families share how the NILD program has made a difference in the lives of their children.  The unique potential of students who struggle with learning disabilities is highlighted.