ARTICLES BY ALYSSA PUKKILA

Educational therapy gets to the root of learning disabilities: Part 2

Educational Therapy addresses underlying learning skills such as visual and auditory processing, attention and memory skills on an individual basis. This is different from a tutor who provides subject support and deals specifically with academics. Educational therapy deals with the processing of information. Processing is the way a student thinks …

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Educational therapy gets to the root of learning disabilities: Part 1

Many children have difficulties with reading, writing, spelling, math, attention and memory. All children want to be successful in school yet they struggle despite parent-teacher interventions or private tutoring. Thanks to current research in the fields of neuropsychology, major steps forward have been made in understanding potential causes of several …

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Dyslexia: Is it a Learning Disability?

In every classroom there are a handful of bright children who struggle to learn to read. This problem has existed since people began to develop written language. Research over the years has increased our understanding of language and learning disabilities (LD) and how the brain works. Today language and learning …

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Auditory hypersensitivity

Imagine a child who is overwhelmed by everyday sounds, where the sound of a police siren is too much to handle and causes the child to clasp his hands over his ears and be reduced to tears. This child suffers from auditory hypersensitivity (AH). Many children with autism spectrum disorder …

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Targeted interventions for reading disabilities

As many as 20 percent of children struggle with a reading disability (RD). In fact, children with RD account for 80 percent of the children with learning disabilities. Considering the number of children that are affected, there is a considerable amount of research done to understand RD and interventions for …

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A positive approach part II: Changing perspective

In an attempt to explain the possibilities of a person with ADHD and how we need to change our perspective on learning disabilities, a physician coldly responded to me, "The only option for kids like these is medication. The "success" stories you are proclaiming are the one in a million …

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A positive approach: Part I

Kids with learning disabilities are capable of learning. In fact, they have normal or even above normal intelligence, but they are wired to learn differently. Often these children are defined by their weaknesses, but they also have amazing strengths. To equip children with necessary skills and to give them academic …

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Timing is everything: Part 2

In my previous article, I focused on developmental coordination disability (DCD). In this article, the focus will be on dysgraphia, a form of writing disability that falls under the DCD category. DCD may affect all aspects of movement or it can affect only fine motor skills, specifically skills needed to …

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Timing is everything: Part 1

Kyle is a sweet, active 9-year-old. His response to the world going on around him is laid back and easy going. He was late to speak, but his parents and pediatrician attributed this to being the youngest of four children, not needing to communicate because his siblings could "talk for …

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Listen2Learn: Part II

In the previous article of Listen2Learn, I focused on the use music therapy (MT) with children who have learning disabilities to help open neuropathways and stimulate the brain for learning.

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Listen2Learn: Part I

Music is all around us. We listen to music to relax, to help us think, to celebrate and to grieve. Music has the power to shift and direct the consciousness of people and the power to evoke emotional responses, as seen by its use in advertising and film. Early education …

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