Testimonial
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Josh, my son who was 9 years 8 months old struggled with reading, handwriting and spelling at school.
The roller-coaster ride started at the beginning of January 2006 when Josh was moved down a group in numeracy at school.His self-esteem hit rock bottom…
Josh was attending small group tutoring for his 11+ test.
At the parents' conference for the tutor group, his tutor felt there was "something" not quite right.
The tutor had found that Josh was having great difficulty "seeing" letters within words to create new words such as "pound/or take the U out and make pond/our.
Did she think he was dyslexic?
To be sure it was suggested that he should be assessed by an Educational Psychologist and to have his eye-tracking checked.
It was time to find out what was going on.
In April 2006 Josh was assessed by an Optometrist, who confirmed he had difficulty moving his eyes from side to side - he physically moved his head, not his eyes, when reading or writing and had difficulty with changing the focus of his eyes.
Josh started a series of daily eye exercises to strengthen his eye muscles, which after three months showed signs of improvement.
Two days later in April 2006, an Educational Psychologist (EP) diagnosed Josh as being dyslexic with a poor short-term auditory memory. His reading comprehension age was 2 years above his age (a great strength) however his spelling age was 2 years below his age. This 4 years disparity was of great concern.
Having digested the news from the EP, the next thought was what now?
The feeling I had was of being at the bottom of a very steep mountain trying to work out what could be done to help; where, when and by whom.
During my quest to find a dyslexia tutor with a vacancy to help Josh cope, I came across a Raviv Practitioner who was offering more than coping strategies – she was offering an approach that could help Josh overcome, not just cope with, his learning difficulties.
I researched the Raviv Method and after much soul-searching thought: what have we got to lose?
There was nothing to lose and everything to gain with the hope of helping my son.
With a positive mindset we took the leap and Josh agreed to start the Raviv Programme in July 2006 at the start of the school summer holidays.
He did his exercises EVERY DAY and ENJOYED doing them because he was so determined to help himself.
The first indication of tangible improvement was at the beginning of September 2006 when Josh won the award at his cricket club for the “Most Improved Player of the Season”!!
His coach said, "it was the easiest award to give as Josh's game and overall sportsmanship had improved dramatically"!
We were delighted, no doubt the improvements had come from the motor skills training he'd been practising on the Raviv programme.
Josh's self-esteem and self confidence started to soar and we watched him go from strength to strength.
Josh had a new Individual Education Plan (IEP) when he returned to school in September 2006, to reflect recommendations made by the Educational Psychologist and the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) at school.
Six weeks later in mid October at the parents' conference, his class teacher had to scrap his whole IEP, as Josh had met all the targets set!!!
Josh completed his Raviv Programme at the end of November 2006, having thoroughly enjoyed it!
Two weeks later at the beginning of December 2006 school had him independently assessed by the Specialist Teaching Service with the following AMAZING results:
Chronological Age: 10 years 6 months
Reading Comprehension Age: 11 years 4 months
Word Reading Accuracy Age: 10 years 6 months IMPROVEMENT of +2 years 6 months
Spelling Age: 10 years 8 months IMPROVEMENT of +3 years
The improvement in Josh's all round reading ability has been amazing. It is as if he has had to catch up on all the books he struggled with before Raviv.
Following Raviv, Josh was moved to the TOP group for Literacy, second TOP group for Spelling and second TOP group for Numeracy.
Apart from overcoming his learning difficulties academically, Josh has regained his self-esteem and a new found self-confidence.
His organisational abilities have improved dramatically, especially in the morning when getting ready for school!
Homework he now sails through, he no longer spends literally hours working out what to do and then trying to get it down legibly on paper. It just flows.
For us the Raviv Method turned around our lives, it really has been miraculous.
Josh is now able to achieve the potential that was previously locked inside him.
(Mother of 11 year-old Josh, Karen Wexelstein, Raviv Practitioner)
Learn to Learn: Unlock your Potential
