ONE-ON-ONE NILD EDUCATIONAL THERAPY®
NILD Educational Therapy® was developed to treat assumed, underlying causes of learning difficulties rather than simply treating the symptoms. It is a true therapy in that it aims the intervention just above the student's level of functioning and raises expectations for performance. Students are trained to view themselves as competent, confident learners. The goal of NILD Educational Therapy® is to help students develop tools of independent learning in the classroom and in life.
Students in NILD Educational Therapy® receive two 80-minute sessions or two 45 minute sessions of intensive educational therapy per week. These sessions include a variety of techniques designed to address students' specific areas of difficulty and to improve their overall ability to think, reason and process information. Techniques emphasize basic skill areas such as reading, writing, spelling and math, applying reasoning skills within each area.
Students are taught by educational therapists, who are trained specifically in NILD methodology and receive on-going graduate level training leading to NILD certification. Regular collaboration between the educational therapist, parents and classroom teachers is encouraged in order to assess progress and appropriately adjust educational programs for each student.
NILD is field-testing several new means of providing therapy in group settings as well as one-on-one for specific disabilities. RBCS has been chosen by the National Institute of Learning Development as a pilot program for NILD Group Educational Therapy®. This model incorporates adaptations of the five-core techniques for use in groups of four to six students. With success of this model, it is our hope to make this valuable tool available to all RBCS students in the future.
Rx for Discovery Reading are reading and math programs designed for children ages 6-18 who struggle in reading or math proficiency. Establishing the essential foundational skills necessary for reading and math is the focus of these programs. This multi-sensory approach to discovering reading and math is a fun and effective approach to building and strengthening necessary skills for success.
Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment (FIE) is a program that enhances the cognitive skills necessary for independent learning and thinking. Based on the theories and research of Reuven Feuerstein, Professor of Cognitive Psychology, the programs are built on the idea that intelligence is dynamic and modifiable, NOT static or fixed. Thus, the program sharpens critical thinking with the concepts, skills, strategies, operations, and techniques necessary for independent learning and higher achievement. It challenges deficiencies in thinking skills that block strong academic performance and helps student learn how to learn more efficiently.
SEARCH AND TEACH (for children ages 5 - 7)
Search & Teach© is an early intervention program developed to meet the educational needs of young learners before they experience the frustration of learning failure. This differs from NILD Educational Therapy®, which was designed to help students who have documented learning difficulties, and in many cases have already experienced frustration and failure in the regular classroom.
SEARCH is a 20-minute individual test designed to identify 5 and 6-year-olds who are vulnerable to learning difficulty, and to provide profiles of individual strengths and weaknesses in the readiness skills necessary for reading success.
TEACH is a program of 55 learning activities called 'tasks,' carefully designed to address the needs revealed by SEARCH. TEACH is generally offered to individuals or very small groups of children with like needs in a center, resource room, or small area within a classroom.
Communication skills are essential to educational success. Communication has many components which serve to increase the way that students learn, utilize knowledge, develop skills, and interact with family, teachers, and peers. Timely intervention is essential as communication disorders can potentially cause difficulties in learning. RBCS provides this intervention through evaluation and therapy of communication disorders by a certified speech pathologist.
An educational battery of tests is commonly recommended when a student is having specific learning difficulties. Student's cognitive ability, perceptual abilities and academic achievement are measured by Therapy Services using the following assessment along with informal evaluations.
The Weschler Intelligence Scales for Children [(WISC) IV] is used to evaluate cognitive abilities and intellectual abilities and is administered by a psychologist. Therapy Services has established relationships with a highly recommended psychologist in the area and would be glad to schedule your student's evaluation. However, we welcome outside evaluations using this tool if you have already completed this step in the process.
Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement (WJ-III)
Practitioners use the WJ-III Tests of Achievement to help assess students for learning disabilities, determine learning variations, and help in planning individual programs. Achievement is evaluated in the following areas:
Basic Reading Skills
Math Achievement
Spelling Written Expression
Oral Language
Listening Comprehension
Academic Fluency