All posts by Amy Kessler

UAB Study White Paper Now Available

Autism, Research, , , ,

A new white paper released by Lindamood-Bell, “The Science of Improved Language Comprehension: Brain Connectivity and Autism Spectrum Disorder,” summarizes the groundbreaking results of a recent University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB) study.

 

In this study, a group of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) received 10 weeks of intensive instruction utilizing the Visualizing and Verbalizing for Language Comprehension and Thinking® program. It was found that the instruction “was enough to strengthen the activity of loosely connected areas of their brains that work together to comprehend reading.” The children’s reading comprehension also improved.

 

The white paper will enable parents, physicians, and education professionals to better understand the relevance of the findings of the study, primarily that deficits in language comprehension can be improved through stimulating and strengthening the connection between the verbal and imaginal centers of the brain.

 

Language comprehension is foundational to learning—both social and academic—in the educational environment. With a better understanding of subject matter and social relationships, students are poised for greater success in all areas of life.

 

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For information about the Visualizing and Verbalizing program, including learning center instruction for students; or professional development workshops for educators, contact us: 800-233-1819.

Go Back to School With Confidence

Learning Difficulties,

Back-To-School-Blog-Image

It’s almost time to go back to school!

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If you’re like most parents, you are spending the last few weeks of summer with your family: relaxing and reconnecting and enjoying your time together. Maybe you went on vacation or possibly, you preferred a “staycation.”  You may have scheduled trips to the local library and bookstore for your kids to prevent the “summer slide.” This is the perfect time for them to check out and buy books that interest them and capture their attention—including topics such as animals, sports heroes, mysteries, or adventure, allowing them to travel to new places or reintroduce them to familiar but forgotten passions.

 

However your time was spent, your kids are most likely exhausted from camps, beach days, and play dates. And, you know they’ve spent far too much time watching television, snap chatting, texting, and playing video/computer games.

 

Now, with summer coming to a close, it’s time to buckle down and get ready to go back to school. Unfortunately, you may have a child who doesn’t view this time of year as exciting. Your child may be feeling stressed about the increased level of academics in the classroom this year. Their struggles may have surfaced throughout the previous school year: you noticed your child having difficulty with reading words in context (trouble sounding out unfamiliar words), or maybe demonstrating a weakness in remembering what they read or listened to; their spelling skills may have begun to deteriorate with the introduction of multi syllable words; or perhaps their math skills declined due to increasingly difficult concepts.

 

If reading and spelling are difficult for your child, they may be suffering from weak symbol imagery–the ability to visualize letters and sounds within words. Weak symbol imagery will cause difficulty in establishing sight words, contextual fluency, and spelling.

 

If reading or language comprehension are difficult for your child, weak concept imagery—the ability to image a gestalt (whole)—may be the cause. Weakness in concept imagery will interfere with reading and listening comprehension, memory, oral vocabulary, critical thinking, and writing.

 

Your child’s math skills may be suffering as well due to an inability to create a gestalt image for the concepts underlying math processes. Individuals often attempt to memorize facts instead of being able to think, reason, and problem solve with numbers. Symbol imagery and concept imagery are necessary sensory-cognitive functions that underlie reading, comprehension, and math skills.

 

This time of year should be exciting, not worrisome. The last thing you want is to have your child dread going to school when it hasn’t even started yet. As a parent, what can you do? You might want to consider having your child evaluated in order to see what is causing the difficulties. Once the area of weakness has been determined, it’s important to know that treatment is available. Lindamood-Bell’s sensory-cognitive programs develop the necessary skills that underlie reading, comprehension, and math.

 

Your child’s backpack is full. More importantly, let’s make sure her skill set is full by going back to school with us!

 

For information on how to contact us in order to get your child prepared to go back to school with confidence, please see the listing of our Learning Centers.

 

Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE) Votes to Re-Endorse Seeing Stars® and Visualizing and Verbalizing® Programs

For Schools, Professional Development

CASE-Blog-Image

The Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE) has officially re-endorsed Visualizing and Verbalizing for Language Comprehension and Thinking® and Seeing Stars® programs. CASE is an international professional education organization affiliated with the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), whose members are dedicated to the enhancement of the worth, dignity, and uniqueness of each individual in society.

 

The endorsements came after thorough review by members of the CASE Publications and Product Review Committee—a group of leaders in special education who review and endorse a variety of research-based products designed to improve student outcomes. Both Visualizing and Verbalizing and Seeing Stars met all of the components for the CASE re-endorsement process and, therefore, carry an official CASE Endorsement for three years.

 

“The Publications and Products Review committee of CASE was impressed with how the programs showed evidence that they were beneficial for struggling students and those with Specific Learning Disabilities,” said Dr. Pamela Howard, co-chair of the CASE re-endorsement committee.

 

The Visualizing and Verbalizing (V/V®) program develops concept imagery—the ability to create an imagined gestalt from language—as a basis for comprehension and higher order thinking. Howard said, “The committee appreciated the number of repeat customers, which implied a large amount of customer satisfaction with the product and company.” She also stated that the committee was impressed with the research on V/V that indicates the program, “when implemented with fidelity, stimulates concept imagery and applies that imagery to understanding written and oral language.”

 

After evaluating Seeing Stars, Howard commented on how pleased the committee was with recent revisions to the product. “The revised version included expanded lessons and resources for teachers that included more sample lessons, illustrations, and recommendations for small-group instruction.” The Seeing Stars program develops symbol imagery as a basis for orthographic awareness, phonemic awareness, word attack, word recognition, spelling, and contextual reading fluency.

 

Two recent groundbreaking studies showed favorable results for students who received V/V and Seeing Stars instruction. In a study at the University of Alabama, children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) received 10 weeks of V/V intensive reading intervention. Brain imaging techniques showed the intervention was enough to strengthen the activity of loosely-connected areas of their brains that work together to comprehend reading.

 

In a separate study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), students with reading disabilities or difficulties (ages 6-9) were randomly assigned to receive intensive Seeing Stars instruction as an intervention during the nonacademic summer. Analysis of pre- and post testing revealed positive results in reading skills for students who received the intervention.

 

Many educators use SI and V/V as their Tier III Response to Intervention (RtI) programs. View a case study here.

 

Lindamood-Bell is proud to provide professional development workshops to educators in Visualizing and Verbalizing and Seeing Stars. Find an upcoming event near you or call us to discuss your professional development needs for special education students: 800-233-1819.

National Summer Learning Day

Events

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Summer Learning Day is a national advocacy day led by the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) to highlight the importance of keeping kids learning, safe, and healthy every summer.

 

 

Celebrate Summer Learning Day!

 

For many students, three months away from academics can lead to measurable learning losses in skills like reading and math—which, of course, is not what any family wants to be faced with at the start the upcoming school year.

 

We are encouraging all of our friends and colleagues to read with a child today; we hope this is already part of your summer routine!

 

The following are fresh ideas for keeping your family healthy and learning all summer:

 

1. Read to Learn

 

Summer is a great time for children and teens to explore their personal interests through books. Families can schedule dedicated reading time every day. Create a comfortable and quiet space with adequate lighting in your home for reading enjoyment.

 

Talk to your kids about the books they’re reading to check for understanding. Ask, “What did you picture for what happened in that story?”, “What do you think might happen next?”, or “How would you change the ending of the story?”

 

2. Get Active to Get Talking

We all know it’s important to help our kids stay active all summer long.  Go for a hike, take a walk together, visit your community pool, or go for a bike ride. This is a great opportunity to be physically active, and it’s also an opportunity to engage in conversation about the the news of the day, funny family stories, and the books you’ve been reading.

 

During discussions with your child, use imagery stimulating questions.  For example, instead of asking, “What do you think about…?” you can ask, “What did you picture for that story in the news today?” or “What are you picturing for what might happen next?” You can expand upon these questions to dive into their images even more.

 

3. Learn to Limit

Many parents are aware that computers, cell phones, and TVs tend to prevent kids from being mentally and physically active.  For this reason, it’s a good idea to set time limits on screen time just as you would during the school year and encourage your kids to get outside, interacting face-to-face, with family and friends.

 

While television and video games can sometimes have informational or entertainment value, they offer little opportunity for students to visualize language—a key component for comprehension. Reading books, and listening to audiobooks, are much better alternatives to keep your child’s mind active.

 

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Concerned about summer learning loss? Contact us for ideas: 800-233-1819

 

To learn more about National Summer Learning Day, please click here.

Help for Your Students Who Never Seem to “Get It”

Comprehension,

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Teachers know there is a long list of reasons to make reading a lifelong habit: the cognitive workout we get when we read and the exposure to new ideas are arguably top reasons to be a regular reader. So, when a student (who otherwise has adequate decoding skills) is unenthusiastic about books, regardless of the topic, it is certainly reason for concern.

 

Most reading experts agree on one thing: in order to comprehend what they read, students must have strong decoding skills and adequate oral vocabulary. In other words, they must be able to accurately decode every word on the page and also know what the words mean.

 

Unfortunately, many students who are able to decode well and understand words continue to demonstrate weak comprehension skills. This is the student in your class who reads but never appears to “get it.” Words seem to go in one ear and out the other. This is a student who may also demonstrate  weak memory when following directions or has a hard time understanding conversations.  They may appear to not even try to listen.

 

These students may only be getting parts of the information they read or hear, but not the whole.

 

They can be helped.

 

What is missing for these students?

 

Clinical research over the last thirty years indicates there is a separate comprehension weakness that is rarely identified. This weakness often undermines the reading process. It is a weakness, based in the sensory system, in creating an imaged gestalt or “whole.”

 

Nanci Bell, author of the Visualizing and Verbalizing for Language Comprehension and Thinking program, first became aware of the connection that underlies comprehension while she was teaching phoneme awareness to students struggling with literacy, many of whom had been previously diagnosed as dyslexic. Nanci has described that at the time, she was unaware of a separate comprehension dysfunction. Like many others, she believed difficulty with reading comprehension was caused by weak decoding and weak oral vocabulary skills.

 

In the following excerpt from Visualizing and Verbalizing for Language Comprehension and Thinking, Nanci Bell describes the incident that sparked her passion to change learning for students struggling with weak comprehension.

 

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Needing a break in the lesson from spelling word after word, I decide to have Allan,    [a college student majoring in architecture], read and give me a verbal summary.  Handing him a college level skill book, I ask him to read aloud so I can be certain he is decoding accurately.

 

He accurately reads the page of material, and I take the book from him, saying, “Good job.  Tell me what you read.”

 

Allan gives me the very complete summary, beginning with the main idea and then including all the details.  To my amazement, he infers, concludes, predicts, and evaluates the material.  He is confident and involved in the activity – a much different Allan than the one that struggles with spelling.

 

I stare at him, saying, “That was really an incredible summary.  How are you able to do that?”

 

Looking at me, surprised and now shy, Allan replies, “I don’t know.”

 

Realizing that Allan seems embarrassed and unsure of himself because of my question, I reassure him.  “That really was good.  You have very good reading comprehension.  How did you do that?  If I know what you do to remember what you read, perhaps I can teach others to do it.”

 

Thoughtful, Allan replies, “I don’t know.”  Then, after a pause, he says, “I make movies when I read.”

 

A little surprised, I ask, “What do you mean, you make movies when you read?”

 

“I don’t know.  I just see movies in my head when I read.  The words turn into pictures and I just remember the pictures, the images.  Don’t you do that?”

 

Thinking about the books I’ve read, I finally answer, “Yes.  I do.  I picture what I read.  I guess I’ve just not thought about it.”

 

“Do other people do that, too?”

 

“I don’t know … but I’ll find out …”

 

The statement “I make movies when I read” prompted my twenty-five-year-odyssey exploring the relationship between imagery and language.  Today, twenty years after first writing Visualizing and Verbalizing for Language Comprehension and Thinking, I am still passionate about the importance of imagery to comprehension and cognition. (Bell, 2007, pp. 4-8)

 

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If you have students who are demonstrating weak reading or language comprehension skills, you can learn the steps of the Visualizing and Verbalizing for Language Comprehension and Thinking program by attending one of our workshops for teachers: Schedule and Locations

Ready or Not, Here Comes School: Tips for Your Young Learner

Comprehension, Kindergarten,

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A generation ago, kindergarten days were filled with activities like finger painting, “Hide-and-Go-Seek”, making friends and learning to be peaceful at nap time.

 

And, while reading and spelling may have been introduced in first grade, there was nothing like today’s pressure for students to be performing according to grade-level standards. Sure, there is still art, music, and games, but the specific expectations of teachers—and students, has amplified academic life all the way down to preschool.

 

You may be wondering, “Is my child ready for next year’s classroom?” Or, “Will they be able to keep up?”

 

What to Expect

 

Today, preschool, kindergarten and first grade classrooms offer more academics than in the past. To some degree, your child will definitely be working on:

 

  • Identifying letter names and sounds
  • Sounding out for reading and writing
  • Sight word recognition and spelling
  • Printing letters and numbers
  • Understanding stories
  • Listening comprehension
  • Oral and written communication
  • Counting and understanding numbers
  • Addition and subtraction

Get Some Practice

 

Whether or not we adults feel great about the “new normal” for primary grades—now is the time to familiarize your child with the activities they will be exposed to—so they can feel great about the new year.  Try activities like:

 

  • Read simple books together

Start by reading aloud while guiding your child to follow along with their finger. Have your child start to sound out some of the words. Increase their share of the reading as skills grow.

 

  • Read stories aloud to your child

Read some sections without showing your child the pictures. Ask your child what they are imagining for a character or action.

 

Give Your Child a Boost

Students can spend a few weeks at a local Lindamood-Bell Learning Center to work on the basics that will make next year easier. We work to strengthen the imagery-language connection as a foundation for reading, spelling, comprehension, and math. Your child can get a boost in time for school and have plenty of time for a great summer break.

 

And, if a young child already seems to be struggling with essential skills, such as sounding out words or understanding stories, addressing those issues before school starts can make all the difference for a great school year. We believe all students can learn to read and comprehend to their potential. We can give young students the foundation they need for a confident start and a successful school year!

 

Let’s talk about boosting your child’s learning before school starts: 800-233-1819

 

Bedtime Reading 101: How and Why to Make the Most of this Important Activity

Comprehension, ,

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Bedtime reading can take children to a safe and enchanted world for a few minutes each night; and when kids are cozy and comfortable, reading aloud to them can help them “de-compress” from any worries from the day. Reading to your child is also a special time to be close to your child and bond with them. A wonderful and magical moment for the two of you to spend together with no interruptions, a precious time in this extremely busy and fast moving world we live in.

 

And as if that weren’t enough. . .there are several important benefits to their learning, too!

 

Discover how your child’s learning can benefit from bedtime reading, and how you can maximize the value of your nightly sessions:

 

Increased Language and Vocabulary Skills

 

Many researchers believe that during this nighttime ritual, you’re actually boosting your child’s brain development. Parents can use bedtime stories as a stepping stone for conversation in order to enhance a child’s language skills. For example, while reading with a young child, a father might point to Curious George’s baseball cap and ask questions like, “What color is the hat? Do you have a hat like that? Can you picture what color it is?”, offering practice connecting language and imagery. Reading with a child will expand their vocabulary even more than just talking with them will. This is true because books introduce kids to ideas and objects—such as porridge or kangaroos—that may not be in their direct environment and therefore not a part of their daily conversations. Look for stories that contain particularly rich or colorful language in order to stimulate your child’s vocabulary.

 

Improved Critical Thinking Skills

 

You know the phrase well: “One more time, please!” It might seem like this only serves to delay bedtime. But what kids—and parents—may not know is that reading a book repeatedly may help a child develop his critical thinking skills. The first time children hear a book, they may not fully understand what they listened to. But as they hear it again and again, they start to notice patterns and sequences in the story. Children learn the components of a story, they learn how to predict events that happen in a story, and they learn how to recall events in a particular sequence about stories they have heard. You can further this benefit by asking questions after “The End” like, “What do you think will happen next? How do you see that happening?” or “What do you think would have happened if. . .and what would that have looked like?”

By exercising critical thinking skills during bedtime reading, you are providing a skill set that will be beneficial all through their educational years.

 

Development of Reading Comprehension Skills

Most parents think the bedtime story stage is over once their snuggler learns to read. It doesn’t have to be! Continue this ritual and you can help her become an even better reader than she is right now. In fact, it’s during this time that your child develops reading comprehension skills. To ensure that her reading comprehension is intact, ask her what the story was about, or what she thinks will happen next, or how she would end the story differently. This is the time to confirm that your child is reading for meaning. If she doesn’t understand what she’s reading or listening to, she’s lost the meaning. Experts suggest that parents continue the tradition of bedtime reading even into the teenage years. By choosing books that are slightly above a teen’s skill level, you’ll continue to expose them to new words to add to their vocabulary. And books you’re reading with your child can turn into topics of discussion during dinner time conversation, which continues to be a critical time for connecting with your child.

 

Improvement of Reading Skills

 

As your kids reach the upper-elementary grades, their reading demands increase, yet one-on-one reading instruction for competent readers doesn’t. Listening to you read more advanced books shows her strategies that will help her at school. By listening to the stories that you read, she can see and hear important sight words and learn how to pronounce words correctly. You read aloud with expression. You pause for punctuation. You raise and lower your voice in tune with the action. You speed up or slow down to indicate the degree of tension in the text. All of these components are necessary in order to become independent, global readers.

 

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Bedtime reading can be an opportunity to develop the imagery-language connection as a foundation for your child’s learning skills. However, if you have any concerns about your child’s ability to understand stories, we’re here to help. Contact us for ideas: 800-233-1819

Tips for Parents of Kids with a Comprehension Weakness: The Imagery-Language Connection at Home

Comprehension, Helpful Tips,

When a student has an identified comprehension weakness, parents might pursue help for their academics. Unfortunately, language comprehension troubles can affect family life, too.

 

A primary cause of language comprehension problems is difficulty creating an imagined gestalt. This is called weak concept imagery. This weakness causes individuals to get only “parts” of information they read or hear, but not the whole.

 

Check out some examples of how concept imagery issues can affect school and home:

 

Blog Image-Imagery Language Connection Table

 

The Imagery-Language connection is key to good thinking and communication. You can help your child understand what he/she is hearing in the following ways:

 

1. In Conversation

During discussions with your child about their day or current events in the news, use imagery stimulating questions.  For example, instead of asking, “What do you think about…?” you can ask, “What did you picture for that story in the news today?”  or “What are you picturing for what might happen next?” You can expand upon these questions to dive into their images even more.

 

2. When There’s a Problem to Solve

Help your child monitor his or her understanding of their actions, as well as problem solving skills, by targeting specific images they’re creating while they’re processing oral or written language. Teach them to continually ask themselves whether they understand what the consequences may be of certain actions, and if they’re able to picture the outcome: “If I do this, what might happen? What does that look like?”

 

3. When You Give Instructions

Establish an imagery-language connection through daily life activities to stimulate learning.  For example, when giving your child instructions, such as brushing their teeth, getting dressed, making their bed, ask your child to picture these tasks in their mind before they do them.
If you need further information or have questions regarding your child’s language comprehension weakness, we have answers. Please contact us at 800.300.1818 to find out more.

Colorado School Implementing Lindamood-Bell Outperforms Comparison Schools in Reading

For Schools, Professional Development, Research

Background

Haskin Elementary School in Center, Colorado, serves a large percentage of students who are at-risk of reading failure. From 2010–11 to 2013-14, Haskin implemented Lindamood-Bell instruction to address the specific needs of this student population. The first three years of this project, 2010-11 through 2012-13, were funded through a federal School Improvement Grant (SIG). Five other elementary schools in Colorado implemented other SIG interventions over the same period of time to turn around their schools. These were the first elementary schools (i.e., Cohort I) to receive SIG funding. Haskin students received Seeing Stars® and Visualizing and Verbalizing® instruction to develop symbol imagery and concept imagery for reading and comprehension. Instruction was delivered by Haskin teachers who were trained in the Lindamood-Bell programs. Gains across grades 3-5 were measured with the reading portion of the Transitional Colorado Assessment Program (TCAP) and the results were compared to gains made by students in the other SIG elementary schools, which were not implementing Lindamood-Bell instruction (Note: One of the five schools opened in 2010 and didn’t have TCAP results, so it’s not included in the results for the comparison schools).

 

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Results

Haskin’s 39-point change on the Transitional Colorado Assessment Program (i.e., from 31% in 2010 to 70% in 2014) was nearly four times that of the comparison schools (from 43% to 53%). The results of this study illustrate that Lindamood-Bell instruction in the Seeing Stars and Visualizing and Verbalizing programs leads to improved reading and comprehension, which is essential to achieving success with school curricula.

 

Profile

School Years: 2010–11 through 2013–14

Number of Schools: 5

Grade Levels: 3rd-5th

Lindamood-Bell Programs Implemented:

– Seeing Stars

– Visualizing and Verbalizing

 

 

Additionally, Haskin Elementary used a separate SIG to successfully meet the needs of English Language Learners; and their comprehensive efforts had a positive effect on their kindergarten students, who had been previously identified as  at-risk of reading failure.

 

Lindamood-Bell instruction can change learning for students, regardless of their previous struggle with language and literacy. Contact us to learn how your school can get started: 800-233-1819.