Dr. B’s Professional Blog Spotlight: Stowell Learning Center
“
“To avoid visual fatigue, try the 20/20/20 rule: Every 20 minutes, look 20 feet away from the screen for 20 seconds.”
- Jill Stowell, Author of At Wit’s End and Stowell Learning Center’s Founder and Executive Director
With school professionals teaching remotely during the health crisis, parents have been strained with assuring their children are learning outside of the classroom. And while professionals are trained to detect learning difficulties, parents are typically not. Research has found that when learning disorders are not identified during a young learner’s lifespan, they are more at risk to poor mental health outcomes compared to peers who have experienced help for their specific problems with learning (Christo et al., 2009). Whether one is struggling to learn online because the teacher has not been trained nor had time to adopt an online pedagogy, the student lacks computer skills/access to technology, or is struggling with pre-existing learning challenges, it can be quite difficult to learn online as a response to a crisis.
Stowell Learning Center (SLC) opened in 1984 to help children and adults with dyslexia, learning disabilities, and other learning and attention challenges. In the past 36 years, SLC has helped thousands of students with a variety of learning challenges to become confident, independent learners by identifying and retraining the weak underlying neurodevelopmental processing, and/or executive function skills that are at the root of learning problems and remediating the academic skills.
Stowell Learning Centers work one-to-one with every student using a comprehensive continuum of learning skills and proven brain-based strategies, creating very specific programming for each student. The centers serve students from all around the world through distance learning collaboration with parents, remote sessions, and on-site sessions in our Chino, Irvine, Pasadena, and Thousand Oaks, CA centers.
Founder and executive director, Jill Stowell is the best-selling author of At Wit’s End, A Parent’s Guide to Ending the Struggle, Tears, and Turmoil of Learning Disabilities. Dr. Ballardo interviewed Jill in efforts to provide expert recommendations on how one may support a loved one or themselves who may be struggling with online learning.
Question and Answers:
Dr. Ballardo: Can you discuss what type of learners that Stowell Learning Center serves? What are the range of ages that the centers serve?
Jill Stowell: Stowell Learning Centers serves students ages 4 to adult. Our students are typically bright but underperforming or are having to work harder or longer than expected due to diagnosed or undiagnosed learning disabilities, auditory processing disorders, dyslexia, or challenges with attention, sensory processing, executive function, comprehension, and/or reading, writing, spelling, or math.
Dr. B: How long has Stowell Learning Center been providing remote services? Has this changed in any way during the pandemic?
Jill: We have provided distance learning services to students around the world for the past 15 years as a combination of remote learning sessions and coaching parents as teaching partners, though the majority of our work has been direct onsite services to students. With the lock down in March, all of our centers went to remote learning overnight, literally! We were delighted to see how resilient and creative our staff and students were! Remote sessions worked beautifully and have allowed us to work with our local students more flexibly around student and family needs and to expand our services to students anywhere in the country without placing the bulk of the instruction on the parents’ shoulders.
Dr. B: Do clinicians provide updates to parents, schools, and/or others that are part of the students’ learning environment?
Jill: SLC clinicians work very closely with parents and communicate with teachers, therapists, and other professionals working with the student. Weekly check-ins with parents allow us to work prescriptively and monthly parent observations/consultations provide support and education to parents as well as keeping them in the loop regarding student progress.
Dr. B: If someone is considering having themselves or a loved one tested for a learning disorder and is feeling nervous about the experience, what might be helpful for them to know about the experience?
Jill: SLC evaluators provide a comfortable and flexible remote or onsite environment for the student. The purpose of our evaluation is not to qualify or formally diagnose, but to understand functionally what the challenges look like for that individual student and what underlying skills are not supporting them well enough, so that we can create the most effective and efficient plan for correcting the challenges.
Dr. B: Do you find that adults can benefit from being tested for a learning disorder?
Jill: The neuroplasticity research and our experience over the last 36 years indicates that the brain can change at any age with targeted and intensive training. Adults who are ready for a change, can absolutely benefit from testing. We find that adults are often very aware of what they are experiencing and what changes they would like to see, so a screening may be more comfortable and sufficient to get them started.
Dr. B: With SLC providing remote services for the past 15 years, can you provide a few recommendations to students who may currently be struggling with becoming first-time online learners?
Here are Jill’s 6 tips for parents and students who may be struggling with online learning:
1. You are not alone! Most people are not as technical as we think they are, so don’t be afraid to ask your teacher,
therapist, or Google (search) to help you with getting started using the platform.
2. Brighten the screen so that it is easier to see the teacher and make sure that your child’s face is well-lit. This will help
communication both ways.
3. Wearing over-the-ear headphones will help with focus, better input, and blocking surrounding noise.
4. To avoid visual fatigue, follow the 20/20/20 rule: Every 20 minutes, look 20 feet away from the screen for 20 seconds.
5. Sit in a chair with your feet planted firmly on the ground. This will improve focus and reduce tiredness.
6. When your child gets restless, whiny, or is yawning repeatedly, they need a break! Take a 1 - 5 minute movement break, get a drink of water, and then start again.
Call to book an appointment with Stowell Learning Center: 877-774-0444
Facebook: @learningdisability
Instagram: @stowellcenter
Twitter: @stowellcenter
YouTube: @LDExpert
LD Expert Broadcasts and links: StowellCenter.com/LDExpert
To view LD Expert Live’s Broadcast with Dr. Ballardo, please click here to learn more about teens and social anxiety
Reference:
Catherine Christo, John M. Davis, & Stephen E. Brock. (2009). Identifying, Assessing, and Treating Dyslexia at School. Springer.