Defeated: Severe Problems in Reading,
Spelling, and Handwriting

According to Mrs. Smith her daughter Carol — at the time a first-grade student — had the following learning difficulties:

• Language delay due to deafness until she was three years of age;
• A severe reading and spelling problem;
• Reversals;
• Very slow work tempo;
• Her attention fluctuated terribly.

Mrs. Smith also submitted Carol's school reports. The weakest scores on Carol's first-grade report were for written work and handwriting. She obtained 4's (unsatisfactory) for both.

The school wanted Carol to be sent to a special class or a special school. Her mother, however, decided to try to prevent this step and embarked on the Audiblox program:

At the end of second grade, after doing Audiblox for 14 months, Carol's mother reported:

• Carol no longer has a reading problem;
• She now mostly obtains full marks for her spelling tests;
• Her work tempo has greatly improved;
• Her ability to concentrate is excellent;
• She still occasionally reverses letters, but this is rarely the case.

Carol's highest score on her second-grade report was for handwriting. She obtained a 1 (excellent) for handwriting. She obtained 2's (good) for oral work, written work and reading.

Carol's second-grade teacher, Mrs. Kitshoff, reported:

“Carol's schoolwork has improved noticeably. Her written work has grown from simple sentences to beautifully written independent sentences with few spelling errors. Reading improved from 25 words per minute to 54. At the end of the second quarter she received an award for the best progress in her class.

“While at first her attention span was very short and she was easily distracted, she can now concentrate for a reasonable period of time.”

Also remarkable is that Carol's first-grade report indicated that she was a loner, while on her second-grade report she is described as a person who has good relationships with her peers.