Johan's story

Posted by Darleen on January 11, 2003, 7:50 am

ABOUT JOHAN - brief "background":

Please “bear” with me as I give you Johan’s history, but it is so important to see WHERE he has come from and where he is today thanks to Audiblox and personal attention.

Johan was diagnosed at the age of 3 and half with weak fine-motor control and severe tactile defensiveness. (We couldn’t open the cold tap in the bath fully as it would “hurt” his ears and he couldn’t wear jerseys or socks or anything with a label). He had Occupational Therapy for 3 years.

He is a bright child who from the age of about four, has had a an intense interest in experimenting with substances to create chemical reactions, building contraptions that open and shut with pulleys and levers, opening up old computers and carving / constructing with wood. “Studying” animal behavior and how the human body works is also his favorite pass-time

GRADE 2

In Grade 2 his teacher picked up a “problem” with his reading and spelling. He began to fall more & more behind in his reading in class, & homework became a huge mountain when it came to reading. He swapped his letters frequently: b-d, p-q, & read words back-to-front eg” was-saw, very-every & many more. He began to notice that he was lagging behind in class & it started affecting his self-image. The effects of this hit us when in his last term of grade 2 he started panicking and telling us that he was scared he would fail! His teacher had never mentioned the word & was so supportive of him & us. She was the reason we started our “journey” to find help.

ASSESSMENTS...

We had him assessed by a remedial teacher who informed us his vocabulary was that of an 11 year old, and he had spatial problems, but she felt that there was nothing too serious & she couldn’t really help. She gave us a few “tips” and exercises to help. Now what? We got in contact with an educational specialist & took a 4 hour drive to the city for an assessment.

Johan was "diagnosed" by her with "typical ADD" and she prescribed Ritilin.She also said he needed remedial assistance as per the written assessment done by the remedial teacher! Now we didn’t know what to do! We drove back home confused. After 2 weeks of Ritilin, we were very worried as Johan was weepy, VERY quiet, had lost his spark & just wasn't how we knew our boy. His grade 2 teacher even came to us in tears and asked us to take him off it as: “if it were her child, she would be very worried”. We thank God for his Grade 2 teacher….she was genuinely concerned.

My husband & I decided to take him off Ritilin on our own & have not referred back to the educational specialist since. (I must add that this specialist was doing her “best” as she “knew how”, to help us)

GRADE 3

We discussed Johan’s “problem” with his teacher and the Principle. They said he was too bright to keep back a year, but were worried about his self-image in Grade 3 as he was so behind in reading and spelling. After MUCH “tossing & turning” and prayer, we decided to homeschool Johan for his grade 3 year, with the aim of putting him back into main stream after a year or maybe 2.

I began the awesome task of teaching my own child and it has been such a privilege! He is coping fine without Ritilin. In “little” things I found that if I just let him sit on his leg instead of moaning, he “concentrated” better, or if I let him fiddle with his pencil whilst teaching him (it was ME it actually distracted – not him!) then he seemed to relax a bit more. His self confidence increased & things seemed to improve except the reading & spelling! Reading was still a “nightmare” for us.

Through a Home schooling advisor, I was referred to “AUDIBLOX”. We bought the whole program, & I began to “pour over” the book: “THE RIGHT TO READ”. With excitement I started out on our “new adventure” and began the dyslexia program.

AUDIBLOX

With individual attention, no Ritilin, and the AUDIBLOX DYSLEXIA PROGRAM, we started to see a difference. Within 6 weeks, Johan was beginning to concentrate better. The HUGE change came after 3 months. It was almost like someone had switched the lights on for Johan! He began to ENJOY reading! I walked past his room one evening & the night-light was on. Curious, I peeked in & there was my son sitting up in bed READING on his own!!

It was as if he suddenly discovered something & begged to be allowed to stay up later at night to read. We began to see a difference in his “out-loud” reading to us. He was becoming more confident & although he still struggled with a lot of words, he was trying them & not just throwing his hands in the air & giving up like in the past. It really felt like a “miracle” had taken place in our family.

As the year progressed, Johan’s reading aloud became stronger & his confidence grew. We kept on with the DYSLEXIA PROGRAM & by the end of 2002, we were amazed as we looked back & saw his remarkable progress! I took him for an “assessment” by the grade 3 teacher at his old school. He read an unprepared piece for her & she said that she felt he was average & would place him at the top of her “2nd” reading group in the class. (At the end of grade 2 he was at the bottom of that group).

SCHOOL PROGRAM

The school heard of Johan’s progress & started investigating AUDIBLOX. It is so exciting as they now have as a part of their every day routine the CLASSROOM AUDIBLOX PROGRAM in both grade 1 classes & both grade 2 classes. The teachers have said that they have seen a difference in the children’s concentration.

THANK YOU

Johan still has a long way to go with spelling & writing, but we are confident that this year (2003) he will grow & improve as we continue with AUDIBLOX.

THANK YOU Dr. Strydom & Susan for taking the time putting this book, program & resources together for us. As parents who have a normal child with a bit of a difficulty in one area in his life, we have seen drastic changes & have been given a hope. Thank you!