(330kb PDF) Extract from the Australian Orthoptic
Journal, Volume 34. 1999Moss Vale - Central Coast - Canberra - Victoria - Western Australia
(330kb PDF) Extract from the Australian Orthoptic
Journal, Volume 34. 1999
A
letter from J. Harris
'A Parents journey to find help for her
son!'
A
letter from Mrs Beverley
10 October 2004
I have been more than amazed at the improvements in Rebecca's school work whilst doing the treatment.
I think we have set Rebecca's life on a completely new course that would never have been possible without this treatment.
Rebecca's teacher is also amazed at the improvements and advancements in Rebecca's work. I am acting like someone who has just found religion, but I am preaching the Alison Lawson gospel.
Thank you for changing our life.
A letter from Susan E. Dorsen
Dear Mrs Lawson
I am writing to say how much we have appreciated your work as an Orthoptist in connection with our son, Simon. As you know, he has been suffering from dyslexia all of his life, with reading, sequencing and writing disabilities. Needless to say, this has also affected his level of comprehension. Before we heard of you from a friend, we did not know what an Orthoptist was nor of the developments which are in practice to help people like our son. It is a tragedy your profession keeps such a low profile knowing that some 10-20 per cent of the population suffers from varying degrees of dyslexia and associated reading problems.
After only seven sessions you have performed a miracle! Simon is now able to read better and faster, his school subjects in Year 10 are improving, especially a noticeable difference in Maths. As you know, he is a keen basketball player and even his shooting and court vision are noticeably better. All of this augers well as he is about to take on Year 11 and 12 and the HSC. His confidence has increased and he can now look forward to a more positive future knowing his eyesight and connecting brain function have been corrected.
Thank you so much for your encouragement - your dedication is a credit to your profession.
Kind
regards,
Susan E. Dorsen
A letter from Dr Roger Jones
To Whom it may concern
A brief letter of recommendation regarding Mrs Lawson and her treatment especially of children with reading and visual difficulties. I can highly recommend her and her treatment of children, having sent two of my children, Stephen now aged 15 and Richard aged 13 to her care. They both had severe reading problems with ongoing learning difficulties. With her careful patience and care, advice and treatment they were given 6-10 courses of treatment and have both progressed very well and are now reading normal for their age and their consequent learning difficulties are gone.
Thus in conclusion I highly recommend her both from a clinically point of view, in my work in the medical profession, and also on a personal level because of her treatment for what I consider to be quite difficult cases.
Yours
sincerely
Dr Roger Jones
A letter from Christine Lovison
To Whom it may concern
Shaun
Lovison
Date of Birth: 17 September 1984
The above was diagnosed as having dyslexia. Shaun was treated by Mrs Alison Lawson for eleven (11) treatments in conjunction with home exercises prescribed by Mrs Lawson's structured program. At the conclusion of the treatment Shaun is totally cured of dyslexia.
Christine Lovison
A
letter from Daryl Grewar
Dec 2004
Tina and myself have seen a huge improvement in Joel over the last ten weeks in both his behavior and mainly his school work. He is now the first of our children up and ready for school every morning and not the last. Thank you.
Daryl
Grewar
Wagga
Letter from Elizabeth
Van-Lane - Sydney
20th February ,
2003
Alison Lawson has treated three of my children – Cameron aged 14, Thomas
aged 17 and Gretel aged 19 – for Dyslexia. Each has had trouble throughout their
schooling and only recently was given a reason for such difficulties. Such a
crippling disability has affected many areas of their lives including school
grades and confidence.
Over 10 sessions each of my children were pushed
visually and mentally to achieve what was said to be impossible – to be cured of
dyslexia. Since their treatment all have shown remarkable improvement
academically and in other areas.
Camerons’ grades and reading have improved. He has been promoted from playing back in soccer to a striker due to his improved shooting. Other sports such as ice hockey have also benefited.
Thomas is also now an avid reader and even reads on the way to school. He is now entering his final year of school and is more confident with his schoolwork and has marks to show for it. I used to buy the boys books but now they want to shop for themselves.
Gretel has found her concentration and understanding has improved as she enters into her first year of University. Her reading has also improved in speed and accuracy.
On a personal level, Mrs Lawson treated my children with dignity and helped them regain their self-confidence. All areas affected by dyslexia were dealt with for long-term results. For this, I thank her and highly recommend her treatment to any child or adult with dyslexia.
Letter from Christopher Sutton – South Australia
D.O.B. –
30/01/46
Treatment from 20/11/00 – 1/12/00.
29th November, 2000
From my early years in primary school I can remember being sent home from school with reports of being lazy and or inattentive during class. My parents took me to the Adelaide Children’s’ Hospital Psychological evaluation unit where I was studied and tested extensively, physically and mentally, only to hear he is not stupid and we can find nothing wrong with your child, he is very bright. The same problem continued throughout high school.
I studied a Trade where I repeated years of theory with very questionable and marginal passes but high passes to credits with my practical. I encountered extreme difficulty reading not to be proud of it but I have only read one book in my life. Most of the time you scan for key words then try to piece things together.
Handwriting was always an almost unreadable scrawl in a mixture of upper and lower case. When writing on a blank sheet of paper the written lines would go up on an angle to the right and get worse by the time the bottom of the page was reached. If I tried to read, the line would blur or run into the line above, causing you to start to read the line again and would also NOT understand what I read. When hanging out the washing I would have to walk forward with my arm up until the line was touched.
Overall the changes are:
1) Can now read and keep focus on the
line
2) Can understand what I read
3) Can print a very legible upper or lower
case
4) Can focus with both eyes at varying
distances
5) Can write in a straight line across a blank
sheet
6) Have gained a perception of depth when
filling a glass
7) Vision in the right eye is clearer and more
focused
Conclusion
I have no doubt that over the coming weeks and
months there will be many more advantages
discovered.
Who
would have believed that in almost 50 years to November 2000 I had only read one
book and probably not completed at that, to now reading approximately a book a
week, and how’s this, I can even remember the story, as my wife Kay asks me
questions about the story line as I progress through the book. I no sooner
finish one book and she has another waiting for me to start. I sit up to 2.30 am
reading, what a GREAT EXPERIENCE a bit like going to the movies, the only
difference is that you read it instead of hearing it, but can visualize it as
you go.
As Charles said to me, I would have a whole new world open up,
and from my point it has and is filled with adventure and excitement….
To
two very special people, I would like to thank you again from my family and
myself for your encouragement to others and dedication to the task of helping
and supporting people with Dyslexia.
Regards,
Chris
A letter from Mrs L. Ball
Newcastle, NSW
14th December, 2009.
Hi Maria,
It's been six months since Connor and
Aiden's treatment and we have just received the BEST EVER school
report.
Connor who received a D for English Term 4 last year (behind
in writing and reading), this year received a B (but an A in reading and
writing)! It is so fantastic! I can't wait to see how much he improves in the
coming years. I think he hasn't hit full power yet, he is still on the
improve.
Aiden whom I was told was only average for Year 3 last year, is now
an outstanding student with Distinctions in the NSW Uni writing and Science
comps, credit in English, Computers and Maths.
I wish that everyone who has kids that struggle because of eye issues would find your clinic.
Thanks so much,
Lisa & Mark Ball.
A letter from Mrs T. Tulley
Jilliby, NSW
11th May, 2008
Dear Maria,
Before attending The Alison Lawson Centre, my son Lachlan had been plagued with appalling spelling, appalling reading skills, poor concentration, constant arguments to get him to do homework, unreadable handwriting, constant headaches and lot’s of complaints about going to school unless sport was involved.
I had asked all his teachers from kindergarten up if they felt he had dyslexia as his father and grandfather both did, but was always told that boys could be a little slower and he would catch up.
Finally in
January of this year his father and I decided to do some personal research for
ourselves and that is when we came upon the website for the Alison Lawson Centre
and meeting yourself and starting
Since completing the program, the difference has been astounding.
His handwriting is readable and neat (especially since he is left handed), his spelling has improved 100% and if he has trouble with a word he is much quicker to learn the word, therefore his memory has improved as well.
His reading has come along the most. Everyone comments on it, even his teacher at parent/teacher interviews expressed her delight at how much he has come along, and with this improvement his self confidence has grown so much. I am constantly amazed at how often he reads things aloud now, signs, stickers, posters at the shopping centre etc, even if he has trouble with a word he has learnt to sound it out and 9 out of 10 times he gets it.
He actually wants to read books to me now, he brings them to me and sits down and starts reading.
I would like to thank you very much for what you have done for my son & I would be more than happy to recommend the program to anyone who has a child that is having problems.
Kind regards
Tiffany Tulley
A letter from Mrs
M. Arnott
Lambton, NSW
2nd August, 2007.
Dear
Maria,
I am writing to let you
know how happy we are with Cameron’s progress since he was treated at the Alison
Lawson Centre in Wyong.
Cameron was experiencing
difficulties with his reading. He
had trouble with the pronunciation of words, would omit or substitute words and
was well below his reading age.
Cameron had difficulty with spelling and story writing. Also, his handwriting was unruly and he
often wrote letters incorrectly. In
Maths he was not confident with his times tables and had trouble understanding
problems, mainly due to his lower reading
ability.
My husband and I have found
Cameron to be a lot calmer and more confident since his treatment at the Alison
Lawson Centre. We have noticed
improvements in Cameron’s handwriting, reading, times tables and ability to
retain information. Cameron’s
speech is a lot clearer and his thoughts more organised. He even said he likes
spelling!
Cameron’s teacher has
noticed that he is able to work more independently over a longer period and is
taking more responsibility for his own learning. Academically, his teacher said he is
producing longer, more organised text.
He is writing more grammatically correct sentences and has marked
improvements in spelling and editing skills. His Maths has improved and he is able to
grasp more complicated subjects and retain the information for longer periods of
time.
In school sport and PE
Cameron has shown increased confidence and an improvement in co-ordination
skills. He wants to be involved in
sporting activities at school.
During the time of Cameron
attending the Alison Lawson Centre he received two Merit Awards for ‘Improved
Handwriting’ from his teacher and at the end of semester, in the middle school
assembly, he received a Principal’s Award for ‘Most Improved in
PDHPE”.
Cameron’s tennis coach has
also noticed improvements with his co-ordination and that Cameron is a lot
calmer and more confident. The
coach said recently, in some match play he beat the best child in the
group. This was a first for
Cameron!
My husband and I are
delighted with the improvements Cameron has made so far and with continued
support from home, school and tutoring he will continue to
improve.
We are very grateful for
the support, encouragement and dedication shown to Cameron during the ten-week
program. The program was highly
recommended to us and having experienced a positive outcome, we would not
hesitate to recommend it as well.
Once again thank
you,
Yours
sincerely
Mrs
M. Arnott
Follow up letter from Mrs M. Arnott
23rd August, 2007.
Dear
Maria
..... “I thought you might like to know that
only last week Cameron came home from tennis coaching and said Mark, his coach,
was 'gobsmacked' at how much he had improved. All the kids in the group said Cameron
you are running so fast and hitting good
shots.
I have Mark for lessons too and he said to
me that Cameron has improved so much - he was
delighted.
Cameron's teacher said, in the Basic Skills
Test, Cameron wrote the best story ever - she was really
pleased.”
Regards
Mrs M.Arnott
A letter from Mrs Lilley
Jilliby, NSW
11th July, 2007
"......Upon reading the Wyong Grapevine (magazine) I found this interesting story on Redal Dyslexia Therapy so I thought I would give it a try..
We ll to my surprise it is one of the best moves I've made as a parent. Melissa had her first appointment with Maria who was very understanding and interested in helping us.
As it was Melissa wasn't dyslexic but she did have a ridge in her concentration and with Maria's help and a lot of hard work and encouragement over a period of weeks, Melissa's reading, spelling, concentration and her overall school work has improved dramatically and Melissa now has the confidence in herself to complete most tasks within a given time limit.
The Alison
Lawson Centre –
25th January, 2008.
Hello Jim and Bronwyn,
It's Samantha Pertzel here just letting you know about my
progress.
Thanks to Jim and Bronwyn I have now passed my course called "Certificate
4 in Health Science Foundations", I received 1 Distinction, 2 Credits and 3
passes!
Guess what! I also applied for University and I received
an offer for my first preference which is
I'm
sooo proud of myself!!!
You
know, I'm soo glad I went to visit you guys!!
I
would never have thought I was going to become a Uni
student!
I
think the treatment has helped me in a big way. I am remembering alot of things
that I wouldn't normally remember before the treatment. I am remembering peoples
names now, I had alot of trouble doing this before. I passed all my tests with
the help of the method that I was shown by Jim! I wrote it out then wrote it out
again to study for the tests and it really does work!!! Thanks again Jim and
Bronwyn, what would I have done without you both!
I
am now looking forward to starting Uni and becoming a Division 1 Nurse in three
years time! I can't wait!!!
Yours sincerely
Samantha Pertzel
Amy's Story
I went through most of my schooling absolutely hating reading and writing and anything that involved either one (which is pretty much everything at school) I would do anything to avoid reading. I forgot to bring my books, couldn't remember where they were, 'lost' quite a few. I did well in most areas of school, so most of my teachers just thought I was lazy; which was fine by me. I played up to it because it was better than them thinking I was dumb. It wasn't until I was in year 11 that my Mum heard about the Alison Lawson Clinic. The description sounded just like me, trouble reading (I just didn't), awful speller (nothing seemed to work), clumsy (if there was something to trip over, I tripped over it), bad hand-eye coordination (could never quite catch anything) and the list went on. She convinced me to go and get tested. I was exceptionally reluctant, but thought, hey it's a day off school and it might make her stop bugging me.
It turned out I had dyslexia, which again worked well for me; now I had something to blame my laziness on. Much to my Mum's disgust I flatly refused to have the treatment. At the time the clinic was in Moss Vale and I pretty much couldn't be bothered. I didn't want to have to miss out on stuff at school and just assumed that I was too old for it.
After a lot of persuasion and a little bit of bribery Mum managed to convince me that I should at least give it a shot. So, in very bad humour I started going once a week up to Moss Vale. About half way through the treatment, we were driving home and I suddenly noticed the clouds. They looked like they were sticking out of the sky, like I could actually reach out and grab them. I'd never seen anything like it. I pointed them out to Mum and she looked at me like I was insane, they didn't look any different to her. Because my depth perception was improving I was finally able to see things in 3D. As soon as I got home I thought I'd test this theory and got out a magic eye book. I'd never been able to do them before and was secretly hoping that I still couldn't, so that I could tell Mum that in fact nothing had changed and she was wrong. But my hopes were dashed when I saw a unicorn pop out of the page.
I now go to Melbourne Uni and am finishing my Primary Education degree with honors at the end of this year. I'm no where near as clumsy as I used to be, I trip over a lot less, and really enjoy playing ball sports, maybe that's because I can catch now. I love reading (who would have thought?), and I can actually concentrate in lectures because I can follow the PowerPoints. Now that the words and letters stay in the one place, doing all the reading for uni isn't that bad and it doesn't take me as long as it would have a few years ago. I used to hate neon lights; it was always a struggle to know what they said, but not any longer. When I'm really tired I do still have a few issues with focusing my eyes, and I can tell they start to go off (I go a bit cross eyed), but the fact that I can even notice that happening is pretty impressive.
29 June 2006
A letter from Mrs Louise S
Dear James and Bronwyn
Just thought I'd drop you a note to let you know how everything is going with Lauren.
I've looked at the form you asked me to fill in, and each time I looked at it I thought I really must get around to doing that, but there wasn't enough room to tell you everything that I wanted to say - hence this letter.
Lauren's self confidence is right off the scale of 1-5 (I think she is probably nudging a 10). She is really enjoying reading. At the moment she is working her way through the Chronicles of Narnia and loves nothing better than going to bed with a book and just reading. When I yell out to turn the light out and go to sleep the usual response is “I just need to finish this chapter”. This is something of a small miracle. Her writing has also improved. Not so long ago she completed a science assignment on malaria without any help from me at all. The sentences all made sense and were well constructed, using the appropriate punctuation. I think she scored 86% for that effort. Something that she has never been able to achieve before.
Today she came home from school and said “Mum, we had a maths quiz today and I scored 75% because I can remember stuff now.” So I hope that answers the short term memory question.
I have no suggestion on how you can improve your service. I don't think you could do it any better than you do. The one-on-one personal attention is great and Lauren really responded to that.
Thank you for all you have done for Lauren.
Regards
Mrs Louise S
22 May 2006
A letter from R. M.
This has been an incredibly important time for Kit. It was very difficult for him being in Year 12 to find out he had dyslexia. But how lucky we have been to be in the same part of the world as Alison, Jim and Bronwyn. Thank you thank you thank you! Kit now has hope and is really excited about his future. Jim is a great life coach. Keep up the incredible work. Thank you very much. We are so very grateful.
Mrs R. M.
8 July 05
A letter from Sandra and
Mat
We have seen a great improvement in Mat's reading and writing and his willingness to do his homework and read his books. His concentration levels have increased dramatically and we no longer have to argue over reading a book.
Your service is wonderful. Mathew has loved coming to the centre because he said you are both very nice and really kind. The way you speak to the children is very encouraging and supportive. Don't change a thing.
Sandra and Mat
April 2005
A letter from Daryl
Grewar
Tina and I have seen a huge improvement in Joel over the last ten weeks in both his behavior and mainly his school work. He is now the first of our children up and ready for school every morning and not the last. Thank you.
Daryl Grewar
Wagga
Dec 2004
A letter from Mrs Beverley
C
I have been more than amazed at the improvements in Rebecca's school work whilst doing the treatment.
I think we have set Rebecca's life on a completely new course that would never have been possible without this treatment.
Rebecca's teacher is also amazed at the improvements and advancements in Rebecca's work. I am acting like someone who has just found religion, but I am preaching the Alison Lawson gospel.
Thank you for changing our life.
Mrs Beverley C
10 October 2004
LETTER FROM MRS MAREE S
–
Dear James & Bronwyn
My husband and I wanted to wait awhile before responding to your questionnaire to give it some to observe if there were any changes and gauge those changes.
We have noticed a huge change in T…’s attitude and confidence to reading. He is improving each week and his confidence is growing, especially when he doesn’t know the word he is working it our by himself. He will read of his own accord and is more confident in reading to us. The improvement in comprehension is huge! He is also proud when he finishes the book and can move onto the next one.
He has continued on with the recommended Kumon lessons (English), and is keen next year to have a break and switch and do maths for a while. Actually he does his homework without too much moaning!!, he is quite enjoying it – amazing.
We are waiting to see what difference there is in his school report, although it maybe too early to get an accurate reflection (I think school grades have already been done even though there’s still a few weeks to go).
We also see an improvement in hand eye coordination, such as his ball skills, especially catching.
I wish we knew about your program sooner. Thanks for giving T… the confidence to believe in himself, and that he really isn’t dumb or stupid (as that’s how he was feeling). He is blossoming on and now providing other challenges for his parents!
I guess it is best summed up by the fact he volunteered to read at school assembly! He practiced at home so he had it right. I went to the assembly and he read like a professional, far better than at home. I was so proud that he was even up in front of everyone, let alone reading so well and all perfectly timed with processional – I admit I did have tears in my eyes. I could hardly believe it was my son on stage.
So really all we can say is a HUGE THANK YOU. Keep up the fantastic work. I wonder if you realise how much impact you have on so many kids like this.
Kind regards
Maree
LETTER FROM MRS M.F. MOUNT HOPE NSW
16 December 2007
Dear James & Bronwyn
It has certainly been a busy time since we saw you last. It has been almost 12 months, although I find that very hard to believe. G… S… and H… have all grown so much in confidence, maturity and ability since we spent some time with you both.
G… has been working here on the farm doing her Certificate 111 in Agriculture which is due to finish in January 08. She has also been working through the OTEN English course. She has done all this even though her Asthma has been giving her a lot of trouble all this year. As usual, G… has been worried that she has not been doing well in the course. She finally had to agree with us, that she had been doing very well when she was awarded a TAFE scholarship for her consistently great work!! She will be continuing with the OTEN course in 2008 and at this stage working on the property for the time being.
S… has been doing his HSC through Pathways (taking three years instead of two). He has done very well this year. He did exams in Ancient History, General Maths and Metal & Engineering this year. In 2008 he will study English and I.T. We had our school presentation day on Friday and S… received a lot of awards. He received a HSC Book award for Consistent Achievement in Metal & Engineering, General Maths, Ancient History and Standard English. The High Achiever Award for work placement in Metal & Engineering. He also received the ADF Long Tan Leadership & Teamwork Award. A very good year indeed.
H… has been doing Year 10 this year. Things have gone well for H…. Although I would not go as far as saying H… now enjoyed school, it certainly has been easier for him this year. He has been working with a teacher this year who has done a brilliant job with him. They have been doing hour long phone lessons 4 times a week for most of the year. He has also had 2 other teachers who have been ringing him regularly. His confidence level has risen almost as much as his height.
At presentation day on Friday, H… received Certificate of Application in HSIE, Personal Development, Health & Physical Education and Agriculture Life Skills. The biggest and nicest surprise of all …. Certificate of Outstanding Achievement in English!!! I guess that you can imagine how thrilled we were!! H… has decided to work on the farm next year but he will also be going back and doing Pathways studying English & Maths only.
Hopefully you will be able to put this with your list of testimonial. The F…. family is proof of the program, IT REALLY DOES WORK. We really can not thank you both enough for everything that you have done for our family. We want to wish you both and all of your family the best Christmas and hope2008 is both happy and healthy for you all.
Mrs M.F.
Mount Hope NSW
LETTER FROM MRS ROSALEA RADFORD –
13 December
2006
Dear James & Bronwyn
Brodie is now doing fantastic with his reading and writing. He continues to amaze us with remembering things and his concentration levels have soared – “no more fidgeting”!! Without your help Brodie would still be struggling through school and we thank you very much for that. He’s only going to get better and that means the world to us.
Thank you
Mrs Rosalie Radford
Teacher’s comments 24/03/10: Zoe age 11 seems to be a lot more
confident in herself. She is getting the work completed in class which she
previously wasn’t. She is also not asking what we have to do as much…so I think
her listening skills have improved as she is able to follow multiple
instructions now. Her spelling has improved and she is taking more pride in her
work.
Angela 26/11/09: Tom age 8 found
the work was hard but worth every bit of it. Listening to him read last night
was so wonderful. No longer does he think over every word, just a few and has
made amazing progress. You are right, this is life changing. It is hard as a
parent when you know that your child is clever in so many ways but you cannot
get it out of them. I can now see him shine.
Nichole 03/12/09: Nick age 11 at cricket last week held a conversation with Jim about school and story writing. Jim commented to me later, “He’s a different kid. What have you done?” He also mentioned Nick made eye contact whilst he continued the conversation. Others have made similar observations of Nick’s behavior in recent times. Meeting with Nick’s teacher he said in the last few months Nick had been happier and more social in the classroom and playground. When I asked Nick how it made him feel inside, he replied “happy.” He said he feels more confident speaking and asking questions. He also commented “I pick my pen up correctly every time now,” he seemed both amazed and surprised. His pen grip is correct now and I’d tried everything for years to fix his grip with no success.
Margo 16/09/09: For Danielle age 15. I have definitely noticed her lack of fatigue when reading, computer, homework and a lack of headaches. I finally feel that we’ve made a significant breakthrough in her ability to learn and look forward to watching her progress.
Charlene 13/10/09: Joe age 9 enjoys reading his school readers and looks forward to changing them for new stories. He has gone up a reading group at school and words and letters no longer scare him away from trying to find out information. It is great to see him enjoying reading rather than trying to avoid it. Thank you very much for helping Joe to read and spell better.
Veronica 08/09/09: For Robert age 11. I have noticed an improvement in Robert’s confidence in his own abilities as well as an increased speed and quality of his handwriting. He has shown an improved ability to play the piano. Thanks for all your assistance and patience. Lots of work but Robert succeeded because of your encouragement.
Fiona 13/06/09: Just a note to say that Nathan age 7 although he is in grade one is doing all grade 2 work and is holding his own. A couple of weeks ago they performed plays and he was chosen by his teacher to be the reader. Nathan performed a magic show in a talent show at school. There were over forty entries and he won first place. Not bad considering it was the whole school so he was competing against grade sixes. Before the therapy he could not have done it, he would never remember the tricks let alone performed a show. I am very impressed with your treatment and would recommend you to everyone. Thank you so much for everything.
LETTER FROM M & M SKELTON - BACCHUS MARSH
VICTORIA
16th May 2008
Dear Fiona
We would just like to thank you for your assistance with both Emily ages 10 years and Kaitlin aged 8, with their dyslexia. During the time that they have spent doing the course with you, they have improved immensely.
We have noticed a huge improvement in Kaitlin’s reading abilities and within the home we will continue to work on her spelling. She came home from school on Friday with two stickers from her teacher for her school spelling, as she got ten out of ten, her smile and enthusiasm has been worth the early morning starts and long trips for us, to you. Kaitlin’s sounding out of words and retaining them has also vastly improved. Her teacher has also said she has seen an advancement with Kaitlin’s work. .
The homework, while sometimes was hard to fit into their busy schedule, was doable, even if mum got it wrong sometimes.
From watching black and white TV, to finding the nominated letters in the books, or practicing their handwriting, by doing the alphabet and numbers sequences and eye exercises, this has all helped.
Both Emily and Kaitlin, will themselves need to self adjust their writing grip with their pencils and pens at school, when at home we can oversee that they are holding their pens correctly.
Over the time they have spent with you Fiona, they have become more confident in the class room. Emily has especially noticed an improvement with her transcript writing, she is getting work done within the required time allocated and doesn’t have uncompleted work sitting in her folders. We have also noticed a vast improvement in her reading.
Last week at Emily’s final assessment, we were amazed by the size of print that she can now read without hesitation, which to say the least is brilliant, compared to the size of the print that she was reading at her first assessment with you. With Emily we can now also concentrate on her spelling skills so she is on a par with her classmate, and find the self assurance within herself. Emily and Kaitlin now know they are just as good and if not better than children in their classes, they now have the confidence to know they can achieve.
We both wish to thankyou for your time and patience with both Emily and Kaitlin, especially on the eye/pen exercises. We both feel the time and money we have spent with you in completing this course for Emily and Kaitlin has been time and money well spent. We have had no hesitation in recommending your course to anyone who may have asked about it.
We can only hope that this program could get the recognition that it deserves by the government and Medicare, so that other families may benefit by your teachings. Every child going through the school system should be assessed for dyslexia by grade two, instead of being pushed aside , as a to hard or lazy child to deal with, and that they could all have a chance at becoming shining, bright and confident like we now see within Emily and Kaitlin.
Once again thankyou, regards and best wishes.
23rd May 2008.
Jake Schroder -8 years old
The treatment benefited Jake in many different ways.
Not only did his writing improve (the main reason for our lessons) but he has become better at understanding the questions and what they want him to do when he does work –sheets.
Jake has also become more self confident and trusts himself more now when writing. In the past Jake would get frustrated and angry when he wrote his letters or numbers back to front, where as now he recognises his mistakes, fixes them and does not get stressed as before. This has helped him in “not giving up when it all seems too hard.”
Jake has also become a better listener being able to recall more information than he could previously. He has also learnt how to ‘scan’ systematically in order to save time and make sure he has a systematic way to get work done.
On top of all of this he has learnt about the English language (grammar, verbs, and vowels) that he had not previously been taught at school! - What a bonus!
Jake has enjoyed his lessons and always leaves feeling confident and proud of himself for doing so much work. I believe a lot of this has to do with the high quality and attention to detail and patience that Fiona provides.
I am so happy with the improvement I have seen in Jake in only 10 weeks!
* I only wish I could keep on coming to lessons as it has changed his perception of himself and his abilities.
Thankyou!
Caline (Mum)
As Jake’s grandma, I have been privileged to attend all the sessions. Fiona is an amazing person, very caring and patient.
As mentioned by Caline, Jake has improved tremendously and is so proud of himself and so are we.
The fun part is also to go back home and keep teaching him what Fiona has taught us.
I would recommend everyone those 10 sessions as it is an
investment in the future. I wish I had known about this type of tutoring when we
lived in
The 3 of us have benefited tremendously and I cannot thank you enough.
I too wish we could keep coming here as we learn in a fun way.
All the very best,
Janine (grandma)
Western
Australia
The Alison Lawson Centre –
Treated
March 2011:
Response
from mother of 11 year old, who was home schooling him because of his failure to
progress at school. (Mother was a
primary school teacher)
(a) What did you
think of the treatment and the results obtained?
I
thought the treatment was administered in a very empathetic and professional
manner. I felt very welcome to ask questions prior to and during treatment.
I was given a thorough idea of what the therapy was and whether it would be of
benefit to my son. I was not able to receive the same kind of macular
testing at a typical optometrist (I did try) and this was evident upon arriving
at the clinic and witnessing the testing there. I was told that my son did
indeed qualify for the therapy due to unsteady fixation. The second day into the
treatment it was obvious that something had vastly changed for him. He was
independently reading and enjoying a novel by Roald Dahl and laughing aloud.
This was a long awaited joy to watch! I had given up on teaching him
running/hand writing but by day 2 he was succeeding in this and amazed at his
own level of neatness. He thanked me for bringing him to Dalwallinu over
and over as he said he could see things he hadn't been able to see before (just
too hard to focus on) eg the very small writing on the back of a
conditioner bottle. He also spent time reading the words around the house found
on the wall art. As the treatment specifies, we did make sure to complete as
much of the take home remedial work as possible each day. We have been very
happy with the results obtained from the treatment; so much so that I have
confidently enrolled him back into school for the coming year after 3 years of
home-schooling. I am particularly happy with the confidence this treatment has
given to my son. He realises that he has had a problem with his eye and now
doesn't need to fall into the trap of thinking himself 'dumb' etc. He
does still need to put work in in order to catch up on becoming a fluent
reader.
What
changes have you noticed since the treatment?
*
Ease
of reading, memory improved (words/blends stick), reads words all the way
through rather than just the beginning and guessing the rest. Increased
speed/fluency. Not nervous to read aloud to others.
*
Writing
is neat and the speed is improved. Ability to copy work form the board/books is
improved.
*
Spelling
is very much improved. He has surprised himself with his ability to
independently run the Excellency in Spelling program which he was struggling
with previously. Prior to Dalwallinu it would take him weeks to move on to
a new list of words as he had too many corrections. Now he moves on to a new
list daily.
What changes has your child
noticed?
(All of the below are
true statements from the boy who was treated)
-I can read, I can running write, I can see perfectly, my life has changed dramatically because I can do absolutely everything I couldn’t do before!
-One
of the good things is I’m better at playing computer
games.
-I fit in with kids better, I read quite
fast, I’ve caught up to what all the other kids are doing. I used to be
embarrassed of my reading skills but now I’m not afraid to read in front of
other people.
Do
you have any additional comments?
I am
so grateful to the Alison Lawson Centre WA. It has been a life changing
experience for my son and also myself as we now look forward to re-entry in to
the school system. The therapy has given my son his confidence back and his
health. Most importantly it has given my son the chance to be educated and
empowered. I remember my sadness in the past when my son would be so tired from
reading just a few pages and yet now I hear no complaints. I still can't really
believe it.
Treated:
April 2011:
Response
from mother of 11 year old:
What
changes have you noticed since the treatment?
*
Finds reading more enjoyable. Follows words correctly
*
Writing more legible
*
Co-ordination eye-hand better
*
Follows music
What
changes has your child noticed?
*
Catching balls easier
Treated
April 2011:
Response
from 28 year old male:
I
feel the treatment was definitely worthwhile.
What
changes have you noticed since the treatment?
*
Writing
has improved
*
Spelling
has improved
*
Memory
of what I read has improved