Jorge is a brilliant visual-spatial learner with caring parents that insisted on a very linear structured private parochial school. Jorge was very cooperative and a wonderful joy to have in class— and he was falling further and further behind in his studies when he came to my office. I know the school Jorge attended well, and if you do not keep up academically you are out on your ear. Jorge is the only student I know of who was kept on and promoted year after year, despite his failing grades and his difficulty with understanding the rigid linear curriculum. It is important to note that Jorge does not have a drug problem, nor does he present himself as one of the more “self-expressive” troubled individuals. This educational program was the last program on earth that Jorge should be in! His mother proclaimed continually, “… all his friends are there, he can’t leave his friends!”
The Power Tools for Learning home program was started over three times to develop Jorge’s low abilities and to work on basic vocabulary skills that interfered with Jorge’s ability to read and write at grade level. Words did not come easy for Jorge, but when words did come—Jorge had a wonderful sense of humor and his classmates and friends enjoyed having him around. We would restart Jorge’s home protocol, and there would be a lack of follow-through—Jorge would again become discouraged and stop doing the work needed to make continual progress. Jorge continued to struggle. Jorge was one of the few students his tutor refused to work with because he would not attempt to do the work. Jorge needed extensive assistance with his resistance to move forward academically. His mother was distraught and could not get this young man motivated beyond his after-school naps. He was depressed and he needed professional help.
Family stress and dynamics play a large part in why some of these situations can paralyze the individual and the entire family. I have seen remarkable improvement with clients who work together as a family unit to address the learning issues as opposed to singling out the child as the one with the problem. Jorge is carrying the weight of his family on his teenage shoulders. It is very frustrating to see low abilities (that can easily be developed) with a SOI™ evaluation and get no cooperation from the student or the parent. Jorge is now an adult; he graduated from high school, briefly attended college, and went to work in the family business. Jorge is a visual-spatial learner working in the family-owned construction business and doing well. What about the visual-spatial learner who does not have a family business to fall back on?
Comments