A learning or attention disability can be frustrating, causing an individual to feel depressed or anxious. Therapy is helpful for people with learning and attention issues. Finding the right therapy depends on the social and emotional challenges affecting you or your child. it is important to note that a learning disability does not measure intelligence but measures the way in which an individual can gather and process information.
At the Wellington-Alexander Center, we offer various kinds of effective therapy to treat the individual patient’s needs. If you are unsure about what kind of therapy you can benefit from, give us a call and we will answer any questions you may have. To begin the process, we will schedule a consultation to evaluate the patient’s overall condition, struggles, strengths, and needs through an array of tests.
We will then devise an individualized treatment plan to best treat the patient’s issues. The treatment may be one type of therapy or a combination of therapies. Here are some of the various therapies that help with learning and attention disabilities.
We offer behavioral therapy for children and teens struggling with ADHD. Some children, especially those with severe ADHD symptoms, benefit from behavioral therapy along with medication. For others, the training may make enough difference to enable them to succeed in school and function well at home without medication.
Behavioral therapy can teach children skills that will benefit them as they grow up. One important reason for kids to participate in behavioral therapy is that ADHD medications stop working when one stops taking them. Thus, behavioral therapy can teach children skills that will continue to benefit them as they age.
Language and communication learning disabilities involve the ability to understand or produce a spoken language. Signs of a language-based learning disorder involve problems with verbal language skills, such as the ability to retell a story and the fluency of speech, as well as the ability to understand the meaning of words, parts of speech, and directions.
Speech and language therapy can help people learn to speak more clearly. This helps them feel more confident and less frustrated about speaking to others. Children who have language issues can benefit socially, emotionally and academically from speech therapy.
For children with reading issues such as dyslexia, speech therapy can help them hear and distinguish specific sounds in words. For example, the word bat breaks down into “b,” “a,” and “it” sounds. This can improve reading comprehension skills and encourage children to read. Speech therapy is especially beneficial when children begin early in life.
Sensorimotor therapy integrates sensorimotor processing with cognitive and emotional processing in the treatment of trauma. The sensorimotor therapy uses the body (rather than thoughts or emotions) as a primary entry point in processing trauma.
It directly treats the effects of trauma on the body, which in turn facilitates emotional and cognitive processing. This method is especially beneficial for clinicians working with dissociation; emotional reactivity or flat affect; frozen states or hyperarousal; and other PTSD symptoms.
The goal of reading instruction for people with reading disabilities is to help them acquire the knowledge and skills they need to understand the printed material at a level consistent with their verbal ability or comprehension skills. Our reading therapy takes a systematic approach that builds on previously learned skills one step at a time.
We individualize instruction to address each patient’s unique challenges and abilities. Therapy can include helping a child learn through multisensory experiences and by providing immediate feedback to strengthen a child’s ability to recognize words.
At the Wellington-Alexander Center, we offer Occupational Therapy that can be helpful for those who have trouble with the physical aspects of writing. Learning disabilities with writing can involve the physical act of writing or the mental activity of comprehending and synthesizing information.
Basic writing disorder refers to physical difficulty forming words and letters. Particularly for those with Dysgraphia, a writing disability, we can also work to improve fine motor skills as well as arm position and body posture, as these can all have an impact on hand movement.
Myofascial Therapy is another therapy we offer that focuses on releasing muscular shortness and tightness. There are a number of conditions and symptoms that myofascial release therapy addresses. Many patients seek myofascial treatment after losing flexibility or function following an injury.
In other cases, myofascial therapy can help with ongoing back, shoulder, hip, or virtually pain in any area containing soft tissue that is causing anxiety or discomfort. Other conditions treated by myofascial release therapy include Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) disorder, carpal tunnel syndrome, or possibly fibromyalgia or migraine headaches.
If you would like to learn more about forms of therapy and the various treatments we provide, call (480) 439-0099 to schedule a consultation.
