We have had the pleasure of
working with many professionals, and look forward to working with many more. We
would like to highlight a few that we consider unique in their fields, so that
parents might become familiar with particular issues and obtain more
information for help and support.
Of all the professionals we
have ever met, Dr. Linda Silverman, from the Gifted
Development Center
in Denver, shares
our belief that there are many kids who learn differently and that we need to
look at their abilities and avoid negative labels. Dr. Silverman believes that
students:
-
Are not unmotivated
– they are “Yet to be motivated”
-
Need to master sight
word meaning and recognize word patterns first before phonics training will
work
o Sight words are those words that do not generate a
picture (e.g. what, when, however, but, etc.)
o Pattern recognition refers to the problem of not
recognizing words they have previously “learned”
-
Often have visual and
auditory processing, attention and/or anxiety issues
-
Are often Gifted with a
Learning Disability – it is possible and even common for
Gifted students to have 130 plus IQs, but to have processing speed and/or
working memory issues that make learning difficult
Dr. Silverman and her team’s
expertise is with the very smart, gifted and even highly gifted children who
learn best when they see and experience information. Check out their website at Gifted Development Center
Dr. Silverman helps students
from all over the world, with a combination of:
-
Educational testing
that occurs mostly at her Denver Headquarters; several times a year in Oakland and Los Angeles, CA; and for the first time we will be offering testing
through Dr. Silverman’s team and herself coming to South Florida – in late
December 2009 thru early January 2010 - if there is enough demand.
-
Educational consults. If
you have had psychological testing done – and want a different perspective –
Dr. Silverman and her team provide this service (you can send them the reports
and they review them with you over the phone).
If you have a very smart,
gifted or highly gifted friend, associate or child, we strongly recommend using
Dr. Silverman’s services.
Contact information for Dr.
Silverman:
Dr. Linda Silverman
www.gifteddevelopment.com
1-888-GIFTED1 (1-888-443-8331)
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Many times parents want to
work with a professional who really understands the challenges that kids and
parents are facing.
Shari B. Kaplan, LCSW has
been working with children, adolescents, adults, couples and families with
neurological disorders, behavioral issues, life challenging illnesses and
trauma for 18 years.
Currently, Shari has a psychotherapy practice
were she uses a combination of cognitive/behavioral therapy and
neuro/behavioral approaches such as EMDR,
to assist her patients in reaching their treatment goals. The most common areas
of treatment include: learning, memory and attention issues, behavioral issues,
anxiety and depression, obsessive/compulsive disorders, marital issues, trauma,
and stress management.
Shari understands that the right-brained learners are in need of balancing
their brains more effectively in order to be successful in school and day to
day life.
When a child is a right-brained learner, he/she is often times exceptionally
bright in several or many areas of learning and functioning, and average in
others. This gap in the brain between highly intelligent and average causes the
stress response to be engaged.
The stress response is a survival instinct known as 'fight or flight.' Fight or
flight was originally helpful to humans for hunting and protecting. You are
either hunting down the animal, 'fight,' or running away from the animal
because it is coming after you, 'flight.'
It can be agitating to visual-spatial learners, just organizing
themselves to get out of the house in the morning!
Understanding the stress response, and the symptoms that occur, can help to
clarify some of the 'mental health' and/or behavioral issues a parent may see
in his/her child. Some of the symptoms include:
Anxiety
Hyper-activity
Hyper-awareness
Attention deficits
Obsessive thinking (perseverating)
Having a 'short fuse'
Easily excitable
Irritable at times
Difficulty letting things go
Difficulty with transitions
Test anxiety/performance anxiety
Parents will often say, 'but my child is such a great kid, and other times they
are so difficult.'
Whether in learning, behavior, relationships, or doing daily life tasks, it is
imperative that a child learns how to relate to his/her brain and body both
before and when stuck in the stress response. Parents need to learn the
parenting tools to assist their child in this process, and help to implement a
fun and productive brain/body training routine.
Below is the contact information for Dr. Silverman and the Gifted Development
Center, and Shari Kaplan
– please mention Mira and Mark Halpert from 3D Learner when you call.
Dr. Linda Silverman
www.gifteddevelopment.com
1-888-GIFTED1 (1-888-443-8331)
________________________
Shari Kaplan, LCSW
561-346-3169