Sophia
Sophia
- Name: Sophia
- Age: 12
LPD
Sophia is a friendly and artistic adolescent. She enjoys painting, dancing, playing with her cat and creating YouTube videos. When it comes to school, however, she becomes avoidant and sometimes reluctant. Sophia gets frustrated with learning because she knows she’s lagging behind her peers. She attempts to mask this gap with her dazzling personality. Sophia is eager to shine academically, but her past efforts to ‘catch up’ have been arduous and unsuccessful.
Assessments revealed that Sophia was struggling to process or make sense of written and spoken language, which affected her ability to read, follow directions, focus and memorize information and problem-solve.
It was noted that Sophia struggled to process language because she could not picture what was said or written. This then affected her attention, as she often would daydream, doodle on the table or stare out the window often during sessions. Her program focused on developing her visualization skills so she can process information better, improving her attention, and making her more aware when she is not processing or focusing.
Sophia’s attention was drilled using several exercises, which were paired with the metronome. Her metacognition or awareness regarding attention also was raised, so she understood when and why her focus would lapse, how it was related to processing language and what she could do about it.
For example, Sophia was taught and practiced the Pomodoro technique, which is when she had to work on a task without pauses or distractions for 15-20 minutes, and then take a scheduled 5-minute break. Before returning to work, Sophia was coached on how to reflect on her productivity, make adjustments to her approach, and practice retrieval of what information she had learned, so she can improve moving forward.
She was taught the technique of visualization, which she applied intensely in sessions and to her daily reading at home. Specifically, she was taught to take breaks after each paragraph she read and convert it to a mental scene. Over time, visualizing became easier for Sophia, and of course, drawing and doodling were always fun to do. As her reading comprehension and memory improved, the passages she was given became longer and/or more complex. Sophia was then taught to create mind maps to place each of her mental scenes relationally so she can extract meaning, draw conclusions, make predictions and inferences.
Sophia also was taught other memory technique such as associations and linking, which she applied to memorizing new vocabulary words that would support her challenges with language/reading comprehension. She then was given ‘bonus points’ for using these new terms appropriately in conversations within the session or for the stories she wrote at home.
Toward the end of her program, Sophia was focusing and following directions without difficulty. She also began regulating her own learning by requesting breaks or additional time to use techniques and strategies to break down topics or organize her notes.
Sophia also had fallen in love with reading. She was asking her mom if she can stay up late to read. She would begin sessions by summarizing what she had read the prior night in accurate and vivid detail.
In sessions, she was requesting complex articles on topics such ‘dead skin cells,’ ‘pollution in water,’ and ‘extinction in the rainforest,’ to read independently and present orally along with her mind map to her parents.
Overall, her improved awareness, vocabulary and visualization skills translated to enhanced attention, memory, comprehension, reasoning and confidence!