Yesterday I was able to interview a mom who is grateful for the services that I have provided for her daughter. Anissa Sanborn agreed to an interview with me. Anissa is an editor in Nashville, TN but her mom and some siblings live in Iowa just down the road from me. I thought I would take a few minutes to share that interview with you.
Me: How did you find out about me? Anissa: My daughter Kate stays with her grandparents up in Charles City for a month in the summer since we live in Tennessee. We have had problems with math in school since she was a little girl. Through the school year, we had tutoring (from Kate's math teacher). We did not want to lose the learning over the summer so my mother mentioned that she knew Stena Schmitt who does tutoring in Charles City. Me: How did you meet me? Anissa: I met you initially though a phone call while you had the introductory meeting with my mom Sandy and Kate on the family farm in Iowa. You laid out your goals for Kate and expectations and just talked about the initial screening that you would do. Me: What does an online session look like? Anissa: For us since we live 755 miles away, Stena set up a private room for us on Zoom.us. She created a one on one video chat where she works with Kate for an hour once a week. She uses interactive screens with Kate where she works on a lot of the skills that she needs to catch up (on), along with some of the homework that she needs to turn in for sixth grade. Me: Would you describe the screening and the testing that I did for Kate? Anissa: If I have it all straight, initially Stena did a screening (evaluation) called the ADAM- 7 which tested all of Kate's skills of where she was in math. It was a comprehensive exam that told exactly which skills she was strong in and which ones she needed help with or where she was behind the rest of her age group. (The ADAM-7 tests Common Core math skills from grades Kindergarten through Eighth Grade. The ADAM-7 is a great test that not only tests the skills in math but also the vocabulary that comes with each math skill.) Anissa: Do you want me to talk about the Irlen? Me: Yes. Go ahead Anissa: You had ask if you could test her for Irlen which is a light sensitivity. That screening took several hours, (1 1/2) I believe at the Charles City Library. Kate was tested with different overlays and different pictures to see what Kate could see and what she could not see. Me: The reason for the library is because the lighting is similar to what Kate would experience in school or other places that have fluorescent lighting. Each client that is screened for Irlen Syndrome is given a series of pictures to look at or tasks to complete depending on the age of the client. Me: How have things changed since I have been helping your child? Since Kate has been working with Miss Stena, she has really gotten excited about grasping some of the math concepts. After Stena diagnosed- is that the correct word? (Stena) confirmed that Kate had Irlen Syndrome, a light scotopic sensitivity, we did go to a diagnostician here in Nashville where we had Kate fitted with lenses that are specially filtered for her needs. (For Kate) The contrast of the black ink on the white paper caused a lot of headaches. Every person with Irlen has a different experience. With some people it is turned sideways, or the letters dance. With numbers, she was not able to line things up in columns very well to follow multi-step directions. Me: During part of the interview with Anissa, Kate came in with her colored glasses on and she described what is like now that she has colored glasses to filter out the spectrums of color that she doesn't need in order to be successful. Anissa to Kate: How is it different now that you have the lenses? Kate: Very different. It is not as orange as it is. Every time I take em off I'm like whoa. I don't feel as nervous anymore. I feel like I am getting better grades. Anissa: Kate's overlays were a purple and turquoise. The spectral filters are just a little bit different than the overlays. When put together it makes like a dark blue. Of course the spectral filters are just a little bit different as far as figuring out the color for the lenses. To Be Continued...... I will share the rest of the interview tomorrow night so stay tuned. :)
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