| "When the child felt he was succeeding - he was proud"
- an article by Davida Ginter on the website NRG - January 8, 2008
A single mother of two children with learning disabilities describes how Nitzan returned their self-security to them.
An exciting story in honor of Fundraising Day for the learning disabled and the deaf.
Over the past years there has begun an increase in public awareness of the difficulties faced by children, teen-agers, and adults who suffer from learning disabilities, ADHD, behavioral and adaptive difficulties. New figures which are being publicized for the Annual Fundraising Day of Nitzan and the Organizations for the Deaf in Israel, which is taking place today, reveal that a third of parents of children ages 6-18 in Israel believe that at least one of their children is suffering from learning disabilities or ADHD.
"Parents today understand that there's no reason to sweep their problems under the rug as in the past, but rather precise identification of the source of the problems is likely to be a big aid in acquiring help and specialized learning for their children so that they can accomplish as much as possible", says Ofra Elul, President of Nitzan.
From a survey conducted for Nitzan, it turns out that between 180-190 thousand children are actually suffering from ADHD or learning disabilities. "This is a figure that is far and beyond estimates and figures that we had in our hands, this points out that between 10-15% of the population are dealing with some kind of learning disability", explains Elul.
Problem of the Brain
Siglit Yeller, a single mom of two children who suffer from learning disabilities from Tel-Aviv, who works in occupational placement and training of handicapped people, explains the difficulty, "A child who has a problem, he feels that something isn't right, that something has failed in him - even though this is a problem of the brain".
Yeller notes that the educational system in Israel isn't prepared to deal with the problem of children suffering from learning disabilities. "The teachers in elementary school teach all of the children from the same level to the same level, and when one of the children goes out of the normal realm - they don't turn to him separately and don't teach how to read", she says. At Nitzan, they sit down one-on-one and learn how to read chapters, to turn in work, how a story is built. The teach certain letters that are tough for children."
Yeller's children, who are in 7th and 5th grades, were each tested for ADHD when they were in 4th grade and they were diagnosed as suffering from difficulties. The older child suffers from ADHD with hyperactivity while the younger child suffers from ADD without hyperactivity. "It's difficult for them to pay attention in reading and writing and they are having difficulty in language development", she explains the situation.
They Got Good Grades
According to the mother, the treatment with the help of the teachers at Nitzan helped a lot for her children, who succeeded in improving their grades and from struggling students they became excellent students. "In every subject they received (in the past) failing grades and now they got very nice grades", she tells proudly. "The older child receives 90 and 100. This is like the difference between land and sky. Even the younger child is advancing."
One of the advantages of the setting of Nitzan is that the learning is in the afternoon - Yeller explains who told that the children are embarrassed that their classmates may know that they have learning disabilities. "Before I was tested, it wasn't nice, because they went out in the middle of the class to learn with the teacher, at the time that the class was moving forward", she describes. "At Nitzan, it's after school hours. Nobody knows, and it's also not anyone's business."
"The older child didn't tell to his friends about his going to Nitzan and then he saw there kids that he knows", she remembers. "After the child felt that he was succeeding in something - he was in the clouds, he was proud of himself, he had what to be proud of. A child who has a problem feels that something isn't right, that something has failed in him."
Nitzan Identified the Problem
At Nitzan, they identified the great difficulty of the parents in dealing with the difficulties that have befallen their children; therefore, they have recently decided to focus on the parents specifically. "The Association (of Nitzan) organizes support groups for parents at subsidized prices, a desired project with the cooperation of the University of Tel-Aviv and has recently been distributed in stores the book "The Parent as a Coach"- a training guide for parents of children with learning disabilities and/or ADHD", says Mali Danino, Executive Director of Nitzan.
Also, the President of the Association (of Nitzan) stresses the difficulty of the parents and explains: "We noticed in reports and in meetings in the field the great difficulty amongst parents in dealing with the emotional stress that they themselves were experiencing, and with the emotional difficulties of the children. A parent who understands, is updated, and is sensitive to his child's needs will contribute to his child's accomplishments, level of learning, and social and emotional level more than any other factor".
In concluding her statements, Siglit Yeller requests to send a message to teachers at schools: "They need to learn to pay attention", she says. "These are the most difficult lessons - also for us as parents and people, it's something a little bit more than to teach. I didn't expect that the children would be professors, but that they should have the minimum- for this I expect".
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