Orla and Dyslexia...

Orla was having difficulties at school. She has worked very hard at her studies and achieved a good Junior Cert. Her mother describes how she spent many hours studying and that she had a tutor calling once a week to help her with reading and school work. While Orla can read and reads quickly she often does not understand what she is reading. Her comprehension is not good and her mother spends time every evening helping her with her home work.

Orla had a psychological assessment at the end of first year and she was considered to have dyslexia.

Orla's mother and father came to an open day at Cluas and later arranged an assessment. At this assessment it was clear that Orla had significant auditory processing difficulties. The information she was processing in the classroom was not always accurate or processed quickly. Orla was having difficulties listening in a noisy classroom and having difficulties with competing sounds. This led to difficulties with short term memory resulting in difficulties with taking down homework and reading comprehension.

The effort she had to make in trying to understand the written word was exhausting and consequently she did not like reading.

Orla also had difficulties when she was with a group of her peers in that she found it difficult to keep up with the conversation. She has learned over time that it is best to say very little as she is likely to say something that shows she is not following the conversation. Sometimes she avoids the group and is delighted that she has one best friend with whom she gets on with very well.

Orla attended Cluas for Tomatis Therapy; completing three stages over 4 ½ months, she also completed a home program of Neuro Developmental Therapy. During the Tomatis Therapy we could see continuous improvements on the Tomatis Listening Test which was completed 7 times. Three months after completion of therapy Orla's progress was reviewed. We repeated the Auditory Processing Tests and each of the tests showed significant improvement.

Orla said that she found it a lot easier to listen and understand in the class room and that she was beginning to enjoy reading rather than hating it. Orla's mother confirmed that home work had become a lot easier, taking less time and less 'traumatic', and that she was a far happier girl and easier to live with.
Orla has also said that she still keeps quiet when she is in a group, however she feels more accepted.