NeuroMovement®Taught by Lyn

Understanding Disability Taught by Elisabeth

In the spring of 2018, I (Elisabeth) sat at my teaching table, half finished lesson plans strewn in front of me, lost in thought.  I’d been teaching special education for nine years and my students made enormous gains each year.  And no one seemed curious about how this happened.

Nearly every student met one or more IEP goals early, and not because they had easy goals! 

My students met their goals early because they often made huge and unpredictable leaps of growth, such as not getting subtraction on Tuesday, then coming to school on Wednesday having not only figured out subtraction, but having also figured out how to subtract with regrouping!  (For anyone who went to school before ‘regrouping’ was a thing, we called this skill ‘borrowing’.)  I found I had no way of predicting their growth, but I came to understand that after several months in my class, nearly every student would experience this sudden and profound growth.  

I expected that people would be curious about why my students made so much progress, but no one asked.  So as I sat at my table that day in 2018, I decided to invite a group administrators to learn about why my teaching worked.  

This was not going to be a typical work meeting.  I decided that the administrators had to feel the experience of disability in order to learn why my teaching was so effective.  The day of the presentation, I tried to hide my shaking hands.  I knew how to teach, but I’d never tried to teach anyone  how I taught.  I handed all five administrators a heavily edited (and nearly unreadable) passage to mimic what a student with a neurological visual impairment might see.  Then, I set about making as much noise as I could to simulate the background noise of a typical classroom. (Background noise can be intolerable for kids with disabilities.) A few confused looks were exchanged as I wandered around the room, making loud, unexpected banging noises pulling out chairs, using the sink, slamming cabinet doors, talking loudly, etc.  It felt incredibly awkward and it was definitely one of my least professional-feeling moments.  

After they’d finished reading, I let them in on my plan.  I told them they had just experienced what kids with disabilities feel every day.  Then I pointed to the unreadable passage and told them, “This is how I see text.”  Their eyes grew wide and all five of them simultaneously looked down at their pages, as if they’d choreographed the moment. 

Then I said, “You know those kids who don’t make progress in reading, no matter what intervention we give them?” 

Eyes wide, awe on their faces, they nodded.  I continued, “It’s because most of them see something like this when they look at text.  So, if this is how a student sees text, will more instruction in reading strategies help?”  They all shook their heads no.  “What if we taught them how to see text.  Would that help?”  They nodded.

Then came my mic-drop moment:

“I teach kids how to see text.  That’s why this works.”

Lightbulbs went on.  A few of them looked at each other saying: “Oooohhh”. 

“And it’s not just that they can’t see text,” I continued.  “They also can’t figure out what they’re hearing or feeling.  How can you learn if you don’t know what you’re sensing?” Then they all looked at their passages again.  When they looked up at me, it was with an expression of deep knowing. I knew they got it.  

From that moment on, those administrators and I were able to talk about my classroom and my teaching knowing we were on the same page.  They understood what I did and I knew it.  Our conversations became far more productive.  I could explain what my students needed in more detail than I could before.  I knew if I needed help with a situation with a student, I could ask any of them for support and they’d all know how to help.  It was a game changer.  

Here’s the key to helping these students:  You can’t teach the brain how to figure out what it’s seeing or hearing using a cognitive teaching approach (like how you’d teach reading and math). 

You have to teach the brain to perceive by giving it things that it already knows how to perceive. 

Why?

Because you get more of what you practice.

This approach is about understanding HOW to deliver lessons and HOW you structure instruction.  It’s about understanding how to create a classroom environment that makes it easier for students to learn, grow and socialize.  I know the concept of the brain struggling to figure out what it’s seeing, hearing or feeling might not make sense right now.  That’s why I created Understanding Disability!  Remember how the administrators I worked with got it after they felt it?  That’s because it takes experiencing it to understand it.  It’s true for all of us.  That’s just how the brain works.

Because you have to feel it to learn it, this course includes 12 NeuroMovement® lessons.  This neuroplastic approach will give you the opportunity to experience positive brain change in your own life.  We will also teach you neuroplastic principles in the context of the NeuroMovement® lessons, which will be reinforced in Understanding Disability. What kind of changes will you notice?  I don’t know. It’s impossible to predict change.  

NeruoMovement® Lessons Include:

People who participate in NeuroMovement® have noticed improvements such as:

Understanding Disability: Educator’s Course Includes:

Bonus!
 
In Understanding Disability, I cover:

The total package: Understanding Disability: Educator’s Course

Can’t make one of the live Understanding Disability classes?  No problem!  You will be provided with a link to a recording of the class.  NeuroMovement® classes cannot be recorded and watched at a later date.  

Whether you’re a teacher, administrator, OT, PT, teacher of the visually impaired, paraeducator, homeschool parent, college professor or teach in other capacities, this course is intended for you! 

This approach can be adapted to be used with people of any age, in any subject.  It can be used in any language, can be used with people who have any disability and can be used with people who are non-disabled.  The reason it’s applicable to everyone is because we all have a brain that processes sensory information and all of us can use some help from time to time.  

We’re looking forward to teaching you!

Elisabeth & Lyn