Article 4 – The “Sound Approach to Learning” Series by Dorinne Davis 6. The Upper Leaves and Branches of The Tree of Sound Enhancement Therapy®

dorinne_davisThe Upper Leaves and Branches of The Tree reflect demonstrated academic skills such as reading, handwriting, and spelling. For these skills to fall easily in place, the foundational developmental skills must be established. When in doubt, readiness is identified through the Diagnostic Evaluation for Therapy Protocol (DETP) and developed with the sound-based therapies indicated within the derived protocol.

Typically if a student has reading problems, tutoring is thought to help the child overcome the issues. However, if a student cannot hear the difference between /m/ and /n/ or /f/ and /v/, then teaching him sound blending techniques with tutoring, using one or the other of these sounds is like asking him to drop a square block into a round circle opening. After awhile, the student’s motivation is diminished and they learn other compensatory techniques to succeed.

In the protocol established in The Tree of Sound Enhancement Therapy, academic skills are only addressed when the foundation is prepared well enough to succeed at this level. Tutoring is successful at this level because the person is ready to learn. Under the careful guidance of a skilled teacher, the student’s particular weaknesses can be addressed while building their self-worth.

Also at this level are programs that integrate sensory information for maximum learning. One such program is Read-Spell-Comprehend®. Techniques for improving auditory and visual processing skills are included with a program that teaches skills for auditory/visual/language integration.

Comprehension is important for a successful reader. A good reader must retain sight words and the symbol imagery of the letters and words. This is important for spelling, multi-syllable words, writing of symbols and words, and visual tracking of connected words. A good reader must also be aware of phoneme differences and be able to process them independently. This is important for multi-syllable words and words within context as well as when listening in background noise. A good reader also needs to know the meanings of words and be able to describe what they are processing. This is very important for total comprehension. All three of these areas: auditory, visual, and language are foundational to integrating what they have learned.

These skills are best learned when the foundational skills as described in The Tree of Sound Enhancement Therapy are present, because the connections between the Voice, the Ear, and the Brain are in place and the student is able to learn quickly these last subtle skills necessary for academic success.

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