At Speak & Write, we have a particular passion in supporting teenagers. The transformation we see in teenagers’ self-esteem, once they learn strategies to support their growth, inspires us all. Children with mild learning difficulties commonly go unnoticed for years if they have good social skills and are well behaved. It is often not until adolescence, when the demands of school increase, that their teachers notice they are having difficulties. This is often due to underlying language difficulties impeding their ability to either understand the class content or express their understanding.
Adolescence
We tailor an individualised program to assist adolescents with one or more of the following areas:
Comprehension difficulties
Essay writing difficulties
Difficulties with executive functioning (e.g. starting assessments, time management)
Exam results aren't indicative of academic potential
Following a comprehensive assessment to pinpoint the problem or ‘missing link’, we assist parents and teens to better understand how this may be impacting their academic success.
We then curate a comprehensive therapy plan in conjunction with the teen to ensure they have the ‘buy in’ and understand the ‘why’ behind our process. Some of the areas we target include:
Understanding keywords in assignments and exams
Understanding paragraph structures use (e.g. STEEL, PEEL, PETAL tailored to their school)
Planning written responses
Explaining their ideas in a detailed manner using complex sentence structures as expected of them from school
Techniques to understand new vocabulary using context clues and understanding prefix and suffix meanings
