V.T.? for Claire

[kiki]

I was just reading one of your posts on V.T. How did you know you your dd needed to use PACE after V.T.? My ds is 8.5 and his eyes are functioning at approximately a 4 year old level. I am guessing he will need something like PACE when he is done with V.T. Would this seem appropriate? What would you recommend?

TIA,
Kirstin

[Claire]

I think that, in general, a child who is that far behind in pre-VT testing will usually benefit greatly from cognitive skills training afterwards. Basically what the training does is develop multiple processing skills that have been lagging as the result of years of sensory deficit. The training accomplishes in three months what might otherwise take years to develop, and that fast improvement gives a huge boost to self-esteem (which is often also lagging because of the poor skills acquisition).

My dd tested at 8yo as having the accommodation of a 3yo, plus many other visual areas were severely behind (convergence, tracking and saccades). At the end of vision therapy her visual efficiency skills were finally normal (accommodation, convergence, tracing and gross saccades) but her visual processing skills were still way behind. This showed up on the PACE pre-testing.

My dd also had been diagnosed (by a speech pathologist) with severe delays in phonemic awareness. This also showed up in the PACE pre-testing.

Since PACE addresses a wide variety of skills, it's usually very helpful for children who have experienced some kind of sensory deprivation for a long period of time. I think that most 8-year-olds who test at a 4yo level in visual efficiency skills would fall into that category.

In terms of observation, after VT you can look at reading and other academics. If reading is still behind, if there seem to be problems in other academic areas, then a program such as PACE is likely to be significantly helpful. My dd, for example, could not remember the value of coins until she did PACE. About halfway through the program she started spontaneously counting and adding up change that had been left on the kitchen counter. Also, before PACE I had given up trying to teach her how to tell time. After PACE she learned how to tell time easily with Math-U-See. PACE really helped dd learn to learn -- especially things that had seemed impossible for her.

[kiki]

Thanks for the information, it makes sense.

Where can I find PACE or a similar program? I goggled it but didn't find anything about buying a program.

Thanks!
Kirstin

[Claire]

Here is the PACE website (http://www.processingskills.com). You can't buy the program, as it is available only through providers. Prices vary around the country. It was $2,400 when we went through it six years ago. You can call or email the company to ask about PACE providers in your area. In some areas, PACE has been replaced by LearningRx (http://www.learningrx.com) -- basically the franchised version of PACE, and more expensive.

The company used to sell a home version of PACE called BrainSkills, but that was discontinued some time ago. In some areas, PACE has been replaced by LearningRx -- basically the franchised version of PACE, and more expensive.

A newer home program called Cognitive Calisthenics is available now. I haven't seen that kit, so don't know how it compares to PACE. If you do an advanced search on this forum, you can find the contact info for that kit.