ILT Blog | Integrated Learning Therapy

Why do some children struggle to read?

Jul 2, 2025 | I'm a Parent, I'm a Teacher, ILT Blog

Why are there so many bright and hard-working children in our schools that aren’t learning to read as they should? Interestingly, if you read something to them, giving them information through their ears, they understand. But when you give them the same words to read or to absorb through their eyes, they fail. Reading problems seem different from hearing or understanding problems, yet it is the same brain showing these differences in ability.

Our brains are ultimately responsible for us being able to read. If a child struggles to make sense of written words, surely it must be related to problems in some or other area of the brain. Is this true and if so, which brain areas are not functioning as they should?[1]

Essentially, reading needs a brain

That can change light waves into electro-chemical impulses through the visual system
That has organized, adequately insulted neural networks through which the electro-chemical impulses can travel efficiently
With an area where storage, retrieval and decoding of information can take place efficiently.

Which of these might help us understand why reading problems occur?

If a child can look at a cow and recognise it as a cow, he perceives it. This means that he interprets the image correctly as being a cow. The light waves from the cow are changed to electro-chemical impulses by the retina in the eye, then pass on to the brain. If there is no conflicting information coming in from the cow, the child will perceive a cow. Children with reading problems have no problem recognising objects. In essence, they can read all the physical things in their environment; they have no trouble recognising and perceiving actual objects.

If we show him a picture of those objects he recognise the pictures quite easily. He can, in essence, ‘read’ the pictures. Pictures aren’t real objects but are symbols which stand for the objects but they are closely related to the objects. The picture of a cow is easily related to a cow because the picture (the symbol) represents what an actual cow looks like.

If a child with a reading problem easily recognises a cow when he sees one, and he easily recognises a picture of a cow, why can’t he recognise the written word ‘cow’? What is there about written words which make them different from the real thing or from pictures? The problem seems to be one of language.

Language is a man-made code, composed of symbols that have no meaning in themselves. The word ‘cow’ is a symbol with no relation to the way an actual cow appears to the eye or brain.

To be able to use the code, we first have to memorise the meaning assigned to each symbol. If either the memory of the symbol or the memory of its assigned meaning is forgotten, the code breaks down. Thus, storage of both the symbol and its meaning is essential to memory. We know that language is stored in the left brain hemisphere. This means that language and decoding functions needs organized ‘wiring’ or neural pathways that convey information to this area. Any scrambling of the network due to shorted wires, inadequate connections cause a breakdown in transmitting the electrical messages.

Once the symbol and its meaning have been stored, we have to be able to retrieve it. Decoding needs a storehouse from which information is easily retrieved. Poor storage in the brain slows down the process of retrieval of information; children who suffer from this slow-down might speak more slowly, or read more slowly. If incoming information is stored in an excessively disordered way, then we have a reading problem.

Following this analysis, it seems that reading problems can be the result of lack of development of the nervous system, especially if underdevelopment results in undecided or cross-dominance.

Confirmation of this theory comes by looking at other, sometimes subtle, signs of brain underdevelopment that children with reading problems commonly share. Some of these include

Problems with coordination. They seem to lack grace when walking and running, often have a history of skipping crawling or cannot crawl smoothly without concentrating on doing so
Early problems with deciding hand, foot and eye dominance, and showing uncertain dominance after the age of 6 years
Show an extreme love for music and listening to music
Handwriting characteristically shows little consistency of slant; vertical lines of letters such as ‘h,j,p,t,l” make all kinds of different angles
Eye problems even though eyes test as normal. Many have problems with binocular vision or eye tracking movements
Many reverse words or letters
Most are poor spellers
Many seem to do better in numeracy than reading and all prefer verbal discussions to having to write something down
Nearly all poor readers understand language better through their ears than through their eyes.

So reading problems are related to the development of the nervous system. No amount of remedial reading will be as effective as addressing the nervous system inefficiencies directly.

[1] With thanks to Carl Delacato and insights from his book A new start for the child with reading problems.

Image supplied by Freepik

Can you prevent maths anxiety?

Jun 25, 2025 | I'm a Parent, I'm a Teacher, ILT Blog

It is fairly common to hear parents explain a child’s struggles with maths as being an hereditary trait, and that the child is simply ‘not good at maths’. But is this true? I know of maths teachers who claim they can teach maths to ‘any’ child, and others who believe that early introduction to numbers and becoming comfortable and familiar with number manipulation is an essential foundation for later maths skills.

Tanya Evans, an associate professor in the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Virginia, is one who believes in this. Only a small percentage of people, she said, are inherently bad at math.

“When children or adults struggle with learning to read, the response is, ‘You can do this, and we will teach you how.’ But with math, it’s more of ‘Oh, you’re just not good at math,’ and that’s the end of it. It’s just accepted.”

Evans is a developmental cognitive neuroscientist, which means she studies brain architecture and function, specifically how brain development enables children to acquire the skills needed to be successful in the classroom.

Evans said early education places a heavy emphasis on literacy, with children first learning to read and then reading to learn. Math literacy, however, is not as emphasized.

“You need both skills throughout your life. You need to read, but you also need to make budgets, pay your bills and manage medication schedules,” she said. “There are numbers all around us, and when you’re uncomfortable with them, it makes life more difficult.”

She explains that part of the discomfort with math may be due to math anxiety, passed on to children from math-averse parents.

“There’s some really interesting work showing that parents’ anxiety around doing math and even teachers’ anxiety around doing math can actually influence their children or their students,” Evans said. “Pregnant women see signs in the doctor’s office telling them to read to their children every day and sing songs to them every day, to help with their learning. But no one says to talk about math with your kids every day.”

Bryan McKenzie, of the University of Virginia, discusses the question of maths anxiety in a recent paper. Research claims that few people are truly bad at maths. Practicing everyday math skills, like adding up steps and comparing prices, can make people more comfortable with numbers.

Curious about how math is learned, Evans joined with colleagues from UVA, Vanderbilt University, Georgetown University and others in studying 109 schoolchildren in second, third and fourth grades over several years to determine foundational skills that support learning math.

The study compared skills that support declarative memory, which is based on facts like where the nation’s capital is located, with those that focus on procedures, such as how to ride a bicycle.

The children performed simple memory tasks, like recalling objects after being shown photos, which researchers then compared to their later performance on math’s assessments. They repeated these tasks over several years, which gave researchers insight into the relationship between these skills across development.

They found that declarative memory is correlated with math’s skills in second through fourth grade and is also predictive of future math skills. Better performance on declarative memory tasks in second grade predicted better math skills in fourth grade.

“This indicates that basic memory tasks support future math learning, which tells us that math learning goes beyond the things we typically think of as math skills—like numbers, patterns and problem-solving. Problem-solving skills are important too, but without a solid foundation, there’s nothing to build upon.”

Evans, along with another collaborator at Georgetown, Ian Lyons, is now investigating how these basic memory skills relate to math learning at the brain level. They’re using similar tasks as in the behavioural work, but this time while children are having their brains scanned using fMRI. This process will enable researchers to identify the neural overlap between memory and math brain circuitry and better understand the mechanisms driving these relationships.

“In the past, kids were expected to memorize their multiplication tables and other math facts, and now there’s a greater focus on problem solving and less on memorization,” she said.

So, how can parents help their children be better at math? How can they become better themselves? There are tried-and-true flashcards and new smartphone apps, but there are simple ways, too.

She suggests that parents make maths a part of daily activities from an early age. Play matching memory games with them, count steps when out on a walk, or talk about the prices when shopping.

“Thinking about or practicing basic math helps you with higher-level math and improves your ability to quickly recall the math facts that are necessary to solve problems,” Evans said. “You can make math conversation part of daily life. And when you’re more comfortable with it, your children are as well.”

Provided by University of Virginia

Image supplied by Freepik.

A vicious circle between screen time and emotional problems?

Jun 19, 2025 | I'm a Parent, I'm a Teacher, ILT Blog

An article by the American Psychological Association (details below) finds that there seems to be a vicious circle between the amount of time spent on screens and emotional problems in children. While spending a lot of time on various screens may lead to emotional and behavioural problems, these problems can result to children spending even more time on their screens.

The article describes how an international team of researchers reviewed and meta-analysed 117 studies, covering data from over 292,000 children worldwide.

The researchers wanted to better understand the relationship between screen time and emotional problems like aggression, anxiety or low self-confidence. Screen-based activities included social media, video games, TV watching and online homework.

Most of the studies were conducted in the United States (41 studies), followed by Canada (13), Australia (11), and Germany and the Netherlands (7 each).

The study revealed that the more children engaged with electronic screens the more likely they were to develop socio-emotional problems. This included both internalising problems, such as anxiety and depression, and externalising problems, such as aggression and hyperactivity. Conversely, children experiencing socio-emotional problems were found to be more likely to turn to screens as a coping mechanism.

The research identified several factors that may moderate these relationships. Compared with younger children (ages 0-5), older children (ages 6-10) were more likely to develop socio-emotional problems with greater screen use. Girls were generally more susceptible to developing socio-emotional problems with greater screen use, while boys were more likely to increase screen use when facing socio-emotional challenges.

The type of screen content and purpose of screen use also played a role. Gaming was associated with higher risks compared with educational or recreational screen use. Children experiencing socio-emotional problems were also more likely to turn to games to cope.

The findings suggest parents might want to be cautious about what screens they allow and to monitor the amount of time spent on screens. It was also noted that children who use screens heavily might need emotional support, not just restrictions.

More information: Electronic Screen Use and Children’s Socioemotional Problems: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Longitudinal Studies, Psychological Bulletin (2025). DOI: 10.1037/bul0000468

Journal information: Psychological Bulletin

Provided by American Psychological Association

Image provided by Freepik

Research shows why moving in a classroom helps learning

Jun 11, 2025 | I'm a Parent, I'm a Teacher, ILT Blog

Even though we know a lot more these days about how the brain develops and how it functions, many teachers lack useful knowledge about the role of movement in learning.

Movement is responsible for developing the brain in the first place (through the primary reflexive movements) and remains central to efficient learning during the early years of growth and schooling. Without knowing how to recognise signs that a child may have signs of neurodevelopmental problems (meaning that the nervous system with all its component parts), we concentrate rather on the psychological problems of the child, or the socio-economic environment.

A far better approach would be to ask the question, does the child have the equipment she needs to succeed at the educational level asked of her and the methods imposed on her?

The answer is related to the fact that there is often a physical basis for learning disabilities. Not physical in the sense of body growth or health – often children’s physical development is good, yet the foundations on which learning is built and made strong are weak. This results in them struggling to succeed at school. Indeed, some do succeed, but they have to put so much extra effort into their learning and performing. This can continue until adulthood. How many of you know of a colleague who is really good at what he or she does, but pays the price through extreme fatigue at the end of every workday?

So the approach of Integrated Learning Therapy (ILT) is to evaluate a child for possible neurodevelopmental delays and other adverse conditions arising from the environment and then helping them. The tools used are largely movement activities.

While this works for children with learning disabilities or learning difficulties, using movement in the course of learning can benefit all children.

Here are three evidence based, very sound reasons why children can thrive in a classroom where the teacher introduces regular periods for a little movement:

Movement helps to increase learner interest, motivation (Vazou et al., 2012), and learning (Braniff, 2011).
Movement improves content knowledge, skills, and test scores in core subjects such as mathematics and reading fluency (Adams-Blair & Oliver, 2011; Erwin, Fedewa, & Ahn, 2013; Browning et al., 2014).
Movement may help children meet the recommendation to complete the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity every day.

Do consider the significance of these research results. It is difficult to introduce movement into crowded classrooms, to avoid children becoming disruptive and finding it difficult afterwards to settle down. The key is to have short, quick ‘movement moments’ as an integral part of the school day from the lowest grades. This teaches the children that these are part of school and they become so used to it that they don’t see it as an opportunity to get out of hand.

And encouraging children to move during homework sessions would be equally beneficial, so parents need to take note as well.

If you are a teacher and would like to learn more, consider enrolling for our Integrated Learning Therapy (ILT) courses. They are accredited with SACE (so will earn you CPTD points) as well as with ETDP-SETA (for credits towards further qualifications) while you’re enhancing your knowledge and skills. If you are a parent, you might like to empower yourself with more knowledge about children’s development and learning.

References

Adams-Blair H., Oliver G. (2011). Daily classroom movement: Physical activity integration into the classroom. International Journal of Health, Wellness, & Society, 1 (3), 147–154.

Braniff C. (2011). Perceptions of an active classroom: Exploration of movement and collaboration with fourth grade students. Networks: An On-line Journal for Teacher Research, 13 (1).

Browning C., Edson A.J., Kimani P., Aslan-Tutak F. (2014). Mathematical content knowledge for teaching elementary mathematics: A focus on geometry and measurement. Mathematics Enthusiast, 11 (2), 333–383.

Erwin H., Fedewa A., Ahn S. (2013). Student academic performance outcomes of a classroom physical activity intervention: A pilot study. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 5 (2), 109–124.

Vazou S., Gavrilou P., Mamalaki E., Papanastasiou A., Sioumala N. (2012). Does integrating physical activity in the elementary school classroom influence academic motivation? International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 10 (4), 251–263.

Reading difficulties – A symptom not the cause of problems

Jun 4, 2025 | I'm a Parent, I'm a Teacher, ILT Blog

(With thanks to Svea Gold)

When Mat fails to learn to read at grade level, his parents are encouraged to help him with extra reading at home, or refer him for remedial reading. This often doesn’t help very much and the reason is that reading failure is a symptom that the child has an underlying problem. His problem may not be the act of learning to read at all. The struggle to read is a red flag signifying that there is something going on in Mat’s brain that is the real reason for his problem.

For example, if the two sides of Mat’s brain aren’t communicating properly, the eyes won’t function properly either. Most people see words with each eye. If you are reading the words THE CAT your right and left eyes will separately see the words (THE CAT and THE CAT), then send the signals to the brain. The brain, in turn, superimposes the two images into one and you ‘read’ the words: THE CAT.

If Mat’s eyes are not functioning properly, he might look at the two images and see: THE TCAT CAT. He can’t make sense of this so can’t read it. He blinks and looks again. This time he sees: THE CATHE CAT. Mat decides that he really sucks at reading and must be very stupid!

It isn’t simply a question of seeing. An optometrist finds that Mat has perfectly normal vision. The truth is that efficient reading depends on many skills, not only the health and visual acuity of the eyes. The problem may be more deep seated – caused by faulty wiring in the brain, that we call ‘neurological disorganization’ or ‘incomplete neurological organisation’. If the child’s inability to read is the result of incomplete neurological organization, there will be other significant clues. If his eyes don’t function well together, he will most likely get tired quickly; he may find that certain sports are difficult; most likely his coordination will be poor and he may show awkward movements.

Many children with learning problems show a lack of coordination stemming from poor neurological organization. These children are not stupid but merely need help in rewiring the brain networks to bring about organized neural pathways needed for reading, writing and numeracy. ILT practitioners see this day after day. Once the correct connections have been made in Mat’s brain, he might suddenly take off and develop rapidly in many areas.

Clues to neurological disorganistion

Here are some of the signs of a disorganized brain that many children with reading problems (also labelled as dyslexia) show:

They lack coordination. Running, walking even crawling seem awkward and lack grace and smoothness
They have undecided or delayed dominance, meaning that they show uncertain preference for writing, for throwing, stepping on a stool, etc. This lack of a clear dominant side exists way beyond the age of six years, when most children have developed clear dominance.
They seem to love music
Their handwriting has no consistent slant: their letters seem to have different angles and go in different directions
They show signs of visual difficulties – often holding their noses close to the paper when reading or writing
Many reverse letters and numbers, mixing up the directions of letters such as ‘b’ and ‘d’. They may read ‘saw’ for ‘was’ or write numbers backwards
Most are poor spellers who may be drilled for a test but forget what they learn in a very short time
Many seem to manage maths better than reading and speak more fluently than they can express themselves in writing
Most seem to understand spoken language but struggle with written language.

The importance of neurodevelopment

Very often the brain does not develop normally if a stage of development is missed. The eyes, for instance, learn to work together in the period when the child is crawling on hands and knees. When the leading hand feels the floor, the eyes will reflexively focus on that hand. This helps both eyes focus on one point at the same time. The two images from the two eyes are superimposed in the brain and the child sees one image and not two. Crawling is also very important in helping the child judge distance, an ability needed when writing.

During this all-important crawling stage, the ears are also learning to work together. As the forward hand hits the floor, the head moves gently from side to side as the eyes follow the hand. This provides stimulation to the vestibular system in the inner ears, and much of the information leading to the speech centre is coordinated through this system. The vestibular system coordinates visual perception with the ability of judging where the sound comes from and helps the brain make the postural adjustments to allow the child to move freely.

This is just one example to emphasise the importance of the crawling stage in infancy. Parents need to severely limit the time that babies are kept in playpens, walking rings, car seats and such like. These prevent the infant from learning the normal crawling patterns which are so vital for coordinating all the functions of the body.

How do we address this?

ILT practitioners look for clues that point to inadequate functioning or underdevelopment of brain areas that support learning in their young clients. They also appreciate the role of nutrition in brain functioning and know that a healthy brain depends on the body being healthy and well nourished.

Once the underlying causes of the child’s problem have been uncovered, a programme of individualized activities are given to the family to be done at home every day. The child’s progress is monitored through a series of programme reviews, in order to adjust the activities according to progress shown.

This process basically gives the brain a second chance to develop all areas and so make it possible for the child to ‘catch up’ on those difficult academic areas.

Helping your child learn how to focus

May 28, 2025 | I'm a Parent, I'm a Teacher, ILT Blog

Leanne Gray, of The Prepared Environment, shared some ideas about children’s focusing on her blog and I appreciated them so much that I’m hopefully disseminating them further!

Focused attention is necessary in the classroom and in the home. We all know how annoying it is when we trying to speak to someone and their attention is clearly wandering. Even more important, teachers despair when children struggle to maintain focus on a topic or a task. So what should you be doing to help them learn to focus?

First of all, we know how difficult it is to return to something that we were doing after we’ve been interrupted. For example, the phone rings and we have to break concentration to attend to the call; or our child rushes in with news that distracts us from a task. Keeping this in mind, how often do we interrupt our young children when they are attending to something and in the process, teach them to be easily distracted? For example, a young child is trying to master tying their shoelaces. Do you become impatient and offer to help too soon?

We interrupt by asking questions, commenting, offering praise or encouragement – even smiling. Try to be more patient. Realise that very young babies can focus on something for a very long time. Their brains take much longer to process than ours and children as young as 3 years old can spend up to 20 minutes focusing on an activity. If this happens with your child, don’t interrupt with anything. Wait until she is clearly finished, then perhaps offer an encouraging remark.

If he is playing with jumbo crayons, let him play. Don’t interrupt by telling him the crayon’s colour is blue and getting him to say ‘blue’ after you. Don’t take away the box she is trying to open and do it for her. Don’t help her butter the slice of bread she wants to eat.

In other words, don’t interrupt children when they are focusing on something. It’s very easy to interrupt a child and you might find it takes some practice to stand back and let them persevere by themselves. See their endeavours and play as opportunities to practice the ability to sustain attention on a task – without being distracted.

Speaking of distractions, try to create an area in your home where your child can be focused without too much in the environment that may draw attention away. Don’t allow them free access to a multitude of toys – let them choose one or two toys at a time and focus on those. Don’t always have the TV or radio on where the child is playing but keep the area quiet and inviting.

Be careful of allowing too much screen time and electronic ‘toys’. Remember that it has been recommended that children under the age of 2 years should have no screen time at all and until aged 5, only up to one hour of quality, parent-chaperoned use.

Then be cautious too about the plethora of modern toys available that interfere with the ability to focus. Media-type toys, or active, fast-paced ‘learning’ toys can have attention-robbing qualities. No children should engage in play with toys that result in a trance-like state. No learning happens in these situations but they may be negatively affecting children’s developing minds and fracturing their ability to focus and pay attention.

The kinds of toys children benefit most by are concrete objects, real experiences and social interaction. Magda Gerber (http://www.magdagerber.org) wisely said: ‘The best toys for babies don’t do anything.’ Just like the old adage about how children typically throw the toy away and play with the box in which it was packaged!

So the bottom line is to refrain from keeping your child happy and amused and solving all her problems. She needs to practice on her own, make mistakes, and go through difficulties.

The Prepared Environment can help you know when and how to offer help to your children. Read more about how to do that at the following sites:

0-3 years (https://www.thepreparedenvironment-com/blog/8-steps -to-help-infants-and-toddlers-do-it-myself

3-6 years (https://thepreparedenvironment-com/blog/four-steps-to-offer-as-little-help-as-possible-primary

6-9 years (https://thepreparedenvironment-com/blog/how-to-offer-your-elementary-children-as-little-help-as-they-really-need

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