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Dalise Gada is director of Keeping Pace Learning Solutions, which uses developmental inerventions to strengthen underlying skills. (Jennifer M. Howell/News-Sentinel)
Lodi developmental assessor makes learning easier
Does your child struggle in school? Does your child have a history of chronic ear infections? Dalise Gada says the two may be intertwined.
Gada, director of Keeping Pace Learning Solutions, said a person's balance, orientation to sound and peripheral vision all play a part in the brain's development and how it processes information.
"If we are not seeing or hearing properly, the brain gets hooked up wrong," she said.
For 10 years, Gada has been working with children who have had learning problems. Once through the program, she said, the children are able to go on and have a successful academic life.
How did you get started doing this?
My best friend had a contract with someone doing cognitive training. She put her stepson in and saw a huge change. I was a marriage and family therapist at the time and was also working at a nursery. I thought it seemed interesting and wanted to fix children's problems so they could go on and learn themselves.
What is the biggest learning problem you see?
I'd say the biggest problem is reading. The schools are requiring reading at an earlier age, so you start to see the problem earlier.
Do you think learning problems can affect children's confidence levels?
Of course. A child's job is to go to school. If you have a job you don't like, you're going to quit and find a new one. Kids don't have that option. If you constantly feel like you can't do something, what is that going to do to you?
Do you see a high success rate, or do kids constantly need help though school?
Yes, there is a high success rate. But there may be times when they've moved into a different set of skills. There was one child I had twice. My goal is when they leave here, they will go on to have successful academic life.
What age do you see the most of?
I see kids in first grade and I have a whole bunch of fourth-graders. They are changing the way teaching is in between grades. By fourth grade, they are required to work more independently. I see them during a lot of transitional stages. I also see some seventhand eighth-graders.
What are some tools you will be giving to parents?
I'm going to start having some workshops. A lot of things children used to do prior to school, they don't do anymore, such as riding bikes and playing hopskotch. They get so focused on academics that the building blocks of learning are lost. It's the sensory motor integration. A lot of parents never know about it. For example, when you are driving in the car, ask children to tell what things are in their room. You have to make those mental pictures. There's a lot of things parents can do. They need to know the warning signs of when there's going to be a problem.
What are the signs parents should watch for?
Speech problems, any kind of delay in school. A child who is clumsy, who has had chronic ear infections, asthma or allergies. Children who have had visual problems. If we are not seeing or hearing properly, the brain gets hooked up wrong.
What is rewarding to you about doing this?
What I really like about it is if I can make a child's academic job successful, it makes everything better.
What has been the most memorable situation for you?
I had a child about a year ago who had under-developed cochlea. He didn't recognize numbers or letters. He was in a special day class. He had emotional meltdowns on a daily basis. The schools considered him unable to be educated. Within a month, he was reading and could read the clock. He could recognize numbers and use them. Because he could communicate, he could negotiate his world without tantrums. It's one of those things where you get to watch a child go from hopeless to being able to deal with the world in an appropriate way.
Do you help those already in special classes?
Yes, depending on what the problems are, we have really good success. I had a lot of children who have been exited out of special education.
What should a parent do if they suspect their child has learning problems?
Make sure the child has had hearing tests and vision tests by an optometrist. Make sure there are no other health issues such as their thyroid and blood sugar. Stay in touch with the school. If it seems like developmental issues, they can call me.
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