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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]AEROSMITH ROCKS!!![/quote]

....and?  Don't post that it ROCKS without telling us why!  I would be very interested in hearing whatever you have to share about this program  :P [/quote]

OP here: I am not the poster of the "Aerosmith" comment, but I suspect that it's a deliberate play on words versus just a misspelling.  :)

But I will tell you from my research that it sounds like a fantastic program.   I like the program's foundation in neuroplasticity, which is essentially that the brain can grow, develop, and change throughout one's lifetime.  There is a wide, corroborated body of neuropsychological work that has been done for the last 30 years or so demonstrating this plasticity.  If that's the case, then, it follows that LDs - which are weaknesses in specific areas of cognition generally caused by weaknesses within specific areas of the brain itself - could be alleviated or reduced by strengthening those areas of the brain.

The Arrowsmith Program was developed by Barbara Arrowsmith Young, who grew up with extremely severe learning disabilities herself.  She has a book, "The Woman Who Changed Her Brain", that does a great job outlining her experiences, how she developed the program, and the experiences of other kids that have gone through the program (far better than I could here).  I suggest the read (I'm only 1/3 of the way through this book - there are others I have read also detailing her experience - but it's been fascinating so far). In short, Barbara managed to get through high school and college by sheer force of will and her ability to memorize information, and undertook a graduate program in special ed. Around this time she found resources on neuroplasticity and on what parts of the brain control what abilities, and began putting together a system of exercises for herself designed to strengthen these areas of her brain. She continued working and refining these exercises, which eventually became the foundation for the Arrowsmith program.  Today, I believe (this is my own take; I haven't read this anywhere) she is neurotypical, with none of the LDs she had as a child.

The success of the program has been striking.  The goal is to have these students become neurotypical and integrate into their classroom without any additional assistance.  Their findings have shown that 70% of kids post-Arrowsmith do not need extra support in the classroom (as opposed to 0% pre-Arrowsmith); 26% need 1 support period/day; and 5% still need 4-8 support periods per day.  A great resource detailing their findings and those of other independent researchers evaluating the efficacy of Arrowsmith can be found here: http://www.arrowsmithschool.org/arrowsmithprogram-background/pdf/academic-skills.pdf

Here is a blurb from their website: 
The Arrowsmith Program is founded on neuroscience research and over 30 years of experience demonstrating that it is possible for [b]students to strengthen the weak cognitive capacities underlying their learning dysfunctions through a program of specific cognitive exercises[/b]. [b]The Arrowsmith Program identifies, intervenes and strengthens the weak cognitive capacities that affect learning.  [/b]Students are able to capitalize on their increased learning capacities and [b]after a three or four year program can function without special education assistance or program accommodations.[/b] Upon completion of the program some students may require one to two years to gain experience using their newly strengthened cognitive capacities and some students may need tutoring initially to bring academic skills to grade level given the limited amount of time within the program to address academic skill deficits.  The Arrowsmith Program is founded on two lines of research, one of which established that different areas of the brain working together are responsible for complex mental activities, such as reading or writing, and that a weakness in one area can affect a number of different learning processes.  The other line of research investigated the principle of neuroplasticity, which is the ability of the brain to physically change in response to stimulus and activity, to develop new neuronal/synaptic interconnections and thereby develop and adapt new functions and roles believed to be the physical mechanism of learning. Neuroplasticity refers to structural and functional changes in the brain that are brought about by training and experience... [b]Students with learning disabilities have traditionally been treated with programs designed to compensate for their difficulties[/b] - students who have difficulty with handwriting, for example, would be taught to use a keyboard or accommodated with more time to write exams. [b]The goal of the Arrowsmith Program, by contrast, is to help students strengthen the weak cognitive capacities underlying their learning dysfunctions. The Arrowsmith Program deals with the root causes of the learning disability rather than managing its symptoms. The Arrowsmith Program is capacity based in that it changes the capacity of the individual to learn, rather than compensatory which tries to work around the problem. Strengthening these weaker capacities increases the overall functioning of these specific cognitive areas allowing them to be used effectively for learning. [/b]The Arrowsmith Program has proven successful with students in elementary school through to post-secondary school and with adults. Elementary school students return to a full academic curriculum at their appropriate grade level following the completion of a three or four year program. (bolding/italics is my emphasis)

Hope this helps![/quote]

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