Doc Meek

Archive for January, 2014

Image from: Photobucket.com

“Why is He Fighting All the Time?”

Blaine (not his real name) was always fighting in the schoolyard at his elementary school. 

The school principal phoned his mother to say Blaine would be suspended if the fighting did not stop.

Finally Blaine’s mother brought him in to see a Neurological Learning Specialist at THE LEARNING CLINIC.

“Why is he fighting all the time?” the mother anguished.

“Can you help him to stop fighting?”

“What else is going on?” the specialist asked. 

“He has struggled since grade one and gets poor marks,” said the mother.

She went on to say that his biggest problem was that he was now in grade four and still did not know how to read.

The learning specialist asked Blaine what he liked about school.

“Nothing.”

“What are you good at?” “Nothing.”

“What do you like outside of school?” 

Blaine brightened and said he loved to ski.

“Are you good at it?”

“Pretty good.”

The mother confirmed that Blaine was, in fact, a top notch skier.

“I can beat my Dad down the hill!” Blaine piped up.

Skier Photo from: 123rf.com

“Hey, way to go!” exclaimed the learning specialist, gently touching the right side of Blaine’s head.

Different Parts of the Brain in Charge of Different Skills 

“Hey Blaine, wouldn’t it be great if you could read just like you ski down the mountain, smoothly and easily now?”

The learning specialist then played a game with Blaine, touching the left side of Blaine’s head.

He had Blaine imagine the great skier (in the right side of his head) befriending the not-so-great reader (in the left side of his head).

Then they imagined the skier teaching the reader to read “smooth as a skier going downhill in good snow on a sunny day.” 😮

And so…

As the imaginary great skier (in the right side of Blaine’s brain) taught the imaginary reader (in the left side of his brain), Blaine the boy in Grade 4 at school gradually learned to read “smooth as silk.”

Would it surprise you to learn that as Blaine learned to read well, his fighting stopped?

Doc Meek, Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada, Friday, January 24, 2014

Image from: Photobucket.com

LADY AQUAMARINE HIDES SECRET SHAME

By Dr. J. Collins (“Doc”) Meek

Once upon a time an undersea lady of noble blood pined to become a mortal. Finally, miraculously, her wish was granted. She became mortal and soon joined a women’s precision swim team.

No longer burdened with royal demands and expectations, Lady Aquamarine (now simply known as Andrea) entered upon her human adventure with great gusto. Her undersea swimming talents made for high success on the women’s precision swim team.

Still, mortality was a real challenge in many ways. This created moments in her life that were difficult and joyful, both.

She and her team rose to the top of their rank and were known and lauded far and wide.

Painful Secret

But alas, the Aquamarine Lady had a painful secret. Very painful. Although she was lauded and loved by everyone, she covered her heart in shame within herself. She spoke to no one of her carefully guarded secret…

Life went on.

Image from: Photobucket.com

One day, she was talking with her mother (Lady Amelia of the North Sea) and told her that though she was highly successful as a precision swimmer (of course!), she was failing as a mortal because she could not read. Her mother reminded her that a return to her former undersea life was not possible.

“I Am So Ashamed”

“Why don’t you seek some way to learn to read?” her mother asked innocently. “Impossible!” exclaimed Andrea, thoroughly discouraged. “I’ve tried everything and nothing works. I’ll never be able to learn to read. I am so ashamed!”

“Better seek out the Old Man of the Sea,” her mother intoned and dove back into her accustomed watery domain.

The Old Man of the Sea was elusive.

Hope at Last

So Andrea asked her mortal friend Andilusia, “What can I possibly do?” Andilusia said, “I’ve heard there is a doctor who helps hopeless cases. The mothers love him because he gives them hope for their troubled children.

Andrea sought far and wide for this hopeful doctor. When she finally found him, she pleaded with him to help her learn to read. He asked her, “What is the one thing on earth you love most?”

Andrea immediately related her adventures as a precision team member. “I love the work and I love the team and I love the challenges.”

Then, for seemingly no reason, she blurted out, “But what I love the most is swimming in the aquamarine waters of the South Pacific islands!” She didn’t tell him this was in her former undersea life of course. She was afraid he would not believe her aquatic story.

The good doctor simply said. “Was it the warm waters that you loved?”

Aquamarine Hues Can Speak! 

“Yes,” mused Andrea, “And mostly the incredible aquamarine hues!”

“You have no idea of the magnificence of the aquamarine hues,” she said, almost weeping.

“Well, it is obvious then,” said the good doctor, “we need to have those inspiring aquamarine hues teach you now to learn to read.”

“What!?” exclaimed Andrea, not willing to believe the good doctor knew that lovely-hued waters could talk with her as in her former undersea life.

Colored Overlays a Big Surprise

“Here,” said the good doctor, “Look at these gel colored overlays that are used to cover spotlights in the world of dramatic productions, presentations and plays.”

“Oh,” blurted Andrea, “Sometimes they put spotlights on us when our precision swim team is performing, especially in the evenings.”

Andrea immediately sought out one of the technicians who operated the spotlights for the team. He showed her an array of gel colored overlays, and she quickly picked several that were an exact match with the aquamarine waters of her South Seas experiences.

Andrea placed one of the aquamarine gels over the first page in a book she longed to read.

The “Small Black Marks” on the Printed Page Now Made Sense!

And she could not believe her eyes! The normal blur of quaint black marks on the page now shimmered gently in a quiet sea. She noticed that some of the quaint black marks (now softened by one of the aquamarine colored overlays) seemed to speak to her softly, seemed to make more sense to her now.

“My love of precision swimming now gives me a love of reading that I never ever thought I could achieve!” she rejoiced.

She wept for joy.

Defeats Dyslexia

With time, she learned individual words and phrases and loved to make sense of the whole sentence, then the whole paragraph and then the whole story.

And so, thanks to the colored overlays she was now using every day, she went merrily on her way! She got on with her life with great precision and great happiness.

Once thoroughly defeated, Lady Aquamarine now thoroughly defeats dyslexia.

……………………………

J Collins Meek, Ph.D., shows children and adults how to defeat dyslexia, ADHD, and many different kinds of learning problems. He is in private practice in Edmonton, Alberta, CANADA. He is an expert at creating innovative protocols to help children and adults triumph over learning difficulties.