Revolutionizing Education for Students with Learning Challenges using Multi-sensory Techniques

Speaker A 00:00:00

Well, there's been a lot of research as to the best way to support students who have learning challenges and that's first off being multisensory.

Speaker A 00:00:08

So rather than just working out of a workbook or listening to a teacher, we really engage the senses, the visual, the auditory, the tactile, kinesthetic modalities.

Speaker A 00:00:19

When we use the right research based multisensory techniques to help kids who have specialized learning needs, it makes a world of difference in terms of their academic skills and how they feel about themselves.

Speaker A 00:00:32

I left my job in finance, I started tutoring kids myself one on one with various types of special education needs.

Speaker A 00:00:39

And I think it was really at that time that I saw what a tremendous need there was for these kinds of services.

Speaker A 00:00:46

I will always lead with this is what's best for your child.

Speaker A 00:00:49

And I never lead with money or cost or finances because of course it's important.

Speaker A 00:00:55

But that's not my number one driving factor by any means.

Speaker A 00:01:00

I guess from my own experience.

Speaker A 00:01:01

It's never have a firm path in mind when you're young because sometimes life takes its turns and pivots and sometimes you have to just go with it in order to end up in the spot that you were supposed to be.

Speaker B 00:01:14

Hello, my name is Mark Taylor and welcome to the Education on Far podcast, the place for creative and inspiring learning from around the world.

Speaker B 00:01:28

Listen to teachers, parents and mentors share how they are supporting children to live their best authentic life and are proving to be a guiding light to us all.

Speaker B 00:01:36

Hi Emily, thank you so much for joining us here on the Education on Far podcast.

Speaker B 00:01:40

It's always great to chat to people from around the world, especially on the east coast.

Speaker B 00:01:43

It's one of my favorite places to visit.

Speaker B 00:01:46

And yeah, just wanted to say thank you for all the work that you're doing.

Speaker B 00:01:49

I know coaching and particularly in this area is such an important thing for so many students and also parents and feeling they get the support they need to help all young people learn.

Speaker B 00:01:58

So yeah, thanks for being here.

Speaker A 00:02:00

Well, thank you for having me and for sharing such nice words and I'm really excited to be here today.

Speaker B 00:02:05

So let's jump in.

Speaker B 00:02:07

EBL Coaching.

Speaker B 00:02:08

What exactly is it for those people who haven't come across it and what is it that you support people with?

Speaker A 00:02:14

Well, I am the founder and director of EBL Coaching and at EBL Coaching we specialize in providing one on one tutoring to students who have specialized learning needs, including students with learning disabilities, adhd, autism, speech and language challenges.

Speaker A 00:02:30

Really like all kinds of special education needs and we use all research based multisensory students to help kids as young as the preschool level, all the way through the adult level, to build their core academic skills.

Speaker B 00:02:45

Amazing.

Speaker B 00:02:45

And what is it specifically about this area that made it something that you jumped into in terms of your passion and wanting to create something like this?

Speaker A 00:02:55

Well, it kind of goes back to my story, which I can get more into a little bit later.

Speaker A 00:02:59

But I think after having worked one on one with kids for so long myself who had special education needs and having grown up in the field of special education because my mother was the founder of a school for students with learning disabilities, I just saw what a need there was and how incredibly effective it could be.

Speaker A 00:03:18

When we use the right research based multisensory techniques to help kids who have specialized learning needs, it makes a world of difference in terms of their academic skills and how they feel about themselves.

Speaker B 00:03:30

So I guess we should sort of jump into how that's delivered because I know some people might think, well, obviously you're going to be at a school, it's going to be one on one, but you're able to sort of do it in lots of different settings.

Speaker A 00:03:41

Sure.

Speaker A 00:03:42

Well, I think within the school setting it can be done the right way if there are teachers who have the right training and the right background and so forth.

Speaker A 00:03:50

Meaning, to give you an example, if a child has dyslexia, for instance, and they struggle with reading, really the most optimal method for them is called the Orton Gillingham method, which is a specific evidence based method for helping students develop their reading skills.

Speaker A 00:04:06

Now in some schools they have Orton Gillingham teachers.

Speaker A 00:04:09

Whether it's a teacher who can provide the method within the general classroom setting, or whether the child is pulled out and receives that type of instruction.

Speaker A 00:04:17

But unfortunately, in many cases schools don't have that kind of support.

Speaker A 00:04:21

They don't have teachers who are trained in this method.

Speaker A 00:04:24

And that's where outside tutoring and one on one tutoring outside of the classroom can really make such a tremendous impact on students.

Speaker B 00:04:33

And so in terms of it being online or virtual, how does that work in a different way of delivering compared to in person?

Speaker B 00:04:43

Or is the principle the same?

Speaker B 00:04:44

It's just how you're interacting.

Speaker B 00:04:46

Is that sort of different, different style?

Speaker A 00:04:48

Sure, that's a great question.

Speaker A 00:04:49

And for many years we only did in person tutoring and then over time, and now for several years now, we've been doing virtual tutoring as well.

Speaker A 00:04:58

And we've developed so many great resources, tools and technology for the virtual tutoring so that the Tutor and the student can really engage together, really as though they were in person, one on one.

Speaker A 00:05:10

So it's just allowed us to be able to reach so many children and adults, not just in the New York, New Jersey, Connecticut area, but throughout the United States and throughout the world.

Speaker A 00:05:20

Now we're able to help kids who may not have access to this kind of specialized support.

Speaker B 00:05:26

And I think so many people realize now that the world goes beyond their next door neighbor and their street, like, say, in their local community.

Speaker B 00:05:33

I mean, here we are, we're on a podcast, we're in different continents.

Speaker B 00:05:36

And I don't feel that our conversation would necessarily be any different were we not in the room.

Speaker B 00:05:40

You obviously have a little bit more of the kind of the interaction on a, on a kind of a personal level.

Speaker B 00:05:45

But I think the ability to be able to support so many children much easier now because of the virtual world.

Speaker B 00:05:51

It must really sort of make you happy that you have that opportunity to say, to reach more people.

Speaker A 00:05:58

Absolutely.

Speaker A 00:05:59

I really see it as a gift, as a way to just expand our reach and just help more and more individuals build their skills.

Speaker B 00:06:06

So in terms of those people that sort of are involved or taking part in the coaching, I'm assuming it's not you going and giving individual lessons personally to all of these people that are available.

Speaker B 00:06:17

So how does it sort of work on that sort of practical way in terms of maybe what parents or teachers would actually be involved in, in terms of the tutors and the coaches that are going to help people?

Speaker A 00:06:27

Absolutely.

Speaker A 00:06:28

Well, we have a wonderful team of instructors on board that each specialize in different skill areas.

Speaker A 00:06:34

For example, some are early childhood reading specialists, some are high level math specialists, some are what we call executive functioning specialists, where they do a lot of work with children who have ADHD and struggle with study skills, organization, planning, those kinds of skills.

Speaker A 00:06:48

So usually we'll start with an initial evaluation to gauge the student's needs.

Speaker A 00:06:53

If they happen to also have an IEP or any other evaluations that have been done, we read those, we take those into consideration so that we can really come up with an individualized learning plan to specifically address whatever that student is struggling with.

Speaker B 00:07:08

And I think the one to one or certainly the personalized learning I think is important for everybody.

Speaker B 00:07:14

And I think in this technical world now, and certainly with AI coming in, I think it's going to be more and more popular and more and more important because I think more people can help from that.

Speaker B 00:07:23

But I think in the sort of work that you're doing, the 1 to 1 is really so valuable because it's that connection, that understanding and that learning together, like you say, between the person who's supporting you and the young person have that relationship that's going to help them grow.

Speaker A 00:07:38

Absolutely.

Speaker A 00:07:39

And I think especially with the population of students that we work with, when we provide the services one on one, we're able to just truly, like you said, individualize, customize the instruction.

Speaker A 00:07:50

Not only initially when we come up with the plan, but along the way as the student responds cons to the methodologies.

Speaker A 00:07:57

Sometimes we need to spend a long time on a certain subject area and less time on another area.

Speaker A 00:08:02

So it's all about constantly individualizing and customizing the instruction.

Speaker B 00:08:08

And you mentioned the research element, which I know is incredibly important.

Speaker B 00:08:12

So how does that differ for maybe some other coaching or how do you kind of sort of pull all of that research into a way that people can then identify as actually I.

Speaker B 00:08:22

Not only am I getting the support that I need for, for the people that I'm helping, but also know this is really based in important information which I say has been reserved properly.

Speaker A 00:08:32

Sure.

Speaker A 00:08:33

Well, there's been a lot of research as to the best way to support students who have learning challenges.

Speaker A 00:08:38

And that's first off being multisensory.

Speaker A 00:08:41

So rather than just working out of a workbook or listening to a teacher, we really engage the senses, the visual, the auditory, the tactile, kinesthetic modalities with tools like colored sand, magnetic tiles, whiteboards, all of these kinds of tools that are multi sensory by nature.

Speaker A 00:08:58

The second is we follow very much of a structured approach.

Speaker A 00:09:02

So it's not just pulling random pages for, from a workbook or even just following a workbook for that matter, but starting with a plan from the beginning based on where the student is at and then really building upwards from there once they develop mastery within each skill.

Speaker A 00:09:17

So it's really being structured and systematic, being multi sensory and then giving the student a lot of repetition or as much repetition with a concept that they need based on their profile until they're ready to move on to the next concept.

Speaker B 00:09:31

The repetition thing is something which I find fascinating is a.

Speaker B 00:09:34

As a musician myself, the practice and the idea of what repetition does I find absolutely fascinating.

Speaker B 00:09:41

And the one thing that is a real experience thing which is hard to get across to begin with until someone's actually done it and understands is the sense that from a musical point of view, my, you know, we, we learn something new, they kind of master it in a way and they think now I want to move on and, and from a musical standpoint, it's that kind of, this is where the repetition comes in.

Speaker B 00:10:00

Because actually it's the muscle memory, it's the repetition of it feeling very, very familiar.

Speaker B 00:10:05

So that when it then gets put into a different context, maybe you're playing it with the music rather than on your own, maybe you're playing it in an ensemble rather than just in the practice room when you maybe a little bit nervous.

Speaker B 00:10:15

There's something different in your environment.

Speaker B 00:10:17

Your body can just do it in.

Speaker B 00:10:19

That repetition, I think is so overlooked in so many different facets of our learning, but is so invaluable for.

Speaker B 00:10:25

For getting like, say, a real mastery and a real sen. Have sort of consolidated what it is that people have learned.

Speaker A 00:10:32

Absolutely.

Speaker A 00:10:32

And like you said, it doesn't just apply to school, it applies to so many other disciplines as well.

Speaker B 00:10:38

And I know you've written your, your book as well.

Speaker B 00:10:41

How did the book come come out of the work that you were doing and who's sort of reading that and who you're trying to support from that standpoint?

Speaker A 00:10:49

Sure.

Speaker A 00:10:50

So what I've written is actually not one book, but it's a series of workbooks.

Speaker A 00:10:53

So I have written three different book series.

Speaker A 00:10:56

The first one is called Strategies for Study Success, which is a 17 part work student workbook series.

Speaker A 00:11:02

That series emphasizes skills like organization, time management, summarizing, test taking, reading comprehension and writing.

Speaker A 00:11:11

Then I've also written the Flags and Stars Orton Gillingham workbook program, which is specifically for reading and spelling, and then the Flags and Stars multi sensory math program, which of course is for foundational math skills.

Speaker A 00:11:24

And these workbooks really are used by students.

Speaker A 00:11:26

There are many parents that will use these workbooks with their children at home.

Speaker A 00:11:29

There are schools that use them within the classroom, but the idea is that by nature they're all within a multi sensory program.

Speaker A 00:11:37

They're all structured and they all give students that kind of repetition that they really need in order to build that sense of mastery.

Speaker B 00:11:45

So all of this that you've spoken about so far, you sort of mentioned about your own learning and your experiences when you were younger as well, is what you're providing now maybe something you wish you'd experienced when you were younger?

Speaker B 00:11:58

Did it come out of a sort of what you saw was a need for people or where did that sort of journey take you to wanting to create something in the sort of real world?

Speaker A 00:12:09

Well, it definitely was a circuitous path to getting to where I am now.

Speaker A 00:12:13

I grew up in Florida and I grew up within the field of Education.

Speaker A 00:12:17

My mother was the founder of a school for students with learning disabilities down in South Florida.

Speaker A 00:12:22

So I spent so much of my childhood working at my mother's school, observing kids, working with kids, observing teachers, and really seeing how incredibly effective the right approach, the right methodology was for these kinds of students.

Speaker A 00:12:36

However, at the time, I felt that I wanted to carve my own path, so being, you know, being a child and then a teenager.

Speaker A 00:12:43

So I ended up going to Brown University for my undergraduate degree.

Speaker A 00:12:47

And then after college, I actually did finance, of all things, for two years.

Speaker A 00:12:50

I did a year of investment banking and a year of wealth management, which is totally different than what I do now.

Speaker A 00:12:57

And I will say I learned a lot of valuable skills.

Speaker A 00:12:59

Very different than education, of course.

Speaker A 00:13:02

But I quickly realized it wasn't my calling.

Speaker A 00:13:04

And I remembered at the time, back to my childhood, of how gratifying it was to work with kids and to see how we could really change their lives with this kind of approach.

Speaker A 00:13:15

So I left my job in finance.

Speaker A 00:13:17

I started tutoring kids myself, one on one, with various types of special education needs.

Speaker A 00:13:23

And I think it was really at that time that I saw what a tremendous need there was for these kinds of services.

Speaker A 00:13:28

Services.

Speaker A 00:13:29

I was only one person.

Speaker A 00:13:30

I could only help so many kids, but if I could bring on other specialists on board, we could really expand our reach and help so many more kids.

Speaker A 00:13:37

So that was kind of when this path got started.

Speaker A 00:13:40

I ended up later receiving my master's degree in special education and then my doctorate degree in education, and just very slowly, organically continue to grow EBL coaching to what it is now, where again, we're not only now able to help students in our local area, but students nationwide and worldwide with this kind of specialized tutoring.

Speaker B 00:14:00

So being really passionate about the learning, the tutoring and the educational side is very different to then growing a coaching business, I would imagine.

Speaker B 00:14:11

So how is that sort of, what skills have you learned?

Speaker B 00:14:15

What have you sort of enjoyed about sort of growing that as a.

Speaker B 00:14:19

As a business organization to begin with?

Speaker A 00:14:23

Well, interestingly enough, in a way, I think my two years in the business world helped me with the business side of education.

Speaker A 00:14:29

And again, this is not everything.

Speaker A 00:14:31

Anything I had really planned, it sort of just happened that way.

Speaker A 00:14:34

But I think I was so comfortable working with numbers and being around people who would speak about finance and business that that just sort of naturally came to me when I started my own business.

Speaker A 00:14:45

So I think that while yes, I deal with business challenges and logistical challenges all the time, I think at the core, I know that my heart isn't helping children.

Speaker A 00:14:56

And I will always lead with that.

Speaker A 00:14:57

I will always lead with this is what's best for your child.

Speaker A 00:15:00

I truly believe we can help them.

Speaker A 00:15:02

This is how we can help them.

Speaker A 00:15:03

This is why we can help them.

Speaker A 00:15:04

And I never lead with money or cost or finances because of course it's important.

Speaker A 00:15:10

But that's not my number one driving factor, by any means.

Speaker B 00:15:15

So how do you go about having the different coaches, the different people that are helping people?

Speaker B 00:15:21

Are you reaching out to people?

Speaker B 00:15:23

Do people understand what you're doing and want to be part of it?

Speaker B 00:15:26

How does that work?

Speaker A 00:15:27

I think it's a combination of both.

Speaker A 00:15:28

It is a lot of referrals of tutors who either currently or have provided tutoring for us, who refer their friends, their colleagues.

Speaker A 00:15:36

Many do just find us online or find us through others and are so intrigued by what we're doing that they reach out.

Speaker A 00:15:42

So we have a lot of different ways that we're able to bring.

Speaker A 00:15:45

Bring new blood on board.

Speaker B 00:15:48

So in sort of an initial consultation, I'm assuming that maybe it's the first kind of time parents or carers have maybe had the opportunity to really dive into the extra support that maybe their child needs.

Speaker B 00:16:01

What sort of advice do you often.

Speaker B 00:16:03

This is very general, obviously, because every child is different.

Speaker B 00:16:05

But in terms of what are you able to help and support them with to begin with, just to get over that initial hurdle of kind of now we're in a safe space to kind of really help and support whatever they need?

Speaker A 00:16:16

Well, I think that for many years, having any kind of special education diagnosis really had this negative stigma attached to it.

Speaker A 00:16:25

I think that a lot of kids were just grouped together in one classroom.

Speaker A 00:16:28

They were the not smart kids.

Speaker A 00:16:30

And no one really took the time, in my opinion, to truly evaluate them, truly diagnose them, and then identify the right support for them.

Speaker A 00:16:38

But at the same time, I think also there are a lot more offerings now in terms of the different types of support available for different types of diagnoses, different types of students.

Speaker A 00:16:49

So I believe that it's a gift.

Speaker A 00:16:51

When a parent gets a diagnosis for their child who they see struggling, they know something isn't right.

Speaker A 00:16:56

They know there's something deeper going on.

Speaker A 00:16:59

Once they get that diagnosis, they then are able to open up this whole box of services that their child might be qualified for, whether it's speech therapy, occupational therapy, specialized tutoring, physical therapy, whatever it may be.

Speaker A 00:17:12

By giving their child these resources and these tools, it can only help them reach their potential and do as best as they possibly can in school.

Speaker B 00:17:21

And I think that's the thing, isn't it?

Speaker B 00:17:22

When you come across a challenge, it's a question of doing the research, getting your school to support you, your local community, doing your own research to find like, say, the opportunities that are out there, the support that you can get and where you can get that sort of personalized help that you need.

Speaker B 00:17:39

And I think the.

Speaker B 00:17:40

I think the more the world is getting smaller from that point of view.

Speaker B 00:17:44

I think you find yourself in a space, there's lots of opportunities to read and hear people.

Speaker B 00:17:50

One of the reasons I love doing the podcast is that, you know, it's that kind of sense that someone who may not have come across what it is that you're doing suddenly is available to do that.

Speaker B 00:17:58

And also the fact they get to hear you as well, and they get to sort of hear the personalities behind an organization.

Speaker B 00:18:05

There's not just whatever you see on a website.

Speaker B 00:18:07

I think that's such an important thing for people feeling safe and feeling supported and understanding where that help is going to take them.

Speaker A 00:18:14

I completely agree.

Speaker A 00:18:15

It adds another dimension to what you might see online or on a website.

Speaker B 00:18:18

Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker B 00:18:20

So I'm always fascinated from educators generally, but especially people that are sort of in the world that you're involved in.

Speaker B 00:18:26

Is there a teacher or an education experience that had an impact that's taken you to there?

Speaker B 00:18:32

And I know, like I said, you've mentioned about your mom and that those early years, but anything else which you, you think is fascinating and being supportive, sure.

Speaker A 00:18:40

Well, this is going to go way back, but I had a fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Ball, who was very tough, but she was a grammar nut and she insisted that we all learned proper grammar and that we wrote using proper grammar.

Speaker A 00:18:54

And to this day I'm a grammar nut.

Speaker A 00:18:56

I find that schools don't teach grammar enough.

Speaker A 00:18:59

Even my own children don't learn grammar enough.

Speaker A 00:19:01

And it's so important in the way we communicate.

Speaker A 00:19:03

So I think in looking back, she really had such an influence on me in terms of the importance of grammar, the importance of writing and really being able to present yourself on paper and in the most appropriate way.

Speaker B 00:19:16

And it is fascinating, isn't it, as a parent looking back on your schooling compared to what our children are going through now, partly in the systems are slightly different.

Speaker B 00:19:24

It's a little bit more formalized, maybe more assessment.

Speaker B 00:19:28

So what's your sort of take on maybe the pros and cons of maybe when we were at school compared to our children now?

Speaker A 00:19:35

Great question.

Speaker A 00:19:36

I think it's very different.

Speaker A 00:19:37

Of course it was more traditional.

Speaker A 00:19:39

At least where I went to school and where I grew up, it was just a more traditional pen to paper style of learning.

Speaker A 00:19:45

We learned all the rules, we learned spelling rules, we learned grammar rules.

Speaker A 00:19:48

I think now though, it's almost like the world is at their fingertips.

Speaker A 00:19:53

Because when learning something new, they can go online and they can see videos of the Coliseum in Rome and they can wear VR glasses and they can see YouTube videos and images.

Speaker A 00:20:05

And I think it actually gives them a better view in a way of what they're learning, a better understanding if we can use the tools properly.

Speaker A 00:20:13

With that said, I think it's very easy to get lost in, in technology and lost in the importance of traditional learning.

Speaker A 00:20:20

And I think with AI and all of these changes that are happening, I think it's really important that we don't lose the essence that kids need to learn to read, write and complete math problems effectively and efficiently.

Speaker A 00:20:32

We don't want AI to take that over.

Speaker A 00:20:33

So I think we just have to constantly keep tabs on that.

Speaker B 00:20:36

I think that's brilliantly put.

Speaker B 00:20:37

I had a conversation with somebody who's in the AI business and they were sort of echoing those sentiments.

Speaker B 00:20:42

It's the kind of what we don't need is AI just doing everything without the person who's trying to create something knowing what those fundamentals are.

Speaker B 00:20:50

Because then you don't know whether it's correct, if it's taken you down the right path, if it's being supportive.

Speaker B 00:20:55

You want the human to understand all of that basic stuff and have the training in that.

Speaker B 00:20:59

And then using AI as a tool to then like say give the positives and the benefits that are out there to be able to do that.

Speaker B 00:21:05

And I think going back to the one on one coaching and the fact that that human connection and understanding how we can support young people to be able to do that and adults for that matter as well think is going to be such a key factor.

Speaker A 00:21:17

Absolutely, completely agree.

Speaker A 00:21:18

And it may be a tricky one, but an important one to keep tabs on for sure.

Speaker B 00:21:24

Is there a piece of advice you'd like to share or a piece of advice that you might give yourself?

Speaker B 00:21:29

Looking back, and I do always caveat this slightly with the fact that I know that when we're younger we don't always take this on board, but it's always important to at least have heard it and decide whether it's for us or not.

Speaker A 00:21:41

I guess from my own experience, it's never have a firm path in mind when you're young, because sometimes life takes its turns and pivots and sometimes you have to just go with it in order to end up in the spot that you were supposed to be.

Speaker A 00:21:54

And I think my life was a perfect example of that.

Speaker A 00:21:57

Starting in finance, going in different ways, then doing my own tutoring, and eventually forming what is now EDL coaching.

Speaker A 00:22:05

And I think that sometimes you have to be flexible and open minded to opportunities because things happen that you may not, not necessarily expect.

Speaker B 00:22:13

And just on that kind of pivot, I'm sort of fascinated from sort of the human side of that because like you say, you've suddenly got this career that's available to you, it seems to all make perfect sense.

Speaker B 00:22:24

And then there's something which kind of kicks in, intuition, a gut feeling or something where you're thinking this isn't my calling, I think is how you put it, which is, which is absolutely true.

Speaker B 00:22:33

I completely identify with that.

Speaker B 00:22:35

How would you support people that may be in that position, whatever that happens to be, they're thinking I'm not quite where I want to do.

Speaker B 00:22:41

I realize there's maybe I want to be able to give or support and not quite sure how they go about that.

Speaker B 00:22:48

What's based on your experience and also what your advice would be for that?

Speaker A 00:22:51

Well, what I would say, and this was from my experience, is that if something doesn't feel right and you feel that maybe another career, another calling, another passion might be more suitable for you, dabble in that other passion or career, whatever it may be, before jumping fully into it.

Speaker A 00:23:07

Meaning in my experience, when I was doing my, my second job in finance on the side, I started tutoring kids at night and on the weekends.

Speaker A 00:23:15

So I didn't leave my full time job because I wanted that stability and that security.

Speaker A 00:23:20

But I also wanted to dabble into this other world to see if maybe that might be a better fit for me.

Speaker A 00:23:25

And ultimately it was, it was a great experience.

Speaker A 00:23:28

I felt maxed out at one point where I was doing too much and I had to really make that leap.

Speaker A 00:23:33

And I did.

Speaker A 00:23:34

It was scary at first, but it was, was ultimately the right move for me.

Speaker B 00:23:38

And I think that's probably where that shade of gray is the important factor, isn't it?

Speaker B 00:23:42

Like you say, you get to a point where you know it's the right thing, you've done all the right things, you've had that experience and eventually say it's still scary when you take that leap.

Speaker B 00:23:51

But it's not just, it's not just pulling something out of the out of the thin air.

Speaker B 00:23:55

You've actually kind of researched and created it and made it part of your life already.

Speaker B 00:23:59

So despite that scary feeling, you know you've got a bit of that experience and.

Speaker B 00:24:03

And knowing already in you.

Speaker A 00:24:05

Exactly.

Speaker A 00:24:06

I think that's important.

Speaker B 00:24:08

If there is a resource you'd like to share, and this can be personal or professional in a book, video, song, podcast, film, but something that's had an impact.

Speaker A 00:24:17

There is a book that I love called Overcoming Dyslexia, written by a neuroscientist, Dr. Sally Shaywitz, who started the Shaywitz center at Yale University.

Speaker A 00:24:29

And the book is such an incredible resource, either for parents who may have a child with dyslexia, an adult who has dyslexia themselves, or just anyone who's interested in learning about dyslexia and how the brain works, how it affects learning disabilities and dyslexia.

Speaker A 00:24:44

I think it's an incredible resource, an incredible book, and I recommend it to people all the time.

Speaker B 00:24:50

And what do you find when you're reading those kind of books in terms of.

Speaker A 00:24:55

Of.

Speaker B 00:24:56

Is it the.

Speaker B 00:24:57

The nuts and bolts of what they're able to share?

Speaker B 00:24:59

Is it this slightly sort of ability to set the scene in terms of these different areas?

Speaker B 00:25:05

What is it that sort of your big kind of takeaway?

Speaker A 00:25:08

I think it depends.

Speaker A 00:25:09

Every book is a little bit different.

Speaker A 00:25:11

Sometimes it's a validation of what I already was sort of doing and believed, but never really saw it written by someone who specialized in that.

Speaker A 00:25:19

So sometimes I find that it's just helpful for me to.

Speaker A 00:25:21

Knowing that I'm on the right track, I'm doing the right thing.

Speaker A 00:25:24

Sometimes it's new research.

Speaker A 00:25:25

It's new research that they're discovering about what lights up in the brain when a child is learning how to read or just really in interesting scientific information.

Speaker A 00:25:35

Or sometimes it's tips that I learned that I can then share with parents when they're raising a child who has dyslexia.

Speaker A 00:25:40

So I think it kind of depends on the book.

Speaker A 00:25:42

But I. I'm always learning.

Speaker A 00:25:45

I'm always trying to soak up new information.

Speaker A 00:25:47

It's an ever changing world, and I don't think anyone can really say they know.

Speaker A 00:25:51

Know everything within their field.

Speaker A 00:25:52

I think it's important to always continue to learn, evolve, and.

Speaker A 00:25:55

And really listen to others in the field as well.

Speaker B 00:25:57

Yeah.

Speaker B 00:25:58

And I think that kind of sense of education and learning being sort of naught to 99.

Speaker B 00:26:02

Someone put it recently was the fact that schooling might be a certain amount of time in that formal setting.

Speaker B 00:26:07

That we know.

Speaker B 00:26:08

But the learning and our ability to learn and to educate ourselves through all that time is such an important thing.

Speaker B 00:26:14

And I guess again that comes to your coaching as well.

Speaker B 00:26:16

It's not just a question of we're now doing this for this next particular assessment or this particular year group.

Speaker B 00:26:21

It's giving you the skills on the understanding, taking you forward in life as well.

Speaker A 00:26:25

Absolutely.

Speaker B 00:26:28

Now the acronym FIRE is incredibly important for us here, obviously.

Speaker B 00:26:31

And by that we mean feedback, inspiration, resilience and empowerment.

Speaker B 00:26:36

What is it that strikes you when you see that and can be a combination or one word individually?

Speaker A 00:26:43

Well, my knee jerk reaction is all of them.

Speaker A 00:26:45

I love all of these words.

Speaker A 00:26:46

I think the one that jumps out the most to me is empowerment.

Speaker A 00:26:50

And I think that stems from the fact that so many kids that come to us have faced a lot of failure.

Speaker A 00:26:56

They have poor self esteem, a lot of negativity.

Speaker A 00:26:59

And I really believe in empowering them.

Speaker A 00:27:02

If I see any kind of growth, if they were able to only write one sentence and six months later they're writing a full paragraph, I show them that and I empower them with their own growth so that they feel good about themselves.

Speaker A 00:27:14

And I think if we empower kids and we play up their strengths and we build upon their gifts while also strengthening their weaknesses, I think they just develop much stronger senses of self.

Speaker A 00:27:25

And in turn that helps so many other areas of their life blossom.

Speaker B 00:27:30

I really love that.

Speaker B 00:27:31

And I guess that's quite hard to quantify sometimes because like you say as a coach or a tutor, you're delivering one specific thing based on that particular learning support that they need.

Speaker B 00:27:43

But like I say, it's much more than that, isn't it as well?

Speaker B 00:27:45

So those sort of extra skills, the human connection, your ability to support their growth, is that something that comes with experience?

Speaker B 00:27:53

Is it something that's sort of part and parcel of what you're learning as a tutor?

Speaker B 00:27:57

How does that kind of work?

Speaker A 00:27:58

It's something I've learned from experience and from just working with and watching so many kids who can start feeling so badly about themselves and feeling like they can never accomplish anything and then showing them little tiny accomplishments.

Speaker A 00:28:12

It could be going from being able to read one word, one tiny word, to a long multi syllabic word.

Speaker A 00:28:18

But I think when they, they see that they can accomplish things after feeling like that was impossible, those little moments build their self esteem and really start to just help them feel better about themselves.

Speaker B 00:28:30

Yeah, it's something I can really relate to because I find when I'm doing my music teaching is the fact that so often, because we only have like half an hour a week, we're always.

Speaker B 00:28:40

We're recapping what we've done and we're consolidating, but then we're learning the next thing to allow them to go away and practice and come back again.

Speaker B 00:28:46

We don't have the luxury of having a music lesson every day or something like that.

Speaker B 00:28:50

And I say it's really important to kind of really sort of support yourself by knowing what it is that you've done and playing things that you've played before, rather than thinking, oh, I've always got to learn something new in order to kind of be better than I was before.

Speaker B 00:29:03

Which, of course, we're trying to learn and we're trying to grow as well, but realizing that's only part of the process, actually enjoying the fact that if, like you say, if you could only read one word, but now you can read a book or a sentence or a paragraph, enjoying that and actually making the most of that, while also, like I say, pushing yourself forward for whatever the next challenge happens to be.

Speaker A 00:29:23

Exactly.

Speaker A 00:29:24

And I think that can be extrapolated to so many other aspects of life.

Speaker A 00:29:27

There's always challenges.

Speaker A 00:29:28

We're never going to be perfect at anything, but if we know we're capable of accomplishing little tiny goals, then that can really help us in many ways.

Speaker B 00:29:37

Emily, thank you so much.

Speaker B 00:29:38

It's been absolutely fascinating to get inside exactly what you were doing.

Speaker B 00:29:42

And like we said, the ability to sort of.

Speaker B 00:29:44

Of to see and hear you and, and get an idea of where all that passion comes from, I think is one of the real gifts of.

Speaker B 00:29:50

Of.

Speaker B 00:29:50

I have sort of being a podcaster and been able to share this with the world.

Speaker B 00:29:54

So tell people where you'd like them to go and to find out more information or indeed, get in touch.

Speaker A 00:29:59

Sure.

Speaker A 00:29:59

Well, first off, thank you for having me.

Speaker A 00:30:01

I've really enjoyed our conversation.

Speaker A 00:30:03

The best place to learn about the work that we do and to read different articles that I've written is on our website, which is EBL.

Speaker A 00:30:11

Coaching.com are amazing.

Speaker B 00:30:13

And we'll have a link to that in the description as well, so people can find it nice and easily.

Speaker B 00:30:18

Emily, thank you so much.

Speaker B 00:30:19

Indeed.

Speaker B 00:30:19

I really appreciate your time today.

Speaker A 00:30:21

Thank you again for having me.

Speaker B 00:30:24

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.