Empowering Young Minds Through Personalized Reading Support

In my practice as an educational therapist, I  will want to meet you (or the client) and collect some information. The first few sessions are usually where I perform a variety of educational assessments to collect data and observations, as well as play games and ask questions. The assessments I use will inform my approach. From this norm-referenced developmental data (listening and memory, hand-eye fine motor coordination, number sense, reading/spelling inventories, etc.), I can draft a formal summary report. All previous medical history and formal reports should be disclosed, as I can incorporate that data.

A detailed learning plan will be made and shared with parents / school to suggest any useful classroom modifications, academic scaffolding, behavioral strategies, and to offer a list of current strengths and academic weaknesses. This is also when referrals might be made to other allied professionals, such as occupational therapy, vision, speech and language, or psychology.

I have extensive experience working with children aged 6-16 to improve their sound awareness, build increasing working memory, expand their foundational number sense, and improve their self-concept through normalizing their struggles with learning issues. Clients typically have attentional, language-based, or other learning challenges.

The Wilson Language System is very structured and a Tier-3 intervention that usually requires anywhere from 50-100 hours of remediation to improve up to 3 grade levels in both spelling and reading. The program is designed to be completed in 2-3 years, ending at a high school proficiency.

For some students, language support may be in foundational math – using multisensory strategies to learn and acquire new concepts. A third grade student may evolve from learning to read/write intensively to catch up 5 days a week for 45 minutes to becoming an independent 5th grade reader/writer who needs only 1 or 2 days a week to keep learning how to study, organize their thinking, and process new concepts in math.

Tutors have subject matter expertise in specific academic areas, like reading, grammar, writing, spelling, or math. Tutors mainly preview and reteach concepts taught in school for reinforcement; they help students prepare for tests and impart study skills specific within a particular core discipline. Tutors often do not have the formal educational training to understand how emotional, behavioral, social, physical factors may be impacting a learner’s ability to process, retain, or apply academic content and skills.

Educational therapists have subject matter expertise (many are former classroom teachers), but also have advanced training in structured learning modalities (such as Wilson) that are designed for those with unique cognitive profiles. ETs are trained to work directly with the challenges that come with having a learning difficulty – such as dyslexia, sensory processing issues, executive functioning deficits, or delayed language development. Work done in sessions complements the academic objectives of school; however, the ET goes more in-depth with the individual to also examine/explain the way they think or behave while performing academic tasks and to teach them hacks.

I currently hold private sessions in the clients’ own home. I have also held sessions in other quiet shared spaces (library/office) or in the private school setting. I am based near downtown, so I usually work with families living in La Jolla, Coronado, or central San Diego. Some older students work with her remotely due to scheduling issues, including one as far as Vista, CA.

Educational therapists set goals that are measurable academic skills that can be charted over time. Usually learning plans are designed for 3-month intervals, but last from several months to several years until the client is independently performing for their age.

Rebecca O’Brien charges an hourly rate for all her services, prorated for time. One professional hour is considered 50 minutes, with 10 minutes of planning. This fee increases slightly every fiscal new year to adjust for rising costs of inflation.