Dear Lisa and Ross,

I have felt for awhile my son was having some difficulties with reading and spelling. The teachers always assured me he was fine and to just keep practicing with him. Deep down I knew there was something more.

I came to Accomplished Learning Centre because one day I was in my son’s Grade 2 class (parent helper) and the students had to write a story on their favourite place. The teacher took 20 minutes to explain what they were to do and how they were to do it, and then sent them back to their desks to begin. About 10 minutes into the half hour time limit they had, I looked over at my son. His face was so red and his eyes were filled with tears, and when he saw me looking at him the tears started to flow. He started crying, “I can’t do this. I don’t know what to do.”

Going over to him and seeing that the only things written on his paper were his name and the date, I wanted to cry! I knew something was just not right.

That day I called Accomplished Learning Centre. Rylie was tested a couple of weeks later. His problem areas were Auditory Analysis, Logic and Reasoning, and Selective Attention.

We began Samonas in the beginning of November 2005. We started noticing little things within the first couple of weeks and it only got better as time went on. He actually wanted to read—it wasn’t a fight anymore. He will now try to sound out words. His spelling was improving. He had this new look in his eyes, “Hey, I can do this!”

Well, about ten weeks later I was back in my son’s class helping out. That day the students had to write four to five sentences on their feelings about a story the teacher just read to them. I was scared to look and see how Rylie was doing. When I did look over he called me over (I thought, “Oh, no.”) but to my surprise he was already working on his fourth sentence and just wanted help spelling a word. I was so happy!

We have completed our 12-week Samonas program and the changes we see in Rylie just amaze us—not only in his reading, writing, and spelling but his self-esteem has improved and his attitude has changed greatly. He has balance now as before he was very clumsy. He can actually stay focused on one thing for longer than a minute. He has self-respect and is not afraid to try new things anymore. He has grown so much in these past 12 weeks.
Thank you, Ross and Lisa. Your support and encouragement have made a world of difference in our son’s life.

Sincerely, Guy and Carla Gilbert

Why We Now Offer Samonas

PACE is wonderful and we’ve seen amazing changes in the kids we work with. For some of those children, however, PACE has been a very hard process on the child, parent, and trainer.

Samonas is gentler, easier, and less expensive than PACE. Even so, it still has very significant results. 85% percent of people with learning disabilities have low auditory processing abilities. Almost everyone who struggles with reading has a lack of phonemic awareness (auditory analysis). Samonas trains the ear, reducing or eliminating these problems.

Samonas is based on the work of Dr. Alfred Tomatis, a French ears, nose, and throat specialist. Tomatis’ sound therapy program has been around since the late 1950’s—this is not a new thing! Ingo Steinbach, a German physicist, sound and electrical engineer, and musician combines the medical and scientific background of Tomatis with the most current technologies, resulting in the program being more enjoyable, efficient, and cost-effective.

• We usually choose Samonas for children:
• With intellectual disabilities or a very low profile
• Under 8 years of age
• With severe auditory processing disorders
• With anxiety or emotional disorders
• With ASD, autism, Asperger’s, PPD, etc.

Many of our clients are choosing to do both programs. Usually they do Samonas first, followed by PACE. However, for kids who’ve already completed PACE, Samonas can bump up their abilities by another few notches.

The auditory system is like the quarterback or the “captain” of the sensory team. It is the first system to function in utero and it is the system that allows the sensory team to work efficiently. When the auditory system is weak, it can affect the integration of information being fed to the brain and the nervous system by the other senses.

Now Hiring - Samonas Apprentice

We need a part-time (possibly full-time later) apprentice in Samonas who wants to eventually become a licensed PACE trainer.

Qualifications:

• Training and/or experience in any of the following areas: occupational therapy, psychology, audiology, sensory integration, Balametrics, Tomatis, one-on-one tutoring (with a teaching degree), counselling, etc. Or, you have other training or experience that you feel qualifies.
• Available to take the Samonas Levels I and II training in April and PACE training at a later date.
• Enjoys working one-on-one with children, is patient and encouraging by nature, can provide a criminal records check and employment references, and can work until 7:30 one or two evening per week and on Saturdays.

Submit resumes and cover letter to: lisa@accomplished.ca or fax to (604) 859-5329.

Income Tax Deductions - Letter From Bookkeeper

Dear Lisa:

Thank you for the opportunity to review the information that you provided regarding the medical expense credit being used for the cost of tutoring. I did confirm with Canada Revenue Agency that the expenses of PACE or the other programs you offer would qualify for a medical deduction if:

There was verification that the child had either a learning disability or a mental impairment, and
You had a letter from a doctor stating that.

I believe that if most doctors were provided with the original testing information and could see a marked difference between the child in question’s age, and their test scores, they would be willing to provide such a letter. The key to claiming the expense is to have a doctor’s letter.

I would be happy to discuss this with any of the parents from your program.

Sincerely, Doris Woodman-McMillan

Numbers Unlimited – (604) 852-0186