learning challenges

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Students with learning disabilities are often overwhelmed by the difficulties they face in a group-learning environment. Often, teaching formats are structured in direct opposition to the way in which they encounter and process information, and attempting keep pace with the rest of the class can be challenging. As teachers and peers move on to new ideas and skills, students with special needs often find themselves overwhelmed particularly when new lessons are designed to build upon previously presented information.

As an intervention specialist, Jeannie McLeod is able to expand her services to work with students who have specific challenges including ADHD, dyslexia, and other processing disorders. Jeannie has many years of experience in developing ways for her students to disentangle difficult concepts and approach problem solving in clearly defined steps. With patience and compassion, she will listen and observe until she can find her way into their thinking and work with them from that point forward. 

Specific ways in which our services can benefit students include helping them: ​

• ​to objectify their learning challenges, so they can understand them and learn how to navigate them. "You have to name it to tame it"
• to learn ​to be comfortable in seeking help to identify their individual learning styles
• to bridge any communication gaps between students and their teachers​
• to alleviate anxieties associated with performance in general and test taking in particular to secure testing accommodations

H.J.McLeod offers support to families who wish to educate their children in their home setting through the scholarship option offered by the Ohio Department of Education (ODE). 

The Autism Scholarship Program and The Jon Peterson Program (www.ode.state.oh.us) provide an opportunity for Ohio parents to individualize education services for their children. ODE requires that students who are receiving scholarship funding for academic programs be tutored in accordance with the goals of their Individual Education Plan (IEP). In order to obtain funding and ensure that services are made available, H.J.McLeod provides Scholarship Provider Services for all academic programs.

Specifically, H.J. McLeod works with parents to set up appropriate data collection formats, implements the IEP goals through regular tutoring services, and prepares quarterly progress reports for the school district.  

H.J. McLeod also offers parents additional services based on the level of support that parents feel they need. These may include but are not limited to IEP goal development, communication with schools, IEP meetings /advocacy, academic plans to implement goals, and location and/or purchase of materials.