Age: 10
Grade: 4th - Below Grade Level
Emotional State: Depressed

Danny came to the Institute in bad emotional shape. He was failing all subjects including reading, math and writing. He read at a 2nd grade level. He was having a difficult time making friends. Danny stopped talking. He felt defeated, demoralized and dejected.

Danny was hesitant to try anything new. He was sure he would fail. He hung his head and mumbled replies when spoken to.

First we had to get Danny to talk. We played simple games like BLINK to jump-start his ability to process images more quickly. He started winning the games and felt better about himself. He was ready to begin working on our simultaneous cognitive, visual, auditory and kinesthetic exercises and activities.

Danny loved doing an activity called Magic Eights. Kids make "magic eights" by drawing the number eight sideways on a table full of shaving cream. This activity helps to connect both hemispheres of the brain. Danny started looking us in the eye. Soon he enrolled in football and succeeded at playing a team sport. Danny's confidence started to soar.

We knew things were starting to click when Danny started talking. He talked a little more each week. He talked about his school and family; about sports and his pets. We encouraged him to write down his feelings as we worked on his spelling and writing skills.

Results
Danny is now in 6th grade and has been on the honor roll for the last year. He is also on a 12th grade level in math. Remarkable. Most importantly, he can look people in the eye, talk to people and has a wonderful frequent smile. He continues to play sports and is the star player of his basketball team.

Career Aspirations
Danny wants to be an internet engineer at Google when he grows up.