FAQ/SAQ-OLD

At Therapeutic Learning Center, our experienced specialists tailor appropriate programs and strategies to meet the unique needs and accelerate the best academic results of each learner. The combination of our trainings and the amount of therapy needed varies for each student. We do not merely have a program, but rather a system specifically designed to fit your child’s need.

For questions not answered in our FAQ or to discuss more about your child’s learning needs, please feel free to visit our center or give us a call at +1 (858) 668-8366 . It is our great pleasure to passionately help your child succeed!

Frequently Asked Questions

When was the center founded?

The Therapeutic Learning Center was founded and managed by Maria Bagby in 2005 making TLC, now, one of the best independent centers in the US. In her 20+ years in the field of academe, she was fully convinced that in order to be truly successful in school and in life, one must be committed to address the gap by providing a child-centered approach. Most importantly, Maria made it a priority to not simply conform to traditional teaching since it makes it difficult to meet the underlying needs of struggling learners. Since then, Maria decided to comprehensively study dyslexia, ADHD and, eventually, all other learning challenges to advance her own knowledge and ideas in understanding these problems. In 2013, she continually practiced this principle and moved to open a center in the tropical beaches of Solana, California.
Maria spent years searching for the best programs and refining the most powerful methods and materials into a comprehensive strategic approach to meet the learning challenges that arises in the student population. The learning center drastically evolved through the years as it partnered with Jill and David Stowell (The Stowell Learning Center) to help them achieve their vision of developing the underlying skills necessary for efficient learning to attain academic success. Fueled by Maria’s passion to help thousands of students develop their strengths and achieve their academic and personal goals, TLC grew as a dynamic institution that chooses to adapt as the need of every learner changes. She perseveres to ask, learn more, delve deeper to the realms of cognitive skills as she collaborates with knowledgeable professionals in application of the latest studies on the fields of neurosciences. We work with the best neuropsychologists, child/adolescent psychologists, Speech/Language Pathologists, and other professionals in the field.

What are the clinician’s qualifications?

Maria built and trained a dedicated group of clinicians who are committed to truly making a difference in the life of each and every student. All of our passionate clinicians have bachelor’s degree in Psychology and one clinician has a masters in Language while another has completed her masters in Education and Teaching. This diverse team of specialists use a variety of interventions, techniques, and modifications to meet the developmental needs of every learner.

Aside from the intensive training on the programs and therapies developed by Maria and the Stowell Learning Center, we collaborate with our clients in our one-on-one and group sessions to continuously evaluate and accelerate each student’s development.

Maria has been an instructor in several training programs, has helped in the development of the Colorado Student Assessment Program from its state level and has openly shared her expertise in both public and private schools. She even aided a national teacher excellence program come to reality with the Milken Family Foundation. Maria’s role in the outlined programs allows her to share her expertise, in both public and private schools, with her clinicians making them better suited to work with each client and meet their needs.

How early can we expect results?

A learner’s improvement can be detected as early as a couple of weeks, but the developmental process depends on the number and severity of learning challenges that have to be dealt with. Quality education takes time and we aim for every student to become independent, comfortable and efficient. In most cases, it would take a couple of months to see quantifiable results but this life changing experience will always be worth the wait.

Do you guarantee results?

Each student has several differences in learning strengths and challenges; therefore, each progress at different rates. But in all cases, we guarantee to provide the best solutions and assistance to help each student reach academic independence and success. If we feel that we cannot address your concerns, we will partner with the family to find someone who can.

TLC designed strategies and therapies to develop a solid foundation for learning. We do not want to provide band-aid solutions, instead we aim to provide permanent solutions that will help improve weak underlying processing skills.

What does your therapy look like?

Our therapy generally focuses on improving and developing underlying weak skills as an essential foundation to efficient learning. In most cases, our therapies are always supervised by clinicians and are usually done through one-on-one sessions in our individual therapy rooms or our “fun room” as we deal with motor development and attention challenges. Some of our methods may use specialized equipment and materials and some programs may utilize the use of computers.

Furthermore, training the students on a daily basis is a critical factor in the process. As we partner with parents, we can provide frequent therapy which may also help reduce the cost to the family. We assist the parents in providing instructions and materials as they become our teaching partners.

Do you have individual sessions?

Yes. Conducting one-to-one training has been TLC’s effective way for years. This serves as an intensive, individualized and specific strategy to incur significant changes in a short period of time. Every client will have a particular schedule and a clinician, or team of clinicians, to work with on a regular basis. In this way, a learner’s thinking will be enhanced and at the same time will create a supportive and building environment.

Can you help students with Dyslexia?

Of course! The dyslexic population were the first clients of TLC and Maria herself is a Dyslexia Remediation Specialist and Educational Therapist. She has also received certification in Orton-Gillingham methodology and has training in all Lindamood-Bell programs. Hence, through careful study, the center crafted specialized programs to address the specific and varying needs of dyslexic learners of all ages.

Do you work with Autistic children?

Yes! We love to work with children on the autistic spectrum although we work by determining the case on a student-to-student basis. In addition, we also provide and carefully determine the best and most effective therapy for those children dealing with Aspergers Syndrome.

After an initial assessment, we will determine if TLC is the right place for you. We will then provide an appropriate program and recommended therapy depending on the parental goals and severity of the child’s symptoms.

How much will it cost?

Basically, we design specific programs for each student and discuss the fees involved after we determine the most appropriate approach. The cost depends on a learner’s enrolled programs or combination of programs and also the duration of therapies. Some programs have specialized materials and/or licensing fees which may have one-time start up fees.

Should you require more information, feel free to make an appointment today for a private consultation or join us in our Parent’s Information Night and avail a $200 discount to discuss how we can help.

Call us at +1 (858) 668-8366 or fill out a contact form so we could begin your child’s success story!

Should Ask Questions

What will happen if my child doesn’t get this kind of help now?

Learning difficulties and struggles in school and/or social situations are most often the result of weak or inconsistent learning skills. These underlying skills may be causing interference in learning and achievement.

When this happens, students become more frustrated and anxious about their learning and their abilities or challenges. Some kids become angry or withdrawn. Others appear unmotivated or disinterested. They may make poor decisions, feel like a failure, and quit believing in themselves.

What can I expect this year in school and with homework as a result of this therapy?

At first, it may be difficult to fit in homework, activities, and sessions at the learning therapy. We advocate for a “homework pass” for a few weeks during adjustment to the therapy and demands of classroom learning. Yet homework gradually becomes easier and homework time becomes shorter as the student progresses with their therapies. Students become less anxious and more confident and willing. For most, attention, both in school and at home, increases. As their skills increase, so does their confidence and self esteem.

We have heard many parents and teachers state things such as: “This is the best time spent investing as I can see the obvious difference in their approach to learning!”

What can I expect in the future as a result of this therapy?

  • Greater confidence
  • Higher self-esteem
  • Higher level of autonomy in their school work
  • Greater sense of control over learning

This is a big investment in time and money. We’ll have to take out a loan or use my child’s college fund to do this. Is it really necessary?

Here’s what one parent shared with me: She said, “Our daughter came to you when she was 12. It was a really big commitment for our family and we had to use her college fund to do it. But she wouldn’t have gone to college without taking this time and investment and now she has a social network of friends in high school and is applying to colleges along with her peers!”

This IS a big commitment. It is also a life-changing one.

How long will it take before my child’s grades go up?

Grades are subjective by teacher. Truly. Yet their performance on assignments and assessments should show improvement within a few weeks. How long it takes for grades to improve truly varies with the number, type, and severity of issues that the student is dealing with.

We value ongoing communication, both with parents/families and with teachers/educators.

If we are working together tightly, we should see improvement within the first 4-8 weeks. So let’s work together because it can happen that quickly!

If my child is in special education, why does he need this also?

Schools focus on academic skills. They do not generally address the weak underlying processing/learning skills that cause students to struggle. Special education provides valuable support for students but does not typically correct the problem.

Are you looking for accommodations? We can help guide you in what to ask for with your school districts and teachers.

Are you looking to fix the problem so that those accommodations are not necessary or can be reduced? We will devise an individualized plan to improve the underlying skills (working memory, attention, processing speed, auditory processing, etc.) so that they don’t need accommodations later in school.

Support and accommodations at school are helpful in the moment, but they are not a long-term solution.

Will my child ever be independent? Will she always need help?

Our goal for students with learning challenges or diagnosed or undiagnosed learning disabilities is that they will become comfortable, independent learners without any need for accommodations or differences. We have seen, thousands of times over the years for students of all ages, that when they leave us, they go on to be independent, successful students and adults.

How can my child afford to spend time working on “underlying skills” when he’s failing in school? Wouldn’t it be better to work on schoolwork?

Working on schoolwork may help him get by, but it will not correct the issues that are causing him to fail. Until the underlying skills are developed, you will experience this challenge year after year.

Whilst we develop the underlying skills, we are always connecting these skills to the age appropriate school skills. It’s not a matter of either/or but it is an important time to prioritize what is needed for your child to achieve in the age-appropriate school skills. Can it be just underlying skills? Or can it be school skills at the same time? The answer lies in your child, and how we are able to work together. We prefer both, but with all transparency, there are times when we need to back down from academic skills to develop underlying… and there are many times when we can do both at the same time. It depends on how much time we have with your child and what your child needs.

Every plan we make for a child is individualized to maximize the time that we have and to be most efficient in their time and years in school!

Is this something that we should do over time, or is it better to work intensively?

This is a decision that we can help you make after doing the assessment, as there are many factors to consider. Intensive programs of 3 – 4 hours daily can be extremely beneficial and successful for many students. Other students may require a more step-by-step approach that must be spread out over time with 1 hour sessions twice or three times a week.

Frequency of instruction is a key factor for this kind of training whether it is more condensed or spread out over months.

We like to schedule an assessment session (either remote or in-person) where we can meet the child personally. If you have any previous assessment information or IEP reports, we will evaluate those also.
The better we work together in our communication is the better we can develop a plan for your child for change and success.