Monday, October 29, 2007

Dr. Debby Chesnie Cooper, Educational Psychologist, talks about the benefits of dEcode®

MEDIA RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 29, 2007

Curriculum proven effective in remediation of learning disabled


October 29, 2007, TORONTO – dEcode® is a philosophy incorporating both a method and a program, reinforced by the latest neurological research that reading occurs in a different area of the brain than language. And unlike language, reading is not innate, but must be taught.

“Early on in my private practice, I started seeing quite a number of children who had been diagnosed as ‘reading disabled’ but at the age of ten were incapable of sounding out printed words even though they had been given quite a bit of remedial help, specifically in the phonics area,” says Dr. Debby Chesnie Cooper, Educational Psychologist and Director of The Chesnie Cooper Educational Centre. “My quest to understand why led to exhaustive research and later to the development of dEcode®.”

With over 25 years of development and augmentation in a clinical environment, working with people of all ages and different socioeconomic groups, dEcode® is unique in that it addresses the underlying processing problems inherent in the development of reading and numeric skills.

Studies show, even in the worst cases of ‘reading disabled,’ dEcode® has a 100 per cent success rate, provided commitment is made with required follow through.

“My son is 9 years old [now] and in grade 4…This school year, things came to a head. My son withdrew into himself. He wanted to be alone. He hated school and wanted to be home schooled. He wished he was dead,” reports Christine Rick. “I was distraught and unsure what to do next.”

Mrs. Rick’s pediatrician referred her son Edward to Dr. Debby Chesnie Cooper, who is renowned for her research, development of dEcode® and specialization in helping people with CAPD and other learning disabilities.

“After only 2 visits and a conference call with Dr. Cooper, significant changes began to take place in Edward’s life,” says Mrs. Rick. “My son now sleeps through the night; he smiles and laughs. He tells jokes and loves to be around people; he loves school again; and he is feeling more confident about himself. In just one year using dEcode®, Edward went from a reading decoding level grade 3 to grade 9, scored perfect in reading a nonsense word test which he could not do initially, and his reading comprehension score went from early grade 4 to early grade 10.”

dEcode® is different from other phonology programs. “Existing programs don’t develop the true connection between the auditory to visual and visual to auditory systems. dEcode® is pure development of memory and not memorization,” says Dr. Cooper. “There seems to be too much assumption with other programs which results in teaching too much, too fast and implementing comprehension too soon while not recognizing that decoding must be kept separate from comprehension,”

While other programs emphasize rules, memorization and moving fast, dEcode® emphasizes moving slowly, initially, in order to move short term memory to working memory. “Reading is not having to think about the printed word,” says Dr. Cooper.

“dEcode® has a broad application and is not limited to those with learning disabilities,” says Dr. Cooper. “The fact that it has proven successful when applied to individuals with dyslexia, Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD), and other LDs show that it can greatly benefit those without disorders; it has even proven effective with preschoolers.”

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To schedule an interview contact:

Peter Turkington
Strategic Communications Solutions
ON BEHALF OF DR. DEBBY CHESNIE COOPER
& THE CHESNIE COOPER EDUCATIONAL CENTRE
Direct Phone: 905.901.9218
Email: pturkington@stratcommsolutions.ca