NILD SOUTH AFRICA

What is NILD Educational Therapy ®

The goal of NILD Educational Therapy ® is to help students develop tools for independent learning in the classroom and in life. Our methods were developed over 40 years ago and have worked to transform over 100,000 students worldwide.

NILD Educational Therapy ® was developed to treat assumed, underlying causes of learning disabilities rather than simply treating the symptoms. It is a true therapy in that it aims the intervention just above the student’s level of functioning and raises expectations for performance. Students are trained to view themselves as competent, confident learners. The goal of NILD Educational Therapy ® is to help students develop tools for independent learning in the classroom and in life.

Students in NILD Educational Therapy ® receive two 80–minute intensive sessions of educational therapy per week. This can be either in individual or small group settings. These sessions include a variety of techniques designed to address students’ specific areas of difficulty and to improve their overall ability to think, reason and process information. Techniques emphasise basic skill areas such as reading, writing, spelling and mathematics, applying reasoning skills within each area.

ABOUT THE NILD LOGO
NILD’s logo, the figure eight, represents four key components developed through NILD educational therapy-cognition, perception, emotion, and academics.
The figure eight is incorporated in an activity called Rhythmic Writing that helps to strengthen attention, processing skills, and handwriting. Rhythmic Writing is one of over twenty educational therapy techniques that NILD-trained educational therapists employ to enhance their students’ ability to learn.
NILD has a unique intervention program for struggling learners. This intervention is language-based educational therapy targeting areas of weakness in processing, memory, attention, oral and written language, reading, spelling and math. Discover the tools for teaching how to learn in a what to learn world.

Training Educators  |  Developing Minds  |  Changing Lives

Who is the Candidate for this Programme

Potential students for this programme are those experiencing obvious frustration in areas of school performance.

Poor spelling, illegible handwriting, inability to express thoughts verbally or in writing, and difficulty with reading and mathematics are common indicators of a learning disability.

Learning disabilities are diagnosed through a battery of tests that measure and compare students’ potential with their actual performance. Learning difficulties can be addressed whenever they are identified, not just in childhood.

The NILD techniques are effective regardless of age and can be adapted to all levels of functioning.

How and why does the programme work

Research is indicating that thinking can be changed through intensive, focused intervention. Students are trained to think for themselves rather than depending upon a teacher or parent to think for them.

Language and thinking skills are interdependent so that when one skill develops the other is also strengthened. Educational therapists are trained to develop language and thinking through effective questioning. Students are taught to defend their answers and to reflect upon their thinking processes.

They transition from dependant learners to those who think and reason independently. Following NILD Educational Therapy® treatment few, if any, adjustments or modifications need to be made in the students’ academic programmes.

How and why does the programme work

Research is indicating that thinking can be changed through intensive, focused intervention. Students are trained to think for themselves rather than depending upon a teacher or parent to think for them.

Language and thinking skills are interdependent so that when one skill develops the other is also strengthened. Educational therapists are trained to develop language and thinking through effective questioning. Students are taught to defend their answers and to reflect upon their thinking processes.

They transition from dependant learners to those who think and reason independently. Following NILD Educational Therapy® treatment few, if any, adjustments or modifications need to be made in the students’ academic programmes.

NILD Educational Therapy® versus Tutoring

The focus of NILD Educational Therapy ® is the development of clear, efficient thinking.

Students are given tools to enable them to overcome specific learning weaknesses. Tutoring typically focuses on content while educational therapy builds efficient learning processes.

NILD Educational Therapy ® teaches students how to think rather than what to think. NILD Educational Therapy® is skill-oriented, improving basic learning skills so students can learn and retain content.

Educational therapists individualise intervention by focusing specifically on students’ areas of difficulty and dealing with problems as they arise during the actual learning process. They maintain the intensity of focus needed to help the student work through difficulties and they develop the trust needed to free the student to accept and work on difficult areas.