NILD Educational Therapy® was developed to treat assumed, underlying causes of learning difficulties 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 of independent learning in the classroom and in life. 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 dependent 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 programs.

Students in NILD Educational Therapy® receive two 80-minute sessions of intensive 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 emphasize basic skill areas such as reading, writing, spelling and math, applying reasoning skills within each area.

Students are taught by educational therapists, who are trained specifically in NILD methodology and receive on-going graduate level training leading to NILD certification. Regular collaboration between the educational therapist, parents and classroom teachers is encouraged in order to assess progress and appropriately adjust educational programs for each student.

Students become better able to:

• stay focused on the teacher’s voice
• accurately hear and remember what the teacher is saying
• read visual information on the board, transparencies, or computer screen
• read at grade level
  
• understand the main points of what the teacher is saying and decide the significant information to record
• remember how to spell the words being recorded
• record information legibly
• understand and apply mathematical reasoning
  

Educational therapists become better able to individualize intervention by:

• focusing specifically on students’ areas of difficulty and dealing with problems as they arise during the actual learning process
• maintaining the intensity of focus needed to help the student work through difficulties
• developing the trust needed to free the student to accept and work on difficult areas

Parents become better able to:

• provide structure and accountability
• supervise homework
• maintain regular contact with the educational therapist to increase understanding of the therapy process and collaborate in providing an effective program for their child