In the spring of 2001 a grant was awarded for
The Listening Program
to be used in the Clearfork Elementary
located in Andrews, TX and in the spring of 2002 another grant was awarded to extend this program to the other
elementaries within the district. This is an auditory retraining program designed to help with a variety of
learning disabilities including, but not limited to, attention disorders, auditory processing disorders,
articulation disorders, developmental delays and autism. Some of the Clearfork staff implemented
The Listening Program beginning in
August 2001 with a total of 55 students participating in The Listening Program.
These students ranged from mild learning/attention
problems in a regular class to severely affected students in self-contained special ed classes.
Following are some observations by the Clearfork teachers of these students:
"When she comes in late and does not get the listening her grades for the day are
significantly lower."
"Without the program she is just flustered and can't get focused and settled."
"The program settles her down and gets her mind targeted to curriculum."
"My students who are usually very active return to class more focused and calm."
"The kids enjoy the program."
"(Student) showed notable improvement in her ability to stay focused and maintain a longer
attention span after participating in The Listening Program." She made gainful
academic progress during the year." (Student was previously failing.)
"(Student) has definitely benefited!! Her TAAS scores are up, focus and behavior are better."
"Several students who were not talking at all yet have started talking. The attention span on
some of my students has dramatically improved as well as their ability to listen in circle
time to stories. Articulation has improved on many of my students. Out of my 23 students,
21 greatly benefited from The Listening Program,
1 saw a small benefit, and only 1 saw no benefit."
"The Listening Program has made a
huge difference in my student with autism. She is able to sit and listen for 2 sessions and
loves it! This has made such a difference in her behavior.
The Listening Program is just a small
part of her NACD program (National Academy for Child Development) but it is a big part of
her life."
"I have tried many, many different programs over the years with my students and I have never
seen the anticipated progress with the other programs like I have seen with
The Listening Program.
This, combined with an entire NACD program, has brought about the most changes in my
students in all the 18 years that I have been teaching."
(Quote from parent) "My son has made a 180° turn around with this program and now I've
requested the program for my daughter at her school. He is talking now!"
We do have to report that
The Listening Program has not helped
every child. At least 3 out the 55 students saw no change but we feel this program has
definitely been worth the time and money invested.
