Diverse Learners
We seek the educational strategies to fulfill a student’s potential.
An estimated one in seven people in the United States are affected by learning differences that influence how they receive, process, or express information. In addition, attention disorders such as ADHD challenge an estimated 9.4 percent of children, according to the CDC. These issues can have a profound impact on families, yet many parents are unaware of the variety of educational approaches available to support students.
For many families, their child is the first time they have encountered common learning differences such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, verbal and auditory processing disorders and nonverbal learning disorders. TBG consultants frequently help families whose children have mild to moderate learning differences. We make recommendations for summer and after-school programs as well as schools. Should a family seek help with diagnosis or clarification, we work closely with related professionals as needed. As always, we strive to recognize the whole child—strengths, as well as challenges—to promote that student’s academic, social, and emotional growth.
The Bertram Group is expert in working with diverse learners, including twice-exceptional (“2e”) students. This population is hallmarked by giftedness, coupled with learning, social, emotional, or other difficulties. The learning profile is asynchronous, and programming requires supporting both the giftedness and the exceptionality. Schools tend to lean in one direction (rigor) or the other (support). The Bertram Group has both the knowledge and the experience to understand this complicated profile and identify criteria that determines the best chance of success for the student.
The Bertram Group understands that this population thrives best in an environment that nurtures strengths and interests, that fosters social/emotional development and that offers an individualized approach. A student may require elevated coursework in addition to explicit remediation and compensatory strategies. Bertram consultants recognize that not all schools can meet these nuanced and potentially dichotomous differences and will assist families in determining which schools will best serve each individual student.
Not all schools are equally equipped to understand these learners with uneven abilities. At The Bertram Group, consultants look for schools that understand these students, are prepared to support them emotionally and intellectually, have a flexible curriculum, are rich in mentors, focus on the whole child and have advanced coursework available to them. The goal, as always, is to help identify schools that will be able to balance all the gifts, talents and needs of a student, providing an empowering and validating experience.