About Evelyn
A Personal Message
By way of introduction I would like to share with you a little of my journey as a parent, a teacher and a kinesiologist. I have an adult son and two daughters who are now both at high school. My journey as a parent has been a mixture of events and learning journeys. One of the reasons I wrote a book and became interested in helping parents support their children was the journey I experienced with my son. He had significant learning problems with reading and writing. As a dyslexic he found the study of words and school quite a difficult process.
With my experience and expertise as a teacher I tried all the tricks but I noticed that he was not engaging with the learning process. In my search, which was sometimes a frantic moment and other times a wish to ignore the whole problem, I sought out various people to assist him. These included his teachers, a Behavioural Optometrist and then a Kinesiologist. It was these professionals that opened my mind to processing difficulties and brain integration.
With this assistance my son finished school and is now an apprentice printer. It makes me laugh that the difficulty in literacy has led him into a printing trade. That is the joy of parenting.
This journey changed my teaching career and my understanding of learning and processing. I had worked as a teacher in mainstream classrooms, Special Education, Music and as a specialist Reading Recovery and Learning Support teacher. Each of these fields gave me an incredible opportunity to learn how to teach, how to mentor learners and gave me the opportunity to share with parents such as yourselves the joys and sometimes frustrations of getting your beautiful children through the school system. Having to navigate the system with my son gave me empathy for the parents who share their frustrations with me.
My son worked with a specialised kinesiologist, Gordon Dickson, in the LEAP program. This program works to clear processing difficulties in the complex system of the brain. It restores the brains integration so that the left and right hemispheres can easily work together. It allows the libraries of the brain to effectively store and retrieve information and reduces the emotional stresses that affect learning.
Each fortnight I travelled and witnessed the work. As a parent I was out of my depth. I was desperately seeking a solution to my son’s problems. I found quickly he was much calmer, more organised, and happier and began to engage in his learning at home and at school. He stopped sucking his thumb which at 9 was becoming a real problem.
When we had finished the twelve sessions I was very keen to learn how to become a qualified kinesiologist. I have trained over the past ten years in kinesiology, opening my Clear Learning Clinic eight years ago. I complete 1:1 kinesiology sessions with children and adults. I am a qualified LEAP practitioner and specialise in working with children with learning and processing problems.
I believe that you as the parent are your child’s most important teacher. You are their first teacher, you are the most consistent learning partnership your child will experience. A teacher changes every year. You understand their history, their personality and their problems. You model for your child a life long learning journey. You model risk taking, problem solving and perseverance. Your home is a place where they feel comfortable and you are the person that has the time to devote to encouraging their learning. You love them and provide a safe family environment for them to grow socially, intellectually and emotionally. You are the most important person in your child’s development as an individual.
Warmest wishes on your journey and welcome to Clear Learning. I hope to be of assistance to you and your child.
Evelyn
Qualifications
Diploma of Teaching (Primary), Graduate Diploma in Educational Studies (Special Education) Certificate 1V (Kinesiology) LEAP program (Brain Integration)
Evelyn Wakeford is a qualified specialist teacher. She has twenty-seven years’ teaching experience in a broad variety of contexts:
Teaching Experience
Kinesiology Clinic at Bribie Island
In her clinic she uses a variety of Kinesiology therapies and recovery techniques tailored to the special needs of each child. She delivers the LEAP program to children, which is specifically designed to clear pathways for kids learning.
Parent
As a parent of three children, Evelyn has experienced the challenges of parenting a child who has significant difficulties accessing and processing literacy and numeracy programs, concepts and skills. By seeking out professional help from a variety of practitioners, she found the right path for her children and in doing so also found her passion, deepened her teaching skills and developed a career as an Educational Applied Physiologist.
Clear Learning Course Facilitator
Evelyn runs regular classes for parents to assist them provide a nurturing learning environment for their children at home. She believes parents are the first and most important teachers, advocates and motivator for their children’s learning. She has written this book to provide up-to-date information, research and practical ideas for parents to guide their children along the road to being motivated lifelong learners.
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