posted March 02, 2001 19:16            

Yes, transitions can be a problem,expecially if she gets caught up in a part she likes when she is learning it and when she has to go a different way, or reverse. When she does her brain gym properly she can be near flawless. It is just difficult to properly do her exercises when she is rushed so quickly from school, she barely gets in class on time (We live 30 from studio). As for Diane's comment on memorizing: It is not that she can't memorize, she switches patterns involuntarily in her brain. Actually the theory is the brain processes the info correctly in back of brain, but it switches in the front and does not allow her to access the info properly. It is not a memorization problem, but a info processing problem. It is hard to understand, and I have read quite a bit and it still confounds me. For example: The last few months my daughter has been taking additional private classes with a former soloist from Tulsa Ballet. Amanda has more time before her private classes and she has been able to do her BG exercises everytime without the teachers knowing, except for this Tuesday. Her dad had an appointment that day and volunteered to take her, but he picked her up late from school. She could not change in the truck with dad there and when she got there she had to dress and when she finally started her class she was a total disaster. So bad that the teacher who is still just getting to know my daughter just stopped the class and said "Do you not want to be here? What is the problem? Until Tuesday, she was able to keep her secret. So tearfully she tried to explain. You have no idea what a coincidence this subject was when I logged on to this website. I was in tears, but they were thankful ones to know she was not the only one. I was able to consult with the teacher and explain the situation. I should of discussed it with her earlier, but it is such a strange problem that I did not want it to seem like an excuse. Anyway, she said that if she notices the switching in class again she will just give her a minute to do her BG exercises. You really would have to see the difference for yourself, it is amazing.

[This message has been edited by ap's mom (edited March 02, 2001).]

posted March 02, 2001 20:40            

As you have probably read in a former post I that I once had a deaf student and she did so well, I really fell in love with her. She was very capable to getting along in the hearing world, but one day on the way to ballet class she was caught in a terrible traffic jam. Cars were being rerouted by the police and she couldn't make out what the officer was shouting at her - he was standing across the road and just screaming at her. She gave up and made a U-turn and went home in tears. It never occurred to him that she was deaf. If he had walked over and spoken - she was great at reading lips - but not at that distance.