Flying Under the Radar – Lennie’s Story
Lennie, 25 years old cannot organize his life – let alone his bedroom. Unable to focus or prioritize, he allows his driver’s licence and passport to expire, he ignores warning letters from the university registrar about required courses and must study an extra year to attain his degree in psychology. He works as a waiter, his nights consumed by video games, his days by sleep. And yet Lennie is smart, athletic, charming, funny and well liked. He is adrift and overwhelmed. His parent’s explanation which Lennie has internalized - “He’s lazy.”
On completing The Arrowsmith Cognitive Assessment, Lennie’s profile shows four deficits, all of them mild but all “high order” executive functions, and all conspiring to keep him drifting and unable to mobilize his talents. Imagine a sports car with a high-performance engine but missing its transmission: the car was going nowhere. Testing of Lennie also revealed extraordinary strengths in spatial and mechanical reasoning and other right hemisphere functions, which delighted him for no one had ever told him that.
Lennie spent a year at Arrowsmith. He was not a model student: at first he was often late or absent. The deficits had established patterns of behavior that were slow to dissipate. Lennie focused on programs designed to rewire his brain to build the cognitive capacities underlying mental initiative, organization, logical reasoning, problem solving and strategy generation. Lennie later described it this way, “I began to organize my thoughts more effectively, and to plan ahead: First a few weeks ahead, then a few months ahead. For the first time in my life I had real long term goals and was able to take steps towards achieving them.”
Lennie recounts the day he came to school looking tired, with bags and dark circles under his eyes. Something, he said, had changed and he could feel it. “I am now compelled to organize my room, my life,” he told me. “I see what needs to be done and instead of procrastinating, I feel a compulsion to set things right - in the moment.” At last, engine and transmission were coupled and the newfound acceleration was truly exhilarating.
Near the end of that year, Lennie took aptitude tests that pointed to a career in industrial design. What followed was a four-year degree in that field, two major prizes on graduation day plus three more in a province-wide design competition, and multiple job offers in his field.
Today he is a happy young man and fully engaged in his life and work. For years he flew under the radar. Parents, teachers, friends, Lennie himself: none suspected what was holding him back: his own brain. Nor could they imagine what would put him right: his own reworked brain.
Matt – A Teacher’s Story
Matt was considering dropping out of high school because of his learning challenges. His parents convinced him to give Arrowsmith a chance for his final year of high school. He agreed.
“As a teacher, I have known Matt since he was in my first-grade class, middle school science class and I have been his tutor throughout high school. When he mastered the first level of one of the Arrowsmith cognitive exercise, he cried tears of joy. Reading clocks was previously impossible. It was a huge confidence booster. According to Matt, being in the program brings him peace and he enjoys the cognitive exercises for that very reason.
We have a therapy dog in the Arrowsmith program and she is even noticing changes in Matt. When the year began she was reluctant to spend much time around Matt. Today she lays next to him and seeks his affection willingly. Matt has recently been accepted into a law enforcement program geared towards high schoolers who are interested in a future career in law enforcement. He has to take lots of notes and follow lectures in this program. This is something he wasn’t able to do before the Arrowsmith Program.
His parents are reporting a happy son who is looking forward to his future. They say he is doing chores and helping with the family business which is something he never had an interest in before. He has more initiative, focus, and peace of mind. His communication skills have also improved. I am so thankful for the Arrowsmith Program and saving this at-risk teen.”
