I am on staff at a private Christian school for children with learning and developmental delays, and I help children with remedial math and reading. I'm new to EFT and have had some success on issues with myself and also one of my students that I'm tutoring over the summer, but don't know quite how to proceed. He is very dislexic, and has severe issues with memory. He has a very hard time remembering anything, so his vocabulary is very low and he reverses a lot of his letters and numbers. I want to help him get past this, but I'm not sure what to do next? We have tapped on many negative emotions such as "I'm stupid", "Math is confusing", "Even though I'm not good at Math", etc. as well as positve alternatives. Any suggestions?

Charlotte

Hi,

some quick ideas from my work with math dyslexia or dyscalculus:

I would advise you to be more specific (ask him).

Even though I cannot remember numbers / I'm cool / I'm a learner / choose to give my best / choose to learn.

Even though numbers get displaced in my head / I'm cool / I'm a learner / choose to give my best / choose to learn.

Even though numbers get lost when I calculate /  I'm cool / I'm a learner / choose to give my best / choose to learn.

Even though I'm always off a digit / I'm cool / I'm a learner / choose to give my best / choose to learn.

 (the last one is from www.emofree.com/Dyslexia/dyscalculus.htm)

or when it happens (I often go back and forth between calculating and tapping just to see the difference)

Even though that number just ran away /  I'm cool / I'm a learner / choose to give my best / choose to learn.

Even though I have this fear it's wrong again / I'm cool / I'm a learner / choose to give my best / choose to learn.

Even though I don't know if it's right or wrong / I'm cool / I'm a learner / choose to give my best / choose to learn.

Even though I just reversed a number and I feel stupid / I'm cool / I'm a learner / choose to give my best / choose to learn.

(one of my students reverses them back now when it happens)

watch out for past experiences with math

Even though they laughed when I tried to calculate...

Even though the teacher yelled at me...

Even though the teacher let me sit in front of the class during that math test (happend to one of my students)

Be persistend he might have a lot of issues... ;)

He will still need learning strategies and you might want to work with math manipulatives to enhance his understanding

of numbers and values. www.mathsolutions.com is a good place to get started on that part.

Send me a PM if you have questions. 

All the best.

Dirk

Hi Charlotte

It’s great to hear that you are incorporating EFT with remedial maths and reading. There are certainly many ways that EFT may help. Here are some suggestions on ways that you could work with him.

Get him to look at a page of text or numbers and ask him to describe exactly what he sees on the page. Tap on what he describes, it may be that the numbers and letters jump around on the page or they may look like they are on top of one another. Make a list and use his exact words/descriptions as set up statements.. e.g "Even though the words jump around on the page, I’m m still a great kid." Ask him for a SUDs. How much do they jump around? 10 means really jumping around and 0 means not jumping around at all/completely still. After a few rounds check his SUD’s again to see if the “jumping around” has eased and then tap on the remainder or what he sees now. "Even though the words are still jumping around a bit, they are not as bad as before and I’m a really great kid." Continue working until it comes down to zero. Ask after a few rounds, now what do you see? You can do this for every reading/writing/maths problem that you identify or that he experiences. Try to be specific and work on one issue at a time.

You can also ask him how he feels when looking at a page of text (angry, frustrated, embarrassed etc). Tap on these as separate aspects. For the letter reversals ask him to spell a word then tap on what happens. “Even though I get my letters back to front when I spell the word cat, I’m still a great kid” With the memory problem, perhaps you can try this. Get him to look at a short sequence of numbers/letters or words and ask him to repeat them to you. If he can’t remember them, tap on “Even though I can’t remember these words…..” “Even though I get upset/frustrated/angry when I can’t remember…” Check again after a few rounds. If he can remember some but not all, tap on “Even though I can remember some of the words, but not all of them…..” Keep repeating this process, adjusting the set up according to what is changing/happening. If after few rounds he can remember the short sequence, try increasing the numbers you present to him.

As he starts to see even the slightest improvements his confidence will likely start to improve also. Keep searching for and tapping on the emotional aspects of having dyslexia. Does he have a hard time at school? How does he feel about himself? How does he or others label him? “Even though the kids pick on me…” “Even though I get embarrassed when…. “Even though I get anxious when… “Even though I get angry when…. “Even though everyone thinks I’m dumb….”etc Tap on any specific events or things that have happened in the classroom to upset him. You can use the movie technique to help neutralize these events. There is a great article by Steve Wells on Dyslexia and learning disabilities. http://www.emofree.com/Dyslexia/dyslexiadisabilities.htm

Let us know how you go.