Howard’s testimonial

Howard, an 11-year-old boy, always brings a smile to my face.

I still remember the day when Howard’s mother came to KickStart for a consultation. “The teacher complains about his behavior all the time. They say that he’s very disrespectful because he never listens in class. He speaks out of order, he plays with his pen, and he makes noises, which is very distracting to the other students. All I can do is listen to the teacher’s complaints. I don’t know how to help my son. He’s going to attend junior high school in two years, but how is he going to manage with this behavior?!”Howard’s mother told us exasperatedly. Howard, standing by his mother’s side, looked to me helplessly and said, “But I just can’t help it!”

Well, it seems that we have our work cut out for us. Howard started his therapy course by coming to sessions once a week and doing our home program the other six days. After seven months of therapy treatment, his mother exclaimed happily, “The teacher said that he hasn’t been as inattentive as before, so I’ve stopped getting calls from them! Also, Howard has shown improvement in his homework and reviewing at home!” When I see the smile of relief on the mother’s face, and Howard’s new-found confidence, I know that aside from doing better academically, the bond between parent and child has become stronger.

The success, however, could not be attained without the mother’s hard work at home with our home program. Reading over Howard’s file, I can tell from the checks beside each home assignment and the notes the mother wrote down that they were meticulously implementing my suggestions at home because they know how beneficial the homework assignments are. I believe that when the therapist, the mother and the child all work together, anyone can achieve the same kind of success they did.

Photo credit: shutterstock.com