Falcone Institute

Megan, a 15 year old high school freshman, was struggling academically and acting out emotionally at home. Her parents, Linda and Mark, returned to Falcone Institute seeking help for Megan, their youngest of three daughters. Eight years ago, the oldest daughter, Kristen, participated in a program to strengthen her reading and spelling skills. Over a span of three years, Falcone Institute worked with Kristen to help her successfully transition into high school, while helping the parents understand their child’s unique learning style and needs.

This time, Megan began demonstrating similar learning needs. Her sister Erin, the middle child, excelled in school and sports. Megan received reading help at her elementary school; however, she began to struggle and fall behind in middle school. Megan, a naturally bright girl, entered high school feeling defeated and angry. She frequently dealt with her challenging emotions by fighting with her sister Erin and parents or withdrawing to be alone. Around this same time, Kristen moved away to college and Linda and Mark, were beginning to fight and grow distant from each other.

Megan wanted to feel less stressed about school and home life. She wanted to be able to read and write more easily and quickly. Megan wanted her parents to stop comparing her to her sister, and she wanted her parents to get along again. Linda and Mark wanted Megan to succeed academically and feel good about herself. They agreed to put their differences aside for the best interest of Megan and their family.

Falcone Institute was quite familiar with the learning needs prevalent in this family. Falcone Institute assessed that Megan truly never corrected her reading challenges through the school system, particularly for complex, multisyllable words found in middle school and high school material. Megan’s feelings of stupidity and incompetence caused her to feel insecure and angry. Megan would become defensive and combative towards her sister Erin, as she felt less than her sister. Megan was also feeling overwhelmed with the stress of dealing with her parent’s frequent fighting, which impacted her focus and motivation in school. Kristen, Megan’s buffer for personal and family stress, was no longer around for immediate emotional support causing Megan to feel alone and misunderstood.

Over the past 6 months at Falcone Institute, Megan participated in an intensive reading therapy and writing program to address her learning needs. Megan also learned specific skills and methods for emotional awareness and emotional management to help her increase her self-esteem and personal empowerment when dealing with school stressors and family dynamics. Falcone Institute provided parental counseling to increase their understanding of Megan’s individuality and needs, while fostering a collaborative approach to parenting. Falcone Institute also performed home visits with the entire family to strengthen sibling bonds and create a supportive, nurturing family environment based on respect for individual talents and personalities.

Megan quickly developed and integrated her reading skills gaining greater confidence and pleasure from her reading fluency. Megan states that she no longer shakes from panic and embarrassment when having to read out loud in her classes. Megan’s writing skills have also improved, and she is now in Honors English. Megan also happily reports that her family is getting along much better as well. Despite occasionally having family annoyances and disagreements, Megan’s parents say that they are all now managing the situations in more positive, productive ways. With lower academic pressure, Megan has also embraced her artistic talents and is finding great joy through painting and dance.