Edition: Main
Section: Life
Page: D1

BLOOMINGTON - MerSadies Schroers, age 8½, no longer has to be told 20 times each night to leave her stuffed dog alone and to return to her homework.At home and in school, the second-grader from Hopedale can focus her attention for a longer period of time, so she is able to get her assignments done more quickly, said her grandmother, Cathy Anderson.

"The attention deficit has turned around completely since MerSadies began coming to the center," said Anderson, who has custody of MerSadies. The center to which Anderson referred is Learning for Tomorrow, a business at 3901 GE Road, Bloomington, that specializes in programs to assist children who struggle with learning. Among programs are those to benefit children, like MerSadies, who have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. The programs include three computer-based therapies that MerSadies uses, explained Learning for Tomorrow owner Cathy Heissler. They are Play Attention, which trains the brain to stay attentive and focused; Interactive Metronome, which works on improving learning and getting back on task through motor planning activities; and Relax Now, which teaches relaxation techniques, including deep breathing and thinking of a calming situation. "When you have attention deficit disorder, everyone wants you to stay focused, to pay attention, or to relax, but you don't know what that means," Heissler said. "These programs teach you how." Heissler was the first coordinator of learning disability and attention deficit disorder at Illinois State University before opening Learning for Tomorrow. She said some children are able to get off their AD/HD medicine or - like MerSadies - are able to stay at a low dosage because of the programs. "Everybody is different," Heissler said. "My point to parents is 'There are other things out there other than medicine.' We're making changes in the brain" to help people with AD/HD to work more independently and without as much tutoring, she said. Heissler believes this based on professional and personal experience. She has 20 years of teaching experience, in addition to struggling with AD/HD her entire life. She wasn't diagnosed with the disorder until she was 30 years old. She has taken several of her programs, including Play Attention, Interactive Metronome, Relax Now and another program that works on improving memory, called Essential Learning Systems. She has improved her reading comprehension and focusing skills and has taken herself off Ritalin, a stimulant medicine. "The results my kids get are better grades, less test anxiety, better test-taking skills, less impulsivity, improved organization and better self-esteem and self-confidence," said Heissler, 44, who also taught in Pekin for 10 years. MerSadies continues to take the stimulant Metadate but has been on the same low dose of 10 milligrams since July 2005, her grandmother said. While the Metadate helps her to stop moving around, the programs at Learning for Tomorrow have helped her to focus and learn, Cathy Anderson said. She has been coming to the center after school for two hours, twice a week, since November, and Anderson hopes that she will complete the programs in August. Her teacher at Olympia West in Minier did not think it appropriate to publicly discuss MerSadies' classroom work but said she and Anderson share the same opinions of MerSadies' progress. "She's doing very, very well," Heissler said. MerSadies said she likes the programs because "They're fun. They're helping me in school and I'm doing better at homework," she said during a break in her work on a recent Wednesday afternoon at Learning for Tomorrow. The business was filled with students studying after school. Heissler said MerSadies' experience is typical of her students. A veteran licensed clinical professional counselor unrelated to Learning for Tomorrow, Chris Cashen of Carle Clinic in Bloomington, wasn't familiar with the approaches used at the learning center and was interested in whether their effectiveness would be proven long-term. But Cashen said, "I firmly believe that AD/HD is over-diagnosed and over-medicated." He said about half of the children he works with have a diagnosis of AD/HD and about 80 percent of them are on medication. In moderate to severe cases, Cashen refers children to a pediatrician or child psychiatrist for further evaluation and a possible prescription. When students are failing in school and acting out, he said they probably need the help staying on task that could come with stimulant medicines, including Ritalin, Concerta and Metadate. "I'm not a fan of kids on medication but sometimes it's very necessary," he said. "The doctors we work with are great at putting kids on the lowest dose possible." In mild cases, Cashen likes to try behavior modification first, including working with children on deep breathing exercises and guided imagery to help focus, and working with parents and children on modeling calm behavior, structure for homework and bedtime, and consequences for not following through on expected behavior. He also uses behavior modification on children with moderate to severe cases of AD/HD. Cashen agrees with Heissler that long-term consequences of having children on stimulant medications are unknown. While some people continue on medicine into adulthood, others stop because they "outgrow" their AD/HD symptoms or develop coping mechanisms so they no longer needed their medicine, Cashen said. Heissler is passionate about her work. "I don't want kids to struggle like I did." Heissler grew up in Groveland, near Morton. "I was very creative and always thinking outside the box," she recalled. She had a lot of energy and could multitask. "But it was hard for me to make friends and to communicate because I was impulsive, would interrupt a lot, was bossy and talked loudly. " I always struggled with learning," said Heissler, who also is dyslexic. "My parents helped me to be successful. My mom would spend hours studying with me. Homework that would take one person one hour would take me three hours. It was very frustrating." Heissler was able to get a master's degree in special education from ISU by using tutors and study buddies. She also used a variety of strategies, including breaking down extensive notes into manageable chunks and using as many senses as she could while learning something, such as reading something aloud and touching what she was reading. "With AD/HD, with the correct support and the correct academic coaching, you can be successful," she said. "AD/HD isn't a bad thing but you do struggle a lot." Heissler was coordinating ISU's learning disabled and attention deficit disorder program when she realized she had the same symptoms as her students. She was tested and diagnosed. "I had an answer as to why I struggled. I was relieved," she recalled. Heissler was put on Ritalin and noticed that she was able to stay in her office longer, get more work done and be more organized. Since opening Learning for Tomorrow more than eight years ago, she has focused on trying to find alternatives to medicine. Anderson agrees with Heissler's focus. "I'm not saying parents should clean out their medicine cabinets," MerSadies' grandmother said. "But it's our responsibility as parents to find means other than chemicals to treat things like AD/HD."

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