The Associate Director of the Lindamood-Bell Double Bay, Australia centre popped in for my first hour to read a few whole paragraphs with me. We began with a Multiple Sentence with me imaging pictures for each set of sentences. Nice pictures was the verdict. We moved on to reading a Whole Paragraph from the level 7/8 book. Doing well was the verdict. She pulled out another book from the stack she’d brought in and chose a non-science story since I seem to find science-y stories easier. It was one I was well familiar with; I think I’d learnt it from either a chemistry teacher or an English lit teacher who liked those sort of details of how authors come up with characters, in this case, the Mad Hatter. Still, I wasn’t completely able to form images or moving pictures of the story as she read it at a normal rate.
The final verdict: I’m moving up to level 9/10. She explained that I wouldn’t see much difference between the higher levels, for example, between 10 and 11. But I would see more abstract language and more difficult vocabulary. Since I have a rather extensive vocabulary, the latter shouldn’t be much of a factor for me. It’s imaging abstract and complex concepts that’s the challenge. Also, if I understand right, once I’m proficient at level 9/10, they’ll be introducing longer stories. Then it’ll be super tough! I’m so very glad I stocked up on Soma hot chocolate to rev up my brain in the morning after a hard night using it!!
I feel like I’m on a silent train speeding up unexpectedly every time I become comfortable . . . or even before I do! The AD told me that they had anticipated I would move up through the levels rapidly, that the first two weeks were to solidify the process and now we’re at the level where we use the process to really retrain my brain to read lengthy, complex material. And books.
