Autism Archives - Westside Tutoring & Testing Services

Westside Tutoring: Every Student Succeeds – Guaranteed!

October 7, 2011 admin Leave a Comment

Westside Tutoring succeeds

even after other tutors and tutoring firms

have failed!

Westside Tutoring

Serves all of Northeastern and

North Central Ohio

Westside Tutoring specializes in working with students who have difficult learning and/or emotional hurdles to overcome! In other words, we help our students reach their full potential. Guaranteed!

Westside Tutoring students often rise to the top of their class, many times after other tutors and tutoring agencies, some of the biggest and most recognizable names in tutoring and test preparation, have fallen short…failing to deliver an acceptable outcome!

Westside Tutoring has helped hundreds of students succeed, often after they have already been through 3, 4, and even 5 tutors.

And we do it one student at a time!

We specialize in working with students who require a professional tutor with years of experience, a tutor willing, and able, to invest the time and energy necessary to secure, not just an acceptable outcome, a highly desirable one!

Westside Tutoring Areas of Specialization

Multiple tutors without a satisfactory outcome
Attention Deficit Disorder ADD
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ADHD
Asperger’s Syndrome and other expressions of Autism
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
Dyslexia
Undiagnosed learning difficulties
Anger Management Issues
Anxiety Issues (to include test anxiety)
Students returning to school after a prolonged absence due to illness or other health or behavioral issues
Homeschooled children with gaps in their education
Students who have been removed from school due to illness, general health, and/or behavioral issues and require a personal tutor
Students who are failing or have failed a class and require remedial work (tutoring) to catch up
Students who have been held back due to absence and/or performance issues

Check out our sister site

http://Westside-Tutoring.com

This is just one of many letters from satisfied clients. Additional references, and the associated documentation, available upon request.

Dear Jack,

In the middle of of the school year, my daughter lost her bearings in high school chemistry as the pace picked up and the assignments became more complex. My daughter couldn’t relate to the teacher’s learning style and presentation. The school’s student tutor for chemistry was a classmate of my daughter; my daughter was too embarrassed to work with him. My last encounter with chemistry was thirty years ago and hopelessly out of date. By the time we contacted you for tutoring, my daughter was failing her assignments and panicking.

You were wonderful the whole way. The day we called, you called us back. You met with my daughter the next day at our home. You assessed the situation, calmed everyone down, and put an immediate action plan in place. You renewed her confidence. You assessed her learning style and presented complex material in a way that made sense to her. Working together, my daughter had a very successful recovery and finished the class with an ‘A’ on her final.

Chemistry went from overwhelming to fascinating. We cannot thank you enough!

Evelyn W. (parent of Westlake HS student, Spring 2009)

Contact us today for a free, in-home consultation and assessment!

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr., Professor Z, or “Jack”
Westside Tutoring and Test Preparation Services
Serving Northeast and North Central Ohio for 3 Decades!
440-821-7018

The Emergence of the Professional Tutor and Academic Success

April 18, 2011 admin 2 Comments

Academic Challenges in Today’s Challenging World

ADD, ADHD, Autism, Asperger’s Asyndrome, Traumatic Brain Injury

ACT, SAT, LSAT, GRE, GMAT, or MCAT

Many students and parents have a very limited idea of what tutoring is all about in the 21st Century. The days of the $5 an hour high school-aged tutor coming in after school for a bit of homework help are behind us.

Today’s pre-school, elementary, middle school, high school, college, graduate, and professional school students’ needs have grown exponentially over the last two or three decades. In an era that demands specialization, particularly in math and science-related areas (to include computer science), many students lack even basic communication skills. Significantly, the “video generation” is falling behind in a number of key academic areas…and there seems to be little hope of a remedy any time soon.

Interestingly, our education system appears to be floundering under the weight of increased class size, an emphasis on standardized testing, and a lack of funding. The focus on specialization, instead of emphasizing creative thought and the ability to write well, is having a profound impact on today’s youth…and it is not positive. I am afraid we will end up with a generation of specialists who are unable to think creatively, read and write well, think outside the box, to use a gobbledygook word, and see the big picture. In other words, we will be left with a generation, if not several generations, of specialists unable to think holistically and perform creatively.

Frankly, the thought frightens me…I hope it frightens you!

Tutoring has grown into a profession over the last decade and most professional tutors offer everything from disability services, education-related counseling, online academic services, standardized test preparation, and various forms of student support.

Not only do today’s professional tutors offer access to state of the art computers, desktops and laptops, as well as the associated software, they also invest in and offer access to relevant, education-related membership sites. Additionally, the professional tutor and/or tutoring service must also invest in and offer a substantial library of supplemental material (e.g., textbooks, literature, periodicals, etc.). The investment of time is crucial. Time is most precious and it routinely takes 2-3 hours to adequately prepare for a properly planned tutoring session.

Aside: Fortunately, many teachers still insist their students conduct research offline and a professional tutor will have a myriad of textbooks, periodicals, and relevant material at his or her disposal for their students’ use.

A qualified professional tutor will undoubtedly have an undergraduate degree. In many instances, a professional tutor will have an advanced degree. Optimally, a qualified professional tutor will be comfortable across a wide variety of academic disciplines. It is often the case that students require support across a number of disciplines (i.e., courses, subjects, etc.) and for more than one academic period.

The cross-discipline support is particularly necessary when working with students dealing with such learning disabilities as ADD, ADHD, Autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, traumatic brain injury (TBI), etc.

Hiring a tutor unfamiliar with the demands related to disability services for such students is almost always a waste of time and money and may be costly to the child’s well-being, as well.

The Alphabet Soup of Academia:
GED, PSAT, SAT, ACT, LSAT, GRE, GMAT, MCAT, TOEFL, PRAXIS, USMLE, ASVAB, etc.

Unfortunately, standardized testing seems to be here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future. Consequently, talented educators at every level are forced to teach to test, an unsatisfying and unproductive endeavor, at best. Teachers are held to an unrealistic standard and test results are often tied to wages, job security, and tenure (the topic of another article). Students’ performance on standardized tests for everything from overall proficiency to the right to graduation (i.e., OGT—Ohio Graduation Test) means there is often little time for anything else…anything other than teaching the canned test taking techniques, that is.

In my opinion most of these tests are set to an arbitrary standard, culturally biased, and absolutely unfair.

The GED, PSAT, SAT, ACT, LSAT, GRE, GMAT, MCAT, TOEFL, PRAXIS, USMLE, ASVAB, and so on were once considered appropriate, even cutting edge. The tests listed above are an alphabet soup of tests created to measure intelligence, proficiency, aptitude, and ability. The tests listed above are, in almost every instance, no longer even purported to do what was once claimed. The GED is arguably the only test listed above with some redeeming value…a second chance at a high school diploma.

The pre-college, college, professional school, and graduate school entrance tests (i.e., PSAT, SAT, ACT, LSAT, GRE, GMAT, and MCAT) are now an industry in and of themselves and the acronym is now the test’s sole name. The SAT is no longer the Scholastic Aptitude Test; it is simply the SAT…and so on.

Aside: Interestingly, when the State of California’s university system considered no longer requiring the SAT as part of their admissions process, the SAT writing segment was born. Talk about pull and a purely business decision!

All that being said, the ACT, SAT, LSAT, GRE, GMAT, and MCAT are part of the admissions process for colleges, universities, graduate schools, and professional schools across the nation. In order to prepare for the appropriate entrance test, whether it’s the ACT, SAT, LSAT, GRE, GMAT, or MCAT, a professional tutor is a must.

With intense competition for admission to the nation’s best schools, and equally intense competition for financial aid in the form of scholarships, grants, assistantships, and fellowships, an investment in a professional ACT, SAT, LSAT, GRE, GMAT, or MCAT, as stated above, tutor is a must. Selecting the right tutor is an investment that will pay dividends for years to come.

In fact, even the classroom-type test preparation is better than nothing…but just barely!

Ultimately, a private and completely individualized program, a one-on-one program tailored to the specific needs of the student is ideal. A program offering the above-mentioned features and focusing specifically on the appropriate test is optimal (ACT, SAT, LSAT, GRE, GMAT, or MCAT).

Tutoring has come a long way from the days of the high school student who just wanted to make a few extra bucks after school or the housewife who was “pretty good” in English a few years ago and is trying to supplement the household income. The professional tutor of today must be a well-educated, well-rounded expert. The professional tutor of today must be comfortable working with people under myriad conditions and across any number of different situations.

Finally, the professional tutor must be comfortable with a stressed-out, gifted middle school student going down in flames in advanced geometry, a medical student about to fail gross anatomy, a high school athlete in need of an “A” in chemistry to achieve the required GPA for a full ride to Ohio State and he’s failing 12 weeks from the end of the year, and the high school junior with a 282 on the Critical Reading section of the SAT and has to do better to get into the school of his dreams.

Follow up: The gifted middle school geometry student scored a 100 on his first test after starting working with Westside-Tutoring…and hasn’t looked back! The medical student is now called Doctor by his patients. The high school student needing an “A” in chemistry decided on another Big 10 school, “that one up North!” And the high school junior with the 282 on the Critical Reading section of the SAT? Well, he got a 610 on the Critical Reading section of the SAT on his first try after joining us!

There are so many stories like these, it is truly wonderful!

Are there disappointments? Certainly!

But then…that’s life!

I will say this, any student willing to put in the time and the effort, and blessed with parents willing to allow the process to unfold, as it always does, will succeed. That is, if they are fortunate enough to find a professional tutor, the right tutor able to make it all happen. It can be amazing…and I’ve been doing this for over 30 years!

Tutoring is a wonderful calling, and it is a calling, incredibly challenging and heartbreaking. I wouldn’t do anything else!

For information about the services offered by Westside-Tutoring and Educational Services contact us anytime.

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
Westside-Tutoring and Education Services
Serving Northern Ohio for Over 30 Years!
440-821-7018 (private live)

Westside Tutoring Offers 1-on-1 ACT, SAT, and LSAT Prep

March 19, 2011 admin Leave a Comment

Westside Tutoring: Specializing in Standardized Test Preparation
Individualized ACT, SAT, LSAT, GRE, GED, ASVAB Instruction!

Westside Tutoring has been serving the Northeastern and North Central Ohio area for the past 3 years. With over 30 years experience tutoring, mentoring, and coaching students from 5 to 45 our track record speaks for itself.

Westside Tutoring has serviced clients from Painesville to Huron and south to Seville and Wooster.

Westside Tutoring clients come from area elementary and middle schools, high schools and colleges, graduate and professional schools. Westside Tutoring has also worked with home-schooled students on a regular basis, particularly in math and the sciences.

Westside Tutoring has worked with virtually every age group, from kindergarten students with ADD and ADHD to middle-aged, nontraditional students reintroducing themselves to the basics before taking on a full undergraduate schedule.

While Westside Tutoring specializes in working with students with ADD, ADHD, and a number of other learning challenges, we have worked with every type of student…from Asperger’s to “gifted” with remarkable results.

Your Westside Tutoring experience begins with a free, in-home consultation. The consultation is set up in order to determine three things:

1) Can we be of service?
2) Do we have the right mix, the chemistry to work together 1-on-1?
3) Is this a short-term, midrange, or long-term situation?

Westside Tutoring is preparing a new online image, courtesy of The Ultimate Internet Image, of Lakewood, Ohio. In the meantime, we will be posting items of interest here.

Please give us a call and, if we are tied up with clients or out of the office, leave a message and we will return your call as soon as possible.

Our ACT, SAT, LSAT, and GRE sessions will begin soon.

Get ready for the June testing dates by enrolling in our intensive, 1-on-1 ACT, SAT, LSAT, and GRE test preparation course today!

We look forward to serving you!

Call me personally and get started today!

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
Westside Tutoring
Serving Northern Ohio Students since 1980!
440-821-7018 (mobile)
216-712-7004 (office)

Some of the Northeast and North Central Ohio communities and schools served:

Ashland
Avon High School*
Avon Lake
Avon Lake High School*
Bay High School*
Bay Village
Brooklyn
Brooklyn High School*
Beachwood High School*
Brookside High School*
Case Western Reserve University*
Cleveland*
Cleveland State University (all branches)*
Cuyahoga Community College (all branches)*
Kent State University
Lakewood (elementary, middle, and high school students…public and private)*
Lorain (elementary, middle, and high school students…public and private)*
Lorain Community College*
Elyria
Elyria Catholic High School*
Lutheran West High School*
Lyndhurst
Magnificat High School*
Medina
Medina High School*
North Olmsted
North Olmsted High School*
Old Brooklyn
Olmsted Falls
Olmsted Falls High School*
Rocky River
Rocky River High School*
Sailorway Middle School*
St. Edwards High School*
St. Ignatius High School*
Seville
Shaker Heights (several public and private schools in and around Shaker Heights)*
Sheffield Lake
Sheffield Village
Vermilion
Vermilion High School*
Westlake
Westlake High School*
Wooster
Wooster College

This list reflects a very small segment of the students served…across a wide range of communities and schools. We hope this abbreviated list will give you an idea of just how well received our services have been over the years! We would love to work with you, your son, or your daughter. Call today for a consultation! 440-821-7018

A Profound Shift in Education: The Failure of Our Schools

February 1, 2011 admin 4 Comments

Ted Talks: Sir Ken Robinson asks, “Do schools kill creativity?”

I get calls several times a week, usually from parents, but once in a while from a concerned teacher or even a desperate student (and they really break my heart). The caller is often pleading for assistance. The pleading is almost never overt, unless it is from the student, but the message is clear:

My child is struggling, he or she has ADD, AHDH, Asperger’s syndrome, a TBI, or some other challenge.

Additionally, the calls usually come halfway through the school year, sometimes as late as April or May, and they are more overt…bordering on frantic. The conversation continues:

Due to the learning issue, my child is struggling, just short of failing…or failing!

Many of the children and young adults I work with are dealing with very real learning issues. And most are struggling under the weight of incredible pressure both at school and at home. There are myriad reasons for the challenges, the failure, and the perceived or near failure of our children.

Crucial: I prefer to call the learning disabilities or issues challenges…mainly because I am sick of the labels we assign our children. Labels are as destructive as any failure our children and/or young adults may be faced with!

Why?

Because the child believes it, internalizes it, and then acts it out!

I enjoyed Sir Ken Robinson’s video and I think you will too.

Note: The opinions above are my own and may or may not apply to the Ted Talk by Sir Ken Robinson, Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity? But the title is at the very least thought-provoking and I hope you will take the 20 minutes you will need to listen to this very intelligent, entertaining, and topical conversation.

Ultimately, I believe the answer to the question embedded in the title is an unequivocal:

Yes!

I would love to hear what you think. Please leave a comment below!

Thank you!

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
Westside Tutoring
440-821-7018 (cell)
216-712-7018 (office)

Serving Northeast and North Central Ohio – One Child at a Time!

Please leave your thoughts below!

Temple Grandin: A Window into the Mind of Alternative Thinking

March 6, 2010 admin Leave a Comment

Temple Grandin: The world needs all kinds of minds

Does your child see the world in pictures? Do you know? Does anyone know?

ADD, ADHD, MRDD, Autism, Dyslexia, and Other Labels!

ADD (attention-deficit disorder), AHDH (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder), autism, MRDD (mental retardation and developmental disabilities), special needs, and so on are all labels; and, they mean nothing if you don’t (or can’t) understand your child!

Think about the kind of mind, the kind of person you are trying to reach, because they are all reachable…you just have to use the proper vehicle.

I have tutored ‘special kids” for decades and I know several things:

Special kids are often misdiagnosed.
Special kids are often misunderstood.
Special kids are often labeled early, a label that they are stuck with for life…right or wrong!
Special kids are categorized and compartmentalized.
Special kids are often very, very bright!
Special kids are often mistrustful, mainly because they are misunderstood and mishandled by adults.
Special kids are often mishandled by “the system,” and particularly by their teachers. The ones who must understand them best, actually understand them least!
ADD kids often slip through the cracks! Unlike their ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) counterparts, they very often don’t make waves, they are not disruptive in class, and therefore they are not as often identified, at least early on.
ADD and ADHD may in fact be more about attention immaturity (short but informative video) than an actual attention-deficit!
Boys are more commonly diagnosed than are girls…but this may be in part due to a diagnosis bias and may be under diagnosed in girls.
ADD and ADHD is thought to be genetic.
And so on…this is the tip of a gigantic iceberg!

One of the real tragedies is that so many of these very special children just don’t get the help they need or, if they do get help, it is usually short-lived!

Unfortunately, parents and educators do not see the education and treatment of special kids as a process. They do not see the education and treatment of their child as an endeavor that often takes years; and, they do not, and very often cannot, understand why their child isn’t getting any “better.”

The fact is, many of these kids never get better, at least as we understand “better.” Better in the sense that they fit a mold or simply fit in may never occur…because they are different!

Different does not equal abnormal, disabled, or less-than in some way! Different simply means they are not the same as everyone else!

The word different has been assigned to many things and many people in a less than complimentary fashion, often pejorative:

Oh! She’s a little different!
Oh! This is different, isn’t it?
He is always trying to be different!
Why are you trying to be so different?
That certainly is a different look, isn’t it?
and so on!

Different simply equals different! Not less than. Not better than (although different is generally where greatness originates from), just…well, different!

Unfortunately, because special kids do not fit the mold, yet may in fact redefine the mold later in life, they are often held up to ridicule by peers…because they are different!

The most important lesson I teach all of my students is that being different is a blessing.

Being different is a gift they will find pays incredible dividends throughout their lives!

The funny thing?

Many kids already know, deep down on some subconscious level, that they are brighter, and in some ways better, than their peers. Not better in a judgmental way, not at all. Many of these special kids just seem to have a special knowledge of self; and, many times. they simply need someone other than their parents to tell them they do, in fact, have certain advantages!

After all, parents may be patronizing. Right?

Interestingly, kids, all kids, are sharp enough to know when someone is patronizing or when the message is sincere.

One thing is certain:

ADD (attention-deficit disorder), AHDH (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder), autism, MRDD (mental retardation and developmental disabilities), special needs, and so on are all labels! They mean nothing if you can’t understand the child!

Interestingly, they mean nothing if you do know the child!

Our system is failing these children and has been for decades!

Tragically, most adults simply do not get these kids. Most big people just don’t get that special kids don’t “get better,” and that they have a gift.

All of us have gifts!

Unfortunately, many adults have stopped believing in the gifts they once possessed, still possess, as they seek to be less-different…more the same!

It is up to us as parents, as educators, to reach the special child, letting him or her know that it is OK to be just a little different, or a lot different, because they have a gift!

Think about this one:

Perhaps the special child in your life, either your own child or your student (and they are one-in-the-same), is your gift!

Whether as a parent or as an educator, and hopefully you see yourself as both, that special person may be your gift, your opportunity to step up and serve, to make a difference in someone’s life; and, in your own!

Education is a life-long journey and learning is a process, never ending…until we do!

Everyone reaches the same destination in the end and we all share the journey, only the paths we take are different…and yet they are all the same.

Working with special kids, whether ADD, ADHD, autistic, MRDD, or whatever is all about the journey.

To compare these wonderful children, very often with amazing gifts and incredible intellect, to others, simply because they are different, is doing them an incredible disservice…and perhaps irreparable harm!

If you have found the system lacking, and it is, there are alternatives.

Few of the alternatives are short-lived, and fewer still are a quick fix. The quick fix is for the auto body shop and oil changes. Quick fixes are not for special kids, any kids for that matter, they just don’t work…and in the end you will do more harm than good.

Find a quality tutor, a great therapist, and preferably someone who is a lot of both…and stick with them, long-term!

The results will be amazing!

I have seen the miracle happen, have watched children bloom. I have shared in their lives as they discover their own sense of self and I have witnessed special kids, decades later as adults, do great things with their lives.

However, it has never happened overnight, never without the total commitment of the parents and an interested, objective third party.

Whether an educator, a tutor, or a medical practitioner, you need help!

Parents simply can’t do it on their own, they are too emotionally invested and too close to the situation to be objective. That is not to say that the individual you bring in won’t become emotionally invested and even attached, we are all human, but the addition of a professional perspective will do wonders, making an amazing life possible for that little person you are charged with parenting, educating, and preparing for the world.

Life doesn’t have to be about labels and limitations. Life can be an amazing journey, and education a life-long love affair between the individual and what is possible with the proper guidance!

It is up to you!

I hope you enjoy the video below and the link to the video above. They are worth your time.

Thank you for stopping and feel free to comment and pass this along…whether you agree or disagree!

Professor Z
440-821-7018 (cell)
216-712-6526
excellencepaidforward@gmail.com (personal email)

PS, This is the site for more great TED talks and the transcript Temple’s TED talk.