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'I knew if he was doing his art,
he was feeling good'

The Oregonian

Tuesday, January 13, 2009
By Margie Boulé

Nobody's kid likes going to school, you tell yourself. So you force your child to walk through those doors each morning.

You ignore the pleas, the stomachaches, the tantrums.

But Lana and Greg Traynor couldn't ignore them anymore. Their son, Lane, midway through sixth grade in an excellent private school in Portland, hated going to school.

"I knew from the get-go Lane was struggling," says Lana, an attorney who specializes in education-related issues. "His learning style was not your traditional learning style. The teachers were great with him. But he was struggling, and so anxious about going to school."

Lane was very bright, but he didn't talk, or write, as quickly as other kids in his class.

"He's a very visual learner, very artistic," Lana says. "He's a multisensory learner, a hands-on, tactile kind of guy. That's how he learns. But that's not how traditional schools teach kids.

"By the time he got to sixth grade, he was so stressed out he didn't want to go to school."

Lane's dad, Greg, who runs a family business, says, "He got to the point where he was saying, 'I don't want to go there. It is not fun. I give up.' And there were problems on the playground." Lane was not a rough, tough, competitive boy.
He went to school under protest, wearing sweatshirts with the hoods always up.
Lana and Greg tried to help their son. They encouraged his talent, saw he got art lessons. Greg took him fishing, which Lane loved.

They took him to experts, who provided an official diagnosis: Lane has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, with learning challenges, low confidence and anxiety, Lana says. They put him on medication, which helped.

"But I had to have the exact right amount of the medicine," says Lane, who is 14 now. "And it changed quite frequently during my last years at my previous school."

Yes, he really is 14 and he does speak that intelligently. But Lane didn't feel like a smart kid in his old school. He felt picked on and slow. His self-esteem dropped. He got depressed.

"He put away his art," Lana says. Lane had described his artwork as "a part of his heart," Lana says. But he was too unhappy to paint.

Halfway through sixth grade, Lane's developmental and behavioral pediatrician, Dr. David W. Willis, sat down with Lana and Greg. "He said, 'Your child learns differently,' " Lana says. "It started a new process."

Lana knew about a middle school in Northeast Portland, affiliated with Providence Health & Services, called the Gately Academy. It specializes in multisensory education for kids with learning problems.

Lane was accepted; he wasn't optimistic. But after a few months, Lana and Greg saw big changes in their son.

"All of a sudden the light bulb goes on," says Greg, "and he's concerned about his grades, wanting to move up in math."

Today, after two years at Gately, "he has immeasurably more confidence."

Kids succeed at Gately because "teachers look to find ways the kids learn, as opposed to saying, 'You must learn this way,' " Greg says. "And they hold the kids accountable."

Lane has learned to value his strengths. "A lot of people (at Gately) have disabilities," Lane says, "but they usually have really creative insight in thinking and drawing."

Lana knew Lane was back on solid ground when he pulled out his art supplies.
"I got home and said, 'Greg, where did you buy the painting?' And he said, 'Your son made it.' I went in the bedroom and cried, because I knew if he was doing his art, he was feeling good."

Later, Lane asked if his mom could drive him to Dr. Willis' office. He gave the painting to his doctor, Lane says, because Dr. Willis helped him a lot.

Lane will tell you no school is perfect, but he and his parents know Gately has changed his life. "I look forward to going to school," he says.

His parents have noticed Lane is now willing to take chances, risk failure.

He and his parents wanted to share their story so other kids who hate school, and their parents, will think about options.

"It's so important for the public to realize a lot of us have unique learning styles," Lana says. "Some styles are more socially acceptable." Others make a child stick out, make him a target.

"We all deserve to feel safe and comfortable and happy with who we are, but that's hard when you have a learning challenge," Lana says.

The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry estimates that 10 percent to 30 percent of children have mild to severe learning disabilities. Lane was lucky; his parents found a school that is teaching him to value his strengths and overcome his problems.

"It's better for somebody with disabilities to go to a school (like Gately), instead of a school that always makes you feel stressed," Lane says.

At last, Lane has found a place where he can "just think about things differently than other people do," he says. "That's really cool."

Margie Boule: 503-221-8450; marboule@aol.com

Hope for a better future begins today… contact Lana L. Traynor, LLC, Attorney at Law, at 503.223.4147 to schedule a free initial consultation.

Lana L. Traynor, LLC / 1221 SW Yamhill Street / Suite 290 / Portland, Oregon 97205
p. 503.223.4147 / f. 503.224.3667 / e. info@traynorlawfirm.com

Lana L. Traynor, LLC, Attorney at Law, is an education attorney based in Portland and licensed in Oregon, Washington and California. Ms. Traynor works with special education and special needs students and their families across all levels of education including representation at IEP meetings, representation of students with special needs including regular education students with disciplinary issues, college students on scholarship, graduate students facing disciplinary action or expulsion, and disabled students.