971 N. Altadena Drive, Pasadena, CA 91107www.frostig.org

something’s wrong.’ She fought to get me tested.”

During the testing process, Arturo’s parents learned about Frostig School, which was then located in Los Angeles. His mother drove him from Pasadena to Frostig on weekends for tutoring, and eventually enrolled him in the school.

Arturo recalls taking the bus to the Los Angeles for two years. No one was happier than Arturo and his family when Frostig moved to Pasadena in 1979.

“Frostig saved my life in so many different ways,” Arturo said.

Most importantly, “Frostig helped me recognize that I had a disability, that I could get over it and learn. I might read slower than other people, but it has nothing to

do with my intelligence and what I could do with my life.”

After graduating from Frostig, Arturo continued to work at Hickory Farms and was promoted to store manager by age 19.

Arturo joined Macy’s in 1992 and steadily rose through the ranks to his current job. Ten years ago he enrolled in an online college and pursued a business degree. He completed three years of the program, but ultimately found the required reading to be overwhelming. “I didn’t finish, but I still learned a lot in those three years and it’s been helping me every day in my work.”

Arturo’s advice to others with learning challenges? “Don’t give up hope, because you can learn and go on with your life.”

Continued from page 1

FrostigCenterFocus

After attending a teacher training workshop at The Frostig Center, Tino Lopez couldn’t wait to return to his school in the San Fernando Valley and test a new approach to managing disruptive students.

The strategy, known as Two By Ten, calls on teachers to reset the relationship with a defiant student by spending two minutes a day for 10 consecutive days talking about his strengths and interests. Mr. Lopez reached out to a boy who was consistently loud and disruptive in his class. “I spoke to him during recess and got to know him. We would talk about sports.”

Mr. Lopez and his student gradually moved from a relationship defined by conflict to one of mutual respect. Within a few months, “He was telling other students to pay attention and listen,” the teacher said. “Our rapport took a 180 degree turn.”

The Frostig Center’s Consultation and Education Department trains approximately 700 public and private school teachers every year to better serve students who struggle with learning and behavior. Dr. Roberta J. Goldberg, a licensed child psychologist, has led the department since 1989. Her team includes early childhood specialist Linda Barker and Kristin Tranquada, who has extensive experience as an elementary school teacher.

Workshops take one to three days and focus on a single topic. Mr. Lopez attended a popular training on managing challenging student behavior. The department also provides one-on-one coaching for teachers and consultations that focus on a particular student. The strategies presented by the Frostig team, including Two By Ten, are drawn from the latest research.

Since graduating from Frostig School in 1983, Arturo Ballester has steadily climbed the retail ladder, working his way from teen-aged cashier at a Hickory Farms store in Pasadena to a manager at Macy’s corporate offices in New York.

Arturo is director of communications and collaboration for Macy’s Selling Support Services group, which, among other things, manages the staffing for nearly 700 Macy’s stores.

“Sometimes I have to pinch myself,” said Arturo, who lives in Queens with his husband. “I’m a director of communications and at one point I couldn’t even write my name.”

Arturo recalls a painful childhood as he struggled with undiagnosed dyslexia. He repeated second grade and fourth grade. “When I was in fourth grade for the second time, an amazing teacher said, ‘He’s not lazy, there’s

THE SPOTLIGHTFrostig Alumnus Rings Up a Successful Career in Retail

FROSTIG LIFTS STUDENTS, ONE TEACHER AT A TIME

LEADERSHIPBoard Chair:Debbie Baroi

Executive Director:Dean Conklin, Ed.D.

Development Director:Yuki Jimbo

Editor:Joan Goulding

e-mail: joan.g@frostig.org

MISSION STATEMENT

The Frostig Center is dedicated to helping children with learning disabilities reach their full potential through an inte-grated approach of research, professional development and consultation, and the Frostig School.

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to keep up with the

latest news at Frostig.

Continued on page 3

Life is moving fast for Pariss Youngblood, who was profiled in the June 2018 Frostig Focus. Since then, he graduated from Rio Hondo College, married his sweetheart, and enlisted in the Air Force as an Airman.

Lesley Fisher had recently earned a master’s degree in psychology when she was featured in the Spring 2015 Focus. Her goal was to work with children. Today Lesley is working at David & Mar-

garet Youth and Family Services in La Verne as a clinical therapist intern.

Issue 10, March 2019

Exceptional Children,Exceptional Education

The Consultation and Education Department trains hundreds of teachers annually. Dr. Roberta J. Goldberg, left, leads the department, which includes Linda Barker, center, and Kristin Tranquada, right.

Arturo Ballester, class of 1983, lives in New York City.

The SpotlightAlumni Postscript

Continued on page 4

Singing and playing instruments in one-on-one therapy can improve autistic children’s social communication skills, improve their family’s quality of life, as well as increase brain connectivity in key networks, according to researchers at University of Montreal and McGill University.

The link between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and music dates back to the first description of autism, more than 70 years ago, when almost half of those with the disorder were said to possess “perfect pitch.” Since then, there have been many anecdotes about the profound impact music can have on individuals with ASD, yet little strong evidence of its therapeutic benefits.

To get a clearer picture, researchers enlisted 51 children with ASD, ages 6 to 12, to participate in a clinical trial involving three months of a music-based intervention.

Children were randomly assigned to two groups: one involving music and the other not. Each session lasted 45 minutes.

In the music group, the kids sang and played different musical instruments, working with a therapist to engage in a reciprocal interaction. The control group worked with the same therapist and also engaged in reciprocal play, without any musical activities.

Following the sessions, parents of children in the music group reported significant improvements in their children’s communication skills and family’s quality of life, beyond those reported for the control group. Parents of children in both groups, however did not report reductions in autism severity.

“These findings are exciting and hold much promise for autism intervention,” said Megha Sharda,

a postdoctoral fellow at University of Montreal and lead author of the new research, published in Translational Psychiatry.

Data collected from MRI scans suggest that improved communications skills in children who underwent the music intervention could be a result of increased connectivity between auditory and motor regions of the brain, and decreased connectivity between auditory and visual regions, which are commonly observed to be over-connected in people with autism.

This is the first clinical trial to show that music intervention for school-age children with autism can lead to improvements in both communication and brain connectivity, and provides a possible neuroscientific explanation for improvements in communication.

The research team said the next step is to replicate these results with multiple therapists with different degrees of training to evaluate whether the effects persist in larger, real-world settings.

To link to the full article go to https://bit.ly/2SO62Vd

Executive Director Dean Conklin recently joined the board of directors of the International Dyslexia Association (IDA).

Dr. Conklin said he was drawn to IDA by its interest in supporting research and identifying best practices for addressing dyslexia and other related reading differences. “IDA’s interests and goals align with ours,” Dr. Conklin said. “The Frostig Center is committed to continuous improvement built on

research-based practices.

“I am confident that I will learn a great deal during my board service that I can bring back to Frostig.”

IDA is a non-profit organization that operates with more than 40 branches in the United States and Canada. Dr. Conklin was named to a three-year term.

More than 200 friends of The Frostig Center celebrated the accomplishments of our amazing students at the 2019 benefit din-ner that was held February 9 at the Altadena Town and Country Club.

Frostig School students provided much of the evening’s entertain-ment by performing several of Carole King’s best known songs and scenes from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Executive Director Dean Conk-lin started the dinner program by honoring The Sharon D. Lund Foundation, which has generous-ly supported The Frostig Center for more than two decades. He presented foundation trustees with art work created by a Frostig student.

Frostig parents Heather Fung and Bryan Sanchez served as co-chairs of the gala organizing committee, which worked tire-lessly to create a memorable evening.

The dinner was the most suc-cessful benefit yet for The Frostig Center. All money raised from the benefit will support Frostig School.

From University of Montreal

It’s Easy to Make a Difference…

Teacher Training“Much of our work is focused on general education teachers who have students with learning challenges in their classrooms,” Dr. Goldberg said. “They’re often frustrated because they haven’t necessarily had much training or experience in working with those students.” Not everyone can report the dramatic change that Mr. Lopez experienced, but every teacher who participates in a

Frostig program returns to the classroom with new and practical instructional strategies that s/he can immediately put to use.

By helping teachers, Frostig helps the thousands of students who will pass through their classrooms.

“The most gratifying part of our work is knowing that we have improved the learning experience for so many children,” Dr. Goldberg said.

Smashing Success

“These findings are exciting and hold much promise for autism intervention.”

Frostig Represented on International Dyslexia Board

Join our monthly giving program. It is affordable and

convenient.

Music Therapy Helps Communication and Brain Connectivity

Continued from page 1

Sign Up Onlinewww. frostig.org/donate.

With GratitudeThe Frostig Center thanks The Albert & Bettie Sacchi Founda-tion for its generous donation to the Legacy Fund, which supports teacher salaries at Frostig School.

The Sacchi foundation is dedi-cated to creating opportunities for disadvantaged youth and young adults. We are grateful for its many contributions to our community.

Photos by Jayson Huefner

Singing and playing instruments in one-on-one therapy can improve autistic children’s social communication skills, improve their family’s quality of life, as well as increase brain connectivity in key networks, according to researchers at University of Montreal and McGill University.

The link between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and music dates back to the first description of autism, more than 70 years ago, when almost half of those with the disorder were said to possess “perfect pitch.” Since then, there have been many anecdotes about the profound impact music can have on individuals with ASD, yet little strong evidence of its therapeutic benefits.

To get a clearer picture, researchers enlisted 51 children with ASD, ages 6 to 12, to participate in a clinical trial involving three months of a music-based intervention.

Children were randomly assigned to two groups: one involving music and the other not. Each session lasted 45 minutes.

In the music group, the kids sang and played different musical instruments, working with a therapist to engage in a reciprocal interaction. The control group worked with the same therapist and also engaged in reciprocal play, without any musical activities.

Following the sessions, parents of children in the music group reported significant improvements in their children’s communication skills and family’s quality of life, beyond those reported for the control group. Parents of children in both groups, however did not report reductions in autism severity.

“These findings are exciting and hold much promise for autism intervention,” said Megha Sharda,

a postdoctoral fellow at University of Montreal and lead author of the new research, published in Translational Psychiatry.

Data collected from MRI scans suggest that improved communications skills in children who underwent the music intervention could be a result of increased connectivity between auditory and motor regions of the brain, and decreased connectivity between auditory and visual regions, which are commonly observed to be over-connected in people with autism.

This is the first clinical trial to show that music intervention for school-age children with autism can lead to improvements in both communication and brain connectivity, and provides a possible neuroscientific explanation for improvements in communication.

The research team said the next step is to replicate these results with multiple therapists with different degrees of training to evaluate whether the effects persist in larger, real-world settings.

To link to the full article go to https://bit.ly/2SO62Vd

Executive Director Dean Conklin recently joined the board of directors of the International Dyslexia Association (IDA).

Dr. Conklin said he was drawn to IDA by its interest in supporting research and identifying best practices for addressing dyslexia and other related reading differences. “IDA’s interests and goals align with ours,” Dr. Conklin said. “The Frostig Center is committed to continuous improvement built on

research-based practices.

“I am confident that I will learn a great deal during my board service that I can bring back to Frostig.”

IDA is a non-profit organization that operates with more than 40 branches in the United States and Canada. Dr. Conklin was named to a three-year term.

More than 200 friends of The Frostig Center celebrated the accomplishments of our amazing students at the 2019 benefit din-ner that was held February 9 at the Altadena Town and Country Club.

Frostig School students provided much of the evening’s entertain-ment by performing several of Carole King’s best known songs and scenes from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Executive Director Dean Conk-lin started the dinner program by honoring The Sharon D. Lund Foundation, which has generous-ly supported The Frostig Center for more than two decades. He presented foundation trustees with art work created by a Frostig student.

Frostig parents Heather Fung and Bryan Sanchez served as co-chairs of the gala organizing committee, which worked tire-lessly to create a memorable evening.

The dinner was the most suc-cessful benefit yet for The Frostig Center. All money raised from the benefit will support Frostig School.

From University of Montreal

It’s Easy to Make a Difference…

Teacher Training“Much of our work is focused on general education teachers who have students with learning challenges in their classrooms,” Dr. Goldberg said. “They’re often frustrated because they haven’t necessarily had much training or experience in working with those students.” Not everyone can report the dramatic change that Mr. Lopez experienced, but every teacher who participates in a

Frostig program returns to the classroom with new and practical instructional strategies that s/he can immediately put to use.

By helping teachers, Frostig helps the thousands of students who will pass through their classrooms.

“The most gratifying part of our work is knowing that we have improved the learning experience for so many children,” Dr. Goldberg said.

Smashing Success

“These findings are exciting and hold much promise for autism intervention.”

Frostig Represented on International Dyslexia Board

Join our monthly giving program. It is affordable and

convenient.

Music Therapy Helps Communication and Brain Connectivity

Continued from page 1

Sign Up Onlinewww. frostig.org/donate.

With GratitudeThe Frostig Center thanks The Albert & Bettie Sacchi Founda-tion for its generous donation to the Legacy Fund, which supports teacher salaries at Frostig School.

The Sacchi foundation is dedi-cated to creating opportunities for disadvantaged youth and young adults. We are grateful for its many contributions to our community.

Photos by Jayson Huefner

971 N. Altadena Drive, Pasadena, CA 91107www.frostig.org

something’s wrong.’ She fought to get me tested.”

During the testing process, Arturo’s parents learned about Frostig School, which was then located in Los Angeles. His mother drove him from Pasadena to Frostig on weekends for tutoring, and eventually enrolled him in the school.

Arturo recalls taking the bus to the Los Angeles for two years. No one was happier than Arturo and his family when Frostig moved to Pasadena in 1979.

“Frostig saved my life in so many different ways,” Arturo said.

Most importantly, “Frostig helped me recognize that I had a disability, that I could get over it and learn. I might read slower than other people, but it has nothing to

do with my intelligence and what I could do with my life.”

After graduating from Frostig, Arturo continued to work at Hickory Farms and was promoted to store manager by age 19.

Arturo joined Macy’s in 1992 and steadily rose through the ranks to his current job. Ten years ago he enrolled in an online college and pursued a business degree. He completed three years of the program, but ultimately found the required reading to be overwhelming. “I didn’t finish, but I still learned a lot in those three years and it’s been helping me every day in my work.”

Arturo’s advice to others with learning challenges? “Don’t give up hope, because you can learn and go on with your life.”

Continued from page 1

FrostigCenterFocus

After attending a teacher training workshop at The Frostig Center, Tino Lopez couldn’t wait to return to his school in the San Fernando Valley and test a new approach to managing disruptive students.

The strategy, known as Two By Ten, calls on teachers to reset the relationship with a defiant student by spending two minutes a day for 10 consecutive days talking about his strengths and interests. Mr. Lopez reached out to a boy who was consistently loud and disruptive in his class. “I spoke to him during recess and got to know him. We would talk about sports.”

Mr. Lopez and his student gradually moved from a relationship defined by conflict to one of mutual respect. Within a few months, “He was telling other students to pay attention and listen,” the teacher said. “Our rapport took a 180 degree turn.”

The Frostig Center’s Consultation and Education Department trains approximately 700 public and private school teachers every year to better serve students who struggle with learning and behavior. Dr. Roberta J. Goldberg, a licensed child psychologist, has led the department since 1989. Her team includes early childhood specialist Linda Barker and Kristin Tranquada, who has extensive experience as an elementary school teacher.

Workshops take one to three days and focus on a single topic. Mr. Lopez attended a popular training on managing challenging student behavior. The department also provides one-on-one coaching for teachers and consultations that focus on a particular student. The strategies presented by the Frostig team, including Two By Ten, are drawn from the latest research.

Since graduating from Frostig School in 1983, Arturo Ballester has steadily climbed the retail ladder, working his way from teen-aged cashier at a Hickory Farms store in Pasadena to a manager at Macy’s corporate offices in New York.

Arturo is director of communications and collaboration for Macy’s Selling Support Services group, which, among other things, manages the staffing for nearly 700 Macy’s stores.

“Sometimes I have to pinch myself,” said Arturo, who lives in Queens with his husband. “I’m a director of communications and at one point I couldn’t even write my name.”

Arturo recalls a painful childhood as he struggled with undiagnosed dyslexia. He repeated second grade and fourth grade. “When I was in fourth grade for the second time, an amazing teacher said, ‘He’s not lazy, there’s

THE SPOTLIGHTFrostig Alumnus Rings Up a Successful Career in Retail

FROSTIG LIFTS STUDENTS, ONE TEACHER AT A TIME

LEADERSHIPBoard Chair:Debbie Baroi

Executive Director:Dean Conklin, Ed.D.

Development Director:Yuki Jimbo

Editor:Joan Goulding

e-mail: joan.g@frostig.org

MISSION STATEMENT

The Frostig Center is dedicated to helping children with learning disabilities reach their full potential through an inte-grated approach of research, professional development and consultation, and the Frostig School.

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to keep up with the

latest news at Frostig.

Continued on page 3

Life is moving fast for Pariss Youngblood, who was profiled in the June 2018 Frostig Focus. Since then, he graduated from Rio Hondo College, married his sweetheart, and enlisted in the Air Force as an Airman.

Lesley Fisher had recently earned a master’s degree in psychology when she was featured in the Spring 2015 Focus. Her goal was to work with children. Today Lesley is working at David & Mar-

garet Youth and Family Services in La Verne as a clinical therapist intern.

Issue 10, March 2019

Exceptional Children,Exceptional Education

The Consultation and Education Department trains hundreds of teachers annually. Dr. Roberta J. Goldberg, left, leads the department, which includes Linda Barker, center, and Kristin Tranquada, right.

Arturo Ballester, class of 1983, lives in New York City.

The SpotlightAlumni Postscript

Continued on page 4