Founders of EMCC - Alyssa Uecker and Sonny Lim

 

In the summer of 2017, we took our son Max to Toronto to attend Arrowsmith’s Cognitive Intensive Program (CIP).  He had just finished the 5th grade and was about to start Middle School.  Although Max was a good student, he struggled quite a bit with math and had difficulty understanding his peers and the world around him.  He was an excellent reader, but he didn’t always comprehend the nuances within literature and had a very difficult time expressing himself verbally.  He struggled to use complex language structures, so his conversations were often short and sometimes did not make sense.  We had spent years addressing his issues through other interventions, such as Floortime, OT and speech therapy, as well as using supplements and changing his nutrition.

 

We arrived in Toronto feeling hopeful but also a little nervous.  Although we had read transformational stories about students, young and old, who had changed their lives after attending Arrowsmith, we weren’t sure if the same would be true for Max.  To our delight, Max’s engagement in the program was excellent from the start.  He worked extremely hard and progressed quite rapidly through the exercise.  For the first time in his life, he experienced success in an elusive area for him - telling time.  But, it was not only his ability to tell time that improved.  All kinds of things started to change.  He became more logical and more confident.  He seemed to understand what people meant when they spoke to him, and for the first time, he really got jokes.  This success continued when we returned to Toronto in the summer of 2018.  Max successfully completed the Symbol Relations exercise.  He was ready to tackle some of the other exercises he needed.  His life had changed; he was more content and ready for the future.