Beyond Ordinary Living

From Learning Disabled to More Than Able

May/June 2007

Pauline Turton smiles when she recounts her early years as a teacher for children with learning disabilities and behavior problems.  “It was so discouraging, day after day, to see these children struggle to learn, and have little to help them. I determined I never wanted to work in that field again.”  Today, it’s the very thing she loves to do! 

Turton’s experiences in the teaching and medical fields along with a nudge from the Lord prepared her to build “Breakthroughs in Learning”, a place where people of all ages can get help for various learning disabilities.

Terry and Pauline Turton, of Waterloo, Ontario have two sons, both of whom had serious learning disabilities.  Until he was 4 years old, their adopted son, Michael, barely spoke. Though his hearing was fine, his brain couldn’t distinguish individual letter sounds. That impeded his language development and made it impossible to learn reading by phonics. Turton tried teaching  Michael to read from memory, only to discover that his brain’s memory skills were also underdeveloped, so much so, that he couldn’t remember words from one sentence to the next.

Matthew, the older of the two boys, had good reading abilities and comprehension. Although he was very verbal and able to socialize with people of all ages, Matthew couldn’t get ideas onto paper. Even by early Grade 10, he could only write 3 sentences in an hour of hard work when an essay was required. Pauline started praying and researching for answers.

During this time, Turton read many books promoting the hope that “things will click as they mature.”  Today she believes in addressing learning challenges as early as age four or five, to reduce the self-esteem issues often connected with learning challenges.  By ages 8 and 11, her sons’ challenges had not changed. Turton went back to the search with renewed determination and lots of prayer. She invested up to 4 hours daily, taking courses, reading, attending conferences, quizzing speakers and experts in the field of learning disabilities.

What Turton was looking for, was a way to  turn disabilities into abilities. As a nurse, she knew that the human body could construct capillaries around small damaged areas of a heart and make new pathways for blood flow. Since God made the heart that way, why not the brain?  She believed that it was possible to make new pathways in the brain if only she could find out how to do so. Over the past decade brain research has confirmed her belief that with stimulation the brain can develop new neural pathways.
A Christian psychologist encouraged her to take a course on assessing brain skills. The course taught brain stimulations and specific exercises that lead to dramatically improved brain functioning. At that time, Turton also learned of the work of Dr Frank Belgau, who had invented a balance board that has a significant effect on visual processing, reading, learning efficiency and academic performance.

Using one of his concepts, the Turtons painted their driveway with bright yellow footprints, big dots and dashes in a curvy pattern called The Spacewalk. Dr. Belgau had designed The Spacewalk to develop spatial awareness. “Until we did the Spacewalk, Michael was unable to participate in sports due to lack of gross motor coordination.  Both our boys’ coordination improved dramatically through daily Spacewalk exercises. When Michael was eight, we were told by two specialists that he would never read, write, participate in sports or function academically past age 10.Today, at age 20, Michael reads the same novels as his Dad and brother. He enjoys working full time for an auto parts retailer.”
 
Matthew’s breakthrough in his ability to write his thoughts on paper emerged in mid grade 10. A few days later, he started the second semester in a Christian school .He enrolled in History and English. Matthew specifically asked his parents not to mention his previous disabilities to his teachers.  He told his mother this would be a great opportunity to put his newly acquired skills to the test. He studied  Early Childhood Education in college, graduating with honours, with no need for accommodations. Today Matthew is a gifted therapist, and a big asset to Breakthroughs and the clients he works with.          

In 1994, Turton expanded her educational therapy from it’s focus on her own children to accepting outside students, operating her business under the name Breakthroughs. In July of 2000, Turton was prompted  to move the business into a commercial  location. With some hesitancy, she agreed, asking God to bring the clients and to equip her staff to help each one.  God has been faithful to provide.

Breakthroughs’ methods differ from others in that they don’t get clients to “do the program.” Instead, each personally developed program uses weekly “power sessions” built around the clients’ needs whether they do therapy at Breakthroughs offices or home therapy. Carefully chosen games and computer programs add fun and interest, and are selected to build specific brain skills. Clients come from as far away as Sarnia and London. 

Learning Disabilities don’t go away just because a person grows up.  Fifty percent of the company’s current clients are adults.  Breakthroughs has also helped business executives improve their listening, comprehension, judgment and memory skills. From having to be compulsive list-makers, worrying about remembering details for meetings, these men & women have dramatically improved short and long term memory skills and found new confidence in leading their companies.

Turton  is grateful for her husband’s support over the years  which  enabled  her to accomplish all she has done. She also recognizes her own perseverance, reliance on hearing from God, and following her mother’s motto : “where there is a will, there’s a way.”

Future plans include a dream to see the Spacewalk on school playgrounds locally and beyond. Currently it’s on the playground at one Christian school where the teachers note real benefits in the classroom after doing the Spacewalk each morning. Another goal is to expand into the business market in a greater way. Breakthroughs’ career skills assessments provide a tremendous advantage to employers when they are choosing between 2-3 final candidates. In addition to the usual feedback, this particular assessment also  reveals life skills which affect day-to-day job performance. Turton is considering opening a Memory Fitness Centre for adults, young and old, to have the opportunity to develop memory skills, the lack of which may have frustrated them for years, or are currently arising due to aging or stress.”

Turton feels privileged to steward what God has led her to do, saying “I love seeing changes impact destinies. We went from so many years of struggling, to seeing first the lives of our sons, and then others change in amazing ways. It’s a miracle! Each book, lecture, course and idea – not one second was wasted. God orchestrated it all.”

If you’d like more information call (519) 888-6697 or visit their website www.getyourbreakthrough.com.

Diana Murdoch

Married 25 years, mother of three and Oma of one precious grandson, Diana Murdoch had two children enrolled in programs at Breakthroughs, and now volunteers there weekly. Writing letters to editors and politicians gives her a chance to express strong Christian opinions with a creative flair.