The Seeds of Learning: A Cognitive Processing Model for Speech, Language, Literacy, and Executive Functioning

Book Synopsis: Tera Sumpter, M.A., CCC-SLP, offers a groundbreaking and holistic approach to the assessment and treatment of childhood learning disabilities. This revolutionary method assembles the puzzle pieces of learning, connecting the dots from the fields of psychology, neuroscience, and speech language therapy to provide a comprehensive process for understanding and assisting children who struggle with learning. This book is written for speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, teachers, parents, psychologists, reading specialists, and more.

"We have all looked into the eyes of a child who struggled with communication and/or academic development. You probably vividly remember feeling disappointed and helpless as you tried various interventions and made recommendations, only to be disappointed with minimal improvement. Tera Sumpter offers a brilliant, beautifully written ray of hope as she explains a cognitive, holistic framework that provides practitioners with a path forward. Thank you, Tera, for continuing to push the boundaries and to think outside of the box, and for challenging all of us to do the same." −Myrita S. Wilhite, PhD, AuD, CCC-A, Director, Speech and Hearing Program, Cleveland State University

"Tera Sumpter’s book succinctly and eloquently provides an integrated neurobiological model and intervention process for strengthening a child's cognitive processes and executive function. The idea that speech and executive function are interconnected and that by working through specific skill enhancement in multiple functional domains one can achieve greater success in overarching cognitive abilities is beautifully illustrated in case examples and based in well researched models. By looking at the whole child and fully assessing areas of strengths and weaknesses, she is able to provide a better rationale for targeted interventions that go beyond the superficial diagnoses of reading disabilities or speech disorders to effect real change." −Joseph Austerman, DO, Section Head, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, The Cleveland Clinic

"Mrs. Sumpter's book is a description of the model and diagnostic techniques that support her successful approach to young children with learning disabilities and it has the potential to be a very useful manual for the practitioners in her field. I recommend Mrs. Sumpter's manual as much as I have recommended her service to friends and colleagues who happened to be parents to these beautiful children." −Bartolomeo Giannattasio, MD, PhD, Director of Electrophysiology, Southwest General Health Center, Middleburg Heights, OH

"Tera's cognitive model has helped me understand areas of speech therapy that I've grappled with for years. It's the missing piece that I wasn't taught in school." −Heather Eisenman, MS, CCC-SLP (Fairbanks, AK)

"A must for ANYONE working in schools!" −Mehreen Masoud, MSc Cert MRCSLT (London, UK)

"Tera provides a fresh perspective on how to address the underlying issues for all areas of therapy. It makes you think and re-wire your own brain to better serve your students. She make it easy to understand, and she gives you the research behind it." −Jamie Blakeley, MS, CCC-SLP (Johnson Creek, WI)