Our Program

Our Program

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Integrated Learning Institute (ILI) serves students with a variety of learning problems from two California locations: Palm Desert in the Coachella Valley desert.

We began this work in the Coachella Valley in 1990 as The Discovery Center.

• Students from public, private, and home school settings come to our locations for 45 to 80 minute sessions. Each session is individually designed to strengthen and encourage the learner.  When the appropriate stimulation is intensive and regular the cognitive, sensory and perceptual abilities of the learner improve.

• ILI uses National Institute for Learning Development (NILD) Educational Therapy techniques along with Feuerstein’s Instrumental Enrichment. See the NILD website for more information (www.nild.org).

• ILI's staff is trained and certified by National Institute for Learning Development. All ILI staff members hold undergraduate/graduate degrees in education or other related fields.

• NILD Educational Therapy is not tutoring or special education, both of which are compensatory in nature and concentrate on helping the learner access academic content in spite of the learner’s weaknesses. NILD Educational Therapy works to strengthen those weaknesses and create an independent learner who can succeed in any school or work environment without special assistance.

• NILD Educational Therapy is conducted in a one-to-one teacher-student learning environment or in small groups.

• NILD Educational Therapy is not a quick fix. Regular, intensive stimulation is required to bring about life-long change.

• Integrated Learning Institute does not receive any public funds.  Funding is provided by tuition, fund raising, an occasional small grant, and a growing donor base. Scholarships are available when funding is available.

 

 

Strengthening Weaknesses

 

NILD Educational Therapy stimulates areas of weakness in perception and cognition. Through individualized intensive interactive stimulation in a one-on-one environment, students gain the skills needed to become independent learners.

 

 

How NILD Educational Therapy Works

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Deficits in perception and/or cognition impact the learning process and create uneven academic performance. The learning process is represented as a wall with various components. Perceptual and cognitive skills form the foundation of the wall. If any of these areas, such as visual or auditory memory or abstract/logical thinking are weak or vulnerable, academic skills are affected.

After cognitive and perceptual deficits are strengthened, the learning process functions efficiently. Students become able to learn independently. Much like physical therapy or speech therapy, NILD Educational Therapy boosts weak, vulnerable systems.

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