We will be forever indebted to Learning Associates for their professional services in guiding our daughter to the completion of her college essay. Like most students she found this task extremely difficult but unlike others she was unable to move forward until Larry came into the picture. She has now finally finished her essay and proudly hit the ‘send’ button on her applications. Our gratitude to Larry could not be greater.
S.S. - Morristown, NJ
Last week I found myself rummaging through all of [my son’s] IEP’s, Testing, Report Cards, and “paperwork” to request extended time for him on the ACT. As I did so, I read through the volumes of testing results you have provided for me over the years and found myself so incredibly grateful to you for all you’ve done for both of my kids. I know that providing services is your “job”, but you always did more than that for me. You were the calm voice of reason, the expert explaining how [my son’s] disability would be seen in the classroom and at home, the Mom who could relate to issues of growing children/teens.
So, I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for your guidance and support over the years. You helped me cope and helped me to explain the issues at hand with dyslexia to [my son’s] teachers.
But Thank you for all you’ve done for us! We would be lost without you!
D.M. - Morristown, NJ
Due to your testing and results, Drew [University] has been more than helpful with our daughter. [They have] arranged for our daughter to have 50% more time to complete her tests and in a quiet room; she has also set her up with a tutor in each subject, and sums it all up with a meeting between [the Disability Specialist] and our daughter every Monday
Our daughter is thrilled. She is not only thriving but has so much more confidence in herself. Simply put, for the first time since middle school she is a happy human being. Her test scores have skyrocketed and unlike all previous semesters – we are looking forward to seeing her semester grades in December.
We have not had a formal report from any of her teachers/professors but we are told by …our daughter’s advisor that they do not hear about grades at mid-term unless a student is doing poorly! YIPPEE!
I want to thank you for all your help.
P.K. - Scituate, MA
Our son attended a top ranked NJ public high school, was enrolled in two AP courses, had SAT’s in the 1500’s and was a peer leader in school. Having visited colleges with his older brother, we assumed he was well prepared for the process and had been making good progress with his essays. In early November of his senior year we first read his essays and were appalled. My sister, a journalist, agreed that they did no justice to who he was. I asked my son if he would accept professional help if we could find the right person for him to work with. Luckily we engaged Larry Blumenstyk at Learning Associates.
Larry led him to think creatively about his applications, the schools he was applying to and his real interests. This enabled my son to create his own effective college admissions strategy, rather than duplicating his older brother’s or simply following his parent’s suggestions. The result was a good number of acceptances, leading to a careful selection of where to enroll. Having finished his first semester (with excellent grades) he could not be happier with his choice of school and program. We all credit Larry for invaluable help in getting him successfully through the transition.
SB and MB - Tenafly, NJ
For many years, we have worked closely with Ms. Blumenstyk regarding the education of our son. We first consulted her in the spring of 2001 when our school district suspected our son had a language-based learning difference. Ms. Blumenstyk’s subsequent learning evaluations uncovered important details of his learning profile. She attended numerous Child Study Team conferences with us as our son’s educational advocate.
Ms. Blumenstyk was extremely helpful to us as we searched for a school for our son. She listened attentively to what we wanted for our son – an intellectually stimulating college preparatory program, significant remediation so he could learn how to work independently, a structured environment that would help with his organizational issues, and all subject teachers having sufficient knowledge of language-based learning disabilities. Aware that our son had become dispirited by his prior school experiences, Ms. Blumenstyk told us that he needed to meet other smart teens who have learning differences like his so he would understand that he is not alone. We found that Ms. Blumenstyk has significant expertise regarding local high schools, schools in other parts of New Jersey and boarding schools in other states. She presented many options and helped us to evaluate them.
Our son is completing his sophomore year and we are thrilled with his progress. In his freshman year, he went from basically an elementary school reading level to grade level. Recently, he was admitted to a program for students who no longer require one-on-one remediation. In addition to making terrific progress, our son is much happier.
I.W. - Chatham, NJ
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