Focus on: Ben

Ben is a seventh grade student. At age 5, Ben was adopted from Haiti.

When Ben arrived in the U.S., he did not have any fine motor skills due to low muscle tone and had limited language in his native Haitian Creole. Ben did not develop pre-literacy skills in his native language.

In third grade, Ben was evaluated for special education services and was diagnosed with a learning disability, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and post traumatic stress disorder. Ben receives pull-out instruction for reading, writing, and math.

Ben receives ELL instruction through an after-school program and the Rosetta Stone computer software application. He can communicate using a combination of English words and short phrases. His listening comprehension skills are also strong. However, his reading and writing skills are limited.