About Susan Sorensen - Founder of Learn 2 Focus
Mother & Brain Training Expert in Honolulu
Since 2009, Susi Sorensen has been providing brain training programs and support to children and adults through her brain training practice Learn 2 Focus, located in Hawaii. She offers personalized guidance and advanced solutions for families in the US, Asia and the Pacific Rim affected by a variety of learning challenges.
After graduating from Pepperdine University with a degree in Sports Medicine, Susi returned home to Hawaii and attended the postgraduate nutrition program at the University of Hawaii while working for the Honolulu Gerontology Program as an exercise physiologist. When her two children began experiencing learning challenges, she took a leave of absence in order to home school them and seek answers. After countless months of exhausting research, she struggled to find a proven solution that worked for her children’s unique issues.
She consulted and trained with some of the best speech language pathologists in the field, and studied the latest research-based methods to treat speech disorders. She was fortunate to participate in trials for treatment of apraxia from several universities with outstanding reputations as leaders in the field of speech and communication disorders.
One key element was consistently present in the research — the idea that the brain is “plastic” or capable of changing. She knew if weak or faulty neurons were causing her children’s challenges, perhaps brain training would offer the significant improvement they needed. Susi began using Interactive Metronome (IM) with her daughter, a type of brain training therapy proven effective in helping children and adults respond to developmental, learning and attention problems stemming from motor processing and sequencing challenges. And the results were dramatic.
Here was an extremely effective, long-term solution backed by scientific study and research published in the US National Library of Medicine, yet no one had heard of it. Susi’s goal was to bring IM to others so they, too, could overcome their challenges and live a happier, more confident life.
After seeing the progress her children made, she underwent the IM training certification process. In order to reach a larger community, Susi became one of Interactive Metronome’s first providers certified to offer IM-Home, a unique virtual training and therapy option, and one of the first certified Advanced Pediatric Interactive Metronome practitioners. She also implemented vision therapy techniques during IM training to help clients enhance visual processing and attention outcomes.
“Susi is the most dedicated professional I know. She has worked hard using these methods with her own children and achieved great success. If you or anyone you know has a child with learning issues, working with Susi either in person or on line would be one of the most beneficial things you can do to help your child succeed. ”
In addition to running About 2 Learn, Susi volunteers her time and energy as a parent mentor to families in Hawaii through Talk About Curing Autism, one of the largest nationally recognized autism support groups, and writes grants for two local nonprofit associations who provide scholarships for individuals in Hawaii with autism and behavior related issues.
TAVS – Test of Auditory and Visual Skills
TAVS is a unique tool for screening many subtle areas of auditory and visual processing. These areas are vital for listening, reading, attention, and memory skills. Screening with TAVS can guide to ensure that the correct remediation tools are used, and help to understand why children and teens are having difficulties within the classroom and at home. TAVS is wonderful for pre and post assessment measures for both children and adults for interventions that seek to improve fundamental sensory processing skills.
Developed by Advanced Brain Technologies with an international team of specialists, TAVS allows the unique opportunity to assess low level auditory and visual skills in a nonverbal format. It is a one of a kind tool to understand more about an individual’s processing of frequency, amplitude, timing, and spatial aspects – the fundamentals of listening.
Learn2Focus is the only certified provider of TAVS in Hawaii. For more information about the assessment or to schedule an appointment for a TAVS assessment, please call us at 808-352-0116.
