A specialized treatment program, previously only available in Winnipeg, is now being made available to students in rural Manitoba.

13-year-old Rachel Laviolette-Carniel attends Grandview School and suffers from a brain injury that she received during birth, which has resulted in a cognitive delay and difficulties with things like reading, spelling, and math.

Her mother, Jennifer Laviolette, tells CKDM that the specialized “neuroplasticity therapy”  has a high success rate of rehabilitating pathways in the brain, allowing some to overcome those learning disabilities and delays.

The treatment is part of the Arrowsmith Program, offered by the Learning Disabilities Association of Manitoba.

Karen Velthuys is the Executive Director for Learning Disabilities Association of Manitoba, and explains the Arrowsmith program “helps strengthen an individuals brain, by isolating the weak cognitive areas that underline their learning difficulties.” 

Although this therapy program was previously only available to Manitoba students living in Winnipeg, but the COVID pandemic has led program organizers to begin offering it online — opening the door for students like Rachel to benefit from the specialized therapy program.

“These kind of therapy programs aren’t widely available,” said Rachel’s mother, adding that “most people have to travel to city centres. This is kind of a step moving forward to making some of these therapies more available to rural Manitoba.”

Rachel would be the very first student in Manitoba to take part in the neuroplasticity therapy remotely, however, her mother says the therapy program isn’t covered by the province of Manitoba.

“For the online portion which Rachel would be doing — we’re looking at a cost of $8,000 per year,” which is something her family can’t afford right now.