Rewire 4 Writing
Written expression is one of the most complex academic skills for any student to learn. Composing written work requires many executive functioning (EF) skills. EF skills, mobilized by the brain’s frontal cortex, help us establish priorities, organize plans, get started, re-evaluate approaches, and persist to complete our goals, all while helping us deal effectively with frustrations that happen along the way. Writing involves all of these EF skills—from brainstorming and organizing ideas to crafting sentences, reviewing, and revising. Writing well is difficult, even for experienced writers. For neurodiverse students—like those diagnosed with ADHD, Learning Disabilities, and/or Autism—writing can be exceptionally hard. These students may have wonderful ideas, and be great verbal storytellers, but translating thoughts into writing can be a struggle, sometimes leading to upset and avoidance.
At Possibilities we offer writing support for children and teens through our Rewire 4 Writing program.
Here are some questions we are asked about our program, along with our answers.
Our academic intervention service, Rewire 4 Writing, includes a number of programming options to support your child’s written composition skills. Scientifically supported and structured interventions, like Step Up to Writing and Direct Instruction Reasoning and Writing, are offered within Rewire 4 Writing. Your child may struggle with one or multiple skills in the writing process—from brainstorming, planning, and sequencing, to editing and/or proofreading written work. Our learning experts will consider your child’s strengths and learning needs, and tailor our structured programming to support your child’s writing skills.
Writing is a multi-step process with different components and expectations. We’ll consider your child’s writing needs and offer targeted, structured support. Our programs use explicit and strategic instructional methods shown to improve the written composition skills of students who find writing difficult. These instructional strategies can help your child understand the steps needed to write well, and begin using core principles for strong writing with concrete modeling and feedback from the instructor.
Four core elements are included to support writing skills in Rewire 4 Writing:
Structured programming: Our instructors use programs with explicit strategies and built-in practice like Direct Instruction Reasoning and Writing, or Step Up to Writing, to help build foundational skills.
Tailored supports: In the first session, instructors explore our clients’ Writing Toolbox—tools like brainstorming templates or graphic organizers that a student is already using. Additional tools are incorporated as writing sessions progress. If Assistive Technology is being used at school, like Google Read and Write, these tools are also incorporated into the sessions.
Defined goals: Instructors use entry and exit tasks during sessions to help define goals and measure progress through the program. In entry tasks, content is introduced or reviewed from prior lessons. Exit tasks are used to assess the implementation of concepts and strategies learned in the sessions.
School application: Clients may bring writing assignments they are working on at school to sessions. This option means strategies, checklists, and templates can be applied to school work, in addition to the exercises offered by our writing programs, to support the transfer of skills to assigned homework.
No. If your child is struggling with written expression at any level—for example, planning, organizing, structuring, composing, reviewing, and/or editing—we recommend starting writing intervention as soon as possible. You do not need a diagnosis of any kind to enroll your child in Rewire 4 Writing. Typically intervention that is started sooner is more effective than later intervention, before gaps grow. Psychoeducational and ADHD Assessments remain very helpful for figuring out why your child is struggling at school, however, and for creating an Integrated Treatment Plan. If you’re interested in a comprehensive diagnostic assessment at Possibilities, you may read more about our psychoeducational assessment, called a Signature Assessment, and our ADHD assessment, called Focus Forward 360, on our website.
No. Small gaps early on can grow into bigger gaps. So giving your child’s writing skills a boost with intervention can help prevent gaps from growing. If you’re not sure if your child needs support, please enquire about Rewire 4 Writing at Possibilities. In the first appointment, we’ll do an assessment of current writing skills to see if your child fits into the writing programs we offer. If your child’s writing skills are at grade level and no concerns are apparent, then no writing intervention will be needed.
Yes! You are welcome to receive academic intervention at Possibilities after receiving intervention elsewhere. We will require some background information to get us started, including a copy of the Psychoeducational Assessment report, to help us formulate a personalized Treatment Plan for writing moving forward.
Yes! Our writing interventions can be offered over secure video sessions.
We recommend at least one 50-minute session per week. This pace allows our clients to apply skills they have learned to writing assignments in between sessions. You may request more sessions per week if your child needs support with multiple writing tasks. We’ll do our best to accommodate you based on instructor availability.
A 50-minute session costs $140 with psychological supervision and $120 without supervision. Please check with your insurance provider to see if this cost for academic intervention might be covered.
Yes! Our central office is in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. However, we offer our academic interventions to clients across Canada and the United States through secure video sessions.
Provincial health plans like OHIP do not cover educational treatments. Academic interventions may be covered by private insurance plans. If psychology oversight is required for insurance coverage, a psychologist with expertise in learning can collaborate with your child’s tutor in developing and overseeing the Academic Intervention Plan. Rewire 4 Writing is available across the United States and Canada. Since psychologists involved in the program are licensed in Ontario, our psychology oversight option is only available to families physically residing in Ontario during the tutoring sessions.
For more information about Rewire 4 Writing, please contact us at info@possibilitiesclinic.com or call 1-833-482-5558.
You can also get started right away by completing our Registration Form. Once this form is received, our Care Team will help you book your appointment with our Academic Services Team.
