NILD Educational Therapy is an individualized intervention for students with learning disabilities that focuses on strengthening their areas of deficient functioning. The goal of NILD Educational Therapy is to help students develop tools of independent learning in the classroom and in life. 

Students in NILD Educational Therapy receive two 80-minute sessions of intensive one-on-one therapy per week. These sessions include a variety of techniques designed to stimulate students' specific areas of perceptual and cognitive difficulty and to strengthen their overall ability to think. Techniques emphasize basic skill areas such as reading, writing, spelling, math and thinking skills. Compensatory techniques are avoided. 

Students are taught by NILD educational therapists, most of whom are certified teachers. NILD educational therapists receive on-going graduate-level training through NILD. Regular collaboration between the therapist, parents and classroom teacher is encouraged in order to develop an improved educational program for each student.

Non-tutorial
Tutoring is content-oriented. The goal of a tutoring session is to help the student learn the content of a specific subject area (i.e. math, spelling, history). 

NILD Educational Therapy is skill-oriented. The purpose of working in a specific subject area (i.e. reading, writing) is to improve basic learning skills so the student can learn and retain content on his/her own.

Integrative
Most tasks in life require integration of skills. For example, to take notes in class one must be able to:

• stay focused on the teacher's voice (attention)
• accurately hear and remember what the teacher is saying (auditory comprehension/memory)
• read any visual information given on the board or transparencies (decoding & visual discrimination/memory) 
• understand the main points of what the teacher is saying (analysis) and decide the significant information to record (synthesis)
• remember how to spell the words being recorded (encoding/visual memory)
• and record the information legibly (visual-motor coordination) and in an orderly fashion on the page (spatial organization)

Under normal circumstances these tasks are integrated, which means the brain performs them simultaneously and automatically without the individual being aware of each skill as it is used. For students with LD, certain key skills are not automatic, causing them to struggle to perform ordinary tasks.

NILD Educational Therapy techniques require students to use various combinations of perceptual and cognitive skills, thus encouraging the development of neurological integration.

Individual and Intense
Strengthening deficit areas in the brain means helping the brain develop new, more efficient neurological pathways for dealing with the information it receives. Research shows that prolonged, intense stimulation of neurological deficit areas is the most effective method for "retraining" the brain. 

In group instruction, students with LD tend to hide their deficits, either by using their strengths or by avoiding difficult tasks.

The one-on-one nature of NILD Educational Therapy allows the educational therapist to:

• focus specifically on the student's areas of difficulty and deal with problems as they arise during the actual learning process
• maintain the intensity of focus needed to help the student work through difficulties
• develop the trust needed to free the student to accept and work on difficult areas

Parental Involvement
Just as the school is a partner with the parents in the education of their child, so the NILD educational therapist partners with parents to provide help with their child's learning disability. Parents play a key role in the success of the therapy process by:

• providing the structure and accountability their child needs to enter into the therapy process
• supervising homework (although most therapy homework is to be done by the child without help, parents make sure the work is getting done)
• keeping in regular contact with their child's educational therapist to increase their understanding of the therapy process and to adequately partner with the educational therapist in providing an effective therapy program for their child.

All-age Inclusive
Research show that the brain retains its plasticity or ability to change throughout a person's life. Thus learning disabilities can be dealt with at any point they are discovered, not just in childhood. Although NILD targets school-age children, the techniques are effective regardless of age and can be adapted to all levels of functioning.

On the average, students are in NILD Educational Therapy for 3-5 years. A minimum of three years is usually required to bring students to a point of independent academic functioning. The number of years a student is enrolled varies according to the severity of the deficit and consistency of commitment to the therapy process. Students are dismissed from the program when they become independent and successful in the regular classroom. This decision is based upon recommendations from the educational therapist, parents and classroom teachers.

Potential students for this program are those experiencing obvious frustration in areas of school performance. Poor spelling, illegible handwriting, inability to express thoughts verbally or in writing, and difficulty with reading or math are common indicators of a learning disability. 

Learning disabilities are diagnosed through a battery of tests that measure students' potential against their actual performance. NILD educational therapists work in conjunction with qualified examiners and can aid parents in completing appropriate psychological and educational assessments.

Strategies learned in educational therapy should enable students to remain independent and successful throughout their school years and give them the freedom to pursue a career in the field of their choice.

Several research studies are available on the program. A dissertation has been completed with statistical data documenting program effectiveness. However, success stories of students having completed the program speak for themselves. Many are achieving honor roll status and are pursuing undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees.

An NILD educational therapist is an individual who holds a bachelor's (or higher) degree in education or related field and has been trained by NILD to work with students who have learning disabilities.  A specified program of techniques is used to stimulate efficient cognitive functioning.

An NILD educational therapist gives therapy as part of an NILD program in a school setting or independently in private practice.

An NILD educational therapist works with students one-on-one in two 80-minute sessions per week.