The Pearl Center was named by a student who really understood our therapy, its process and its outcome.

One of the most difficult techniques we use at the Center is called Listen My Children.  The student listens to a passage and repeats it verbatim.  As they progress through the passage, more and more information is added, making the task increasingly difficult.  For a student who struggles with auditory processing, this is a painful task.

Austin’s task was to repeat sentences about how a pearl is formed by the irritation of a grain of sand in an oyster.  He struggled to repeat the increasingly long sentences.  When he finished, I (Suzanne), told him that his learning difficulty was like that grain of sand in an oyster, and that if he persevered, something good would come from it.  That Christmas, Austin presented me with a pearl in a silver box.  I wear it often.

Later when I told him that I hoped to open a center for struggling students, he said, “That will be Mrs. Ringger’s school for pearls.”  The name was chosen, and on the opening day, Austin offered a prayer of dedication for all who would come to learn.