What is Peer+Plus? When did it start and where are you located?
Peer Plus, a diagnostic and tutorial service, celebrated its 10th Anniversary in August 2006. Mary T deBrueys has been practicing for 30 years in the field of language, learning and study skills development. Since it began, Peer Plus has seen over one thousand children in the New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Mandeville/Covington areas for diagnostic, tutorial, and study skill work.

Who works on the Peer+Plus staff?
At Peer Plus we have coordinators with combined experience of over 50 years. We have over 80 tutors that we carefully select to work with us. They vary in their ages, backgrounds/expertise, and availability, in order to offer you the best possible service.

What services do you offer?

• Study skill development
• Improved organizational skills
• Time management enhancement
• Test preparation strategies
• Assistance with specific subject areas
• In-home tutoring

What makes Peer Plus different from other tutoring programs?
We focus on the person in the program working in his/her home where there is consistency. Read more.

If you have asked yourself any of these questions about yourself or your child, give Peer Plus a call.

• What does the word cognitive mean? A teacher suggested that my son should repeat this year because his cognitive skills don’t seem developed enough to go to the next grade. Does this make sense if his grades are good?
• My child can read and memorize, but if a teacher changes the words on a test, she gets a bad grade. I don’t think she understands what she reads. What do we do?
• My daughter is very gifted in sports, but when she gets home in the afternoon after practices and games, she has hardly any energy left for homework. Should we quit ball and gymnastics?
• My child was tested and we were told that he had visual processing problems. We had his eyes tested and he had 20/20 vision. I am confused.
• What is the difference between a hearing problem and an auditory processing problem?
• My child does OK in school, but I notice that she has no sense of humor. When other kids laugh at movies or funny things on TV, she doesn’t seem to get it. I am feeling sorry for her. Does it mean anything?
• What does extended time mean? How do you get it? At what age does a child no longer get extra time if he needs it? If my son gets extended time now in 8th grade, will he be worse off when he gets to high school or even college and he can’t keep up then?
• How do I make my child more confident? I keep telling her she is great, but she doesn’t seem to believe me.
• Do you think some children are just lazy?
• What are the best things we can do at home to start this year off right?
  
  
  

Mary T Heffron deBrueys, MCD, CCC
Mary T is the Founder and Director of Peer+Plus, LLC and has been in private practice as a language and learning specialist for 30 years.  

Born in Victoria, Texas, Mary T grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana where she attended St. Aloysius, St. Joseph Academy, and LSU.  She moved to New Orleans to attend the LSU Medical Center graduate program, where she earned a Master of Communication Disorders (MCD) in 1977.  Since that time, she has worked in private practice in the field of language and learning.   

With several other professionals, Mary T published a study skill book, 125 Ways to Be a Better Student, through LinguiSystems Publishers, and she routinely presents workshops and inservices to children and to parent, teacher, and other professional groups.  Peer+Plus has been featured on radio talk shows in New Orleans and in Baton Rouge, as well as TV on Louisiana Made…Louisiana Proud in the New Orleans area.

Married to Jim deBrueys for 30 years, Mary T and her husband have raised 5 children and have one grandchild. Currently, the deBrueys reside in Baton Rouge. The main office of Peer Plus also relocated to Baton Rouge from New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina in August, 2005. All 3 locations of Peer Plus ~ New Orleans, Baton Rouge, & the Mandeville/Covington area ~ are growing, with over 80 tutors available to serve the needs of children and adults for testing and for tutorial and study skill work.

Carolyn M. Haar, MS, CCC
Carolyn has served as a language and learning specialist and as a Coordinator with Peer+Plus almost since its inception.  She began working in the field of speech and language pathology in 1972, having earned her bachelors degree at Dominican College.  Carolyn pursued her Master’s degree from Tulane University, which she earned in 1975.   

Growing up in the New Orleans area, Carolyn attended St. Christopher and Archbishop Chapelle High School prior to her college and graduate school pursuits.    She worked for seven and a half years in Orleans Parish Public Schools and for a brief time in the Jefferson Parish School System.  She then took personal time to home-school her five children with various special needs along with Mike, her husband, who is now deceased.