Archive for March, 2011

Here is the second part of the article by a math teacher, be sure and check out the 1st part, if you’ve not seen it.

Right after lunch, the students were given a discovery game card/speed drill sheet. The students listened again to the same track as earlier in the day.same as the top students in the other classes.

This time they had to hunt for the correct problem on the row and write down the answer. This was the first time we asked for something back from them, but they were hearing the math facts on the CD, so while it was more intense, it was also easy for them. Upon completion of the CD track, they would turn their papers over and do the speed drill. The problems on the speed drill only included problems that they had been exposed to in the previous weeks. That made it easy to complete the page quickly because they knew all the answers.

Even one student who didn’t know his numbers at the beginning of October was feeling successful. He was able to keep up with the rest of the class. Later in the day I would flash the same cards again or I would use the Smart Board and run the Input DVD on it. The Input DVD is divided into tracks so that I could easily find the math facts we were working on that week or I could use the review track for a student that had been absent or needed a little more practice with a set of facts. We completed the addition program in a total of 14 weeks. My students were excited about math! For the first time, they had high math scores and were able to quickly remember all their facts.

When we finished the addition module, we moved on to subtraction. My students were pre-tested for subtraction at the same time as they were tested for addition. Most of them scored zero. The highest score was a 3 in a three minute test. We were only on week nine of fourteen when we were asked to take the post-test on addition and subtraction. In comparison to other classes that hadn’t used Rapid Recall, the three-minute addition post-test showed amazing results.

I had one student that even finished 30 seconds early and scored 100%. Two others did all 70 problems in the three-minute time limit. The bottom three students scored the

On the three-minute subtraction post-test, my students showed an even higher percentage of improvement than they did in addition and we hadn’t even finished the program yet!rapid recall of math facts!st  While mastering math facts is vital to being successful in math, there were other benefits to this system. My students were confident. They were begging to do math, but even more remarkable, they were begging to do math homework!

They wanted to be able to show their parents how easy it was for them and how quickly they could get homework done. Rapid Recall is an amazing product and I would recommend that you use it with all students to gain

Tanda Trussell, 1st Grade Teacher, West Texas Elementary, Stinnett, TX

What follows is the story of one teacher’s struggles to help her students achieve math fact mastery and how the Rapid Recall System revolutionized her approach and effectiveness in achieving that goal.

       Rapid Recall System = Math Facts Mastery

For years I drilled math facts into students without much success. Flash cards and drill sheets were the standard fare. Students were expected to know their math facts and recite them with confidence and accuracy. Students would use their fingers, stare at their paper, or look to the ceiling as if the answers might fall out of the sky for them.

Oh yes, I did send home those flash cards with the answers on the back instructing parents to spend a set amount of time drilling their children. We spent hours on math manipulatives. But at the beginning of the new school year, I would hear from the second grade teachers that the students didn’t know their math facts and would I please work harder this year. This went on year after year.

Last year I had the opportunity to implement the Rapid Recall System in my first grade classroom. We began the system in September with students that ranged from not recognizing numbers to being able to do one or two addition problems in three minutes. The majority of the students were familiar with counting, but that was the extent of their mathematic skills.

Rapid Recall was easy to implement. The first week was spent teaching students about ‘plus zero’ facts. This system had us showing the students addition facts with ‘plus zero’ in all forms. We reviewed ‘plus zero’ facts several times throughout the day. By the end of the week, all my students mastered their ‘plus zero’ facts.

The second week we did the same routine with ‘plus one’ facts and the students did speed drills on ‘plus zero’ facts. My students were thrilled with the perfect scores they received on their speed drill papers!

The third week we began the meat of the program. Each week we focused on five math facts – two reciprocals and one double. We started each day by listening to a two-minute math track with only the five facts for the week. This part was easy. The students were listening while I was able to do those daily tasks like attendance and lunch count that take time but include no educational instruction. When the math track was over, we went on to other tasks.

Later in the morning, I flashed the five math fact cards to the students twice. I read each card. The students didn’t speak; they just listened. It took about a minute and it was on to other activities.

-more of this teachers point of view next time-

If you sincerely desire to help your child have success in their academic pursuits, there is a very easy way to insure they realize their full potential.  In order to be able to address the requirements of school, your child must be able to process information at his grade level.  Otherwise, they will begin to experience being left behind as the windows of opportunity become more and more narrow for them, as the school learning cycle progresses.  If they can’t get the information from their brains out on paper in the required time, it soon becomes a discouraging endeavor and they loose confidence in themselves and their abilities.  Once confidence is lost, then distracting behaviors, compensating disruptions and other undesired behaviors can enter the picture. None of which are productive.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

First, you need to understand what we mean specifically when we ask if your child is processing up to grade level.  A child should be able to process (hold pieces of information together in short-term memory that they see or hear long enough for the entire sequence to be experienced, then they should be able to repeat that sequence back in the correct order in which it was given).   For instance, if I was working with a 5  year old, I would expect him to be able to process 5 pieces of information.  Those pieces of information could be words (colors, letters, or numbers).  There are two kinds of processing we’re interested in.  They need to be able to hold information from hearing (auditory) and from seeing (visual).  We tend to do better with visual processing in our society, but it is the auditory processing that effects us most profoundly and globally.  Therefore, I would encourage you to first discover what is the status of your child’s auditory processing ability.  Order the Auditory Test Kit as well as the Visual Test Kit  [It's free].   If you have a 6 year old who can only retain 4 pieces of information from what he hears, then you will know the goal is to get him to where he is able to process 6 pieces of information. 

HOW DO I DO THAT?

Here are a couple of ways to move your child’s abilities up to grade level.   By the way, the good news is that is takes only 2 minutes a day, twice a day to get him there!   We have digit span cards we’ve made up for our clients that you can order, or you can make up your own.  It is 125 unique random, non-repeated numbers on each card.  In one second intervals you say (in a monitone voice) each number.  After you’ve stated the numbers, then you ask the child to say them back to you.  The more fun and animated you are in this activity the more enjoyable the session and with a high intensity level (fun) comes better retention.  All the directions on how to administer the test is included in the digit span card deck.  You keep having the sessions until your child is up to his appropriate level of digits, words, etc.

Once you’ve set the stage for success in their processing needs; you will see them experience less frustration with their studies and feel good about what they can accomplish.  It’s a real boost to their morale, not to mention the academic boost.  Remember, when a child experiences success and confidence, then their natural curiosity and joy in learning can become a part of their self-actualizing, which they love being able to do things well!  Order the FREE Auditory & Visual Test Kit  now.

Some times you are around a good thing so much you take it for granted.  I have been guilty of that with the Rapid Recall System, which is a multi-sensory math facts program.  What makes this program a real standout in the marketplace?  Well, it does what it purports to do and then some.  In fact, we’ve seen things that have even been a surprise to us!

For example, this math facts program was designed many years ago by Jan Bedell, The Brain Coach.  She was an educator who finally gave up hoping the public and private schools could or would teach her mentally challenged daughter to read, write and do math.  Taking matters into her own hands, she began home schooling her daughter at 15 years of age.  She knew in her heart of hearts that there was ability just waiting to be reached and she began a quest to make life better for her daughter.  At that time, she also discovered the ND (Neuro-Developmental) Approach.  It is a methodology of utilizing normal developmental activities that are typically done during the early years of development  to impact the neuroplasticity of the brain.  Neuroplasticity is a life-long feature of the brain that allows the brain to change, new connections to be created, damaged areas to be re-routed around, or repaired.  The goal of doing these brain-based stimulating techniques and activities are to get the brain to become neurologically efficient.  When our brain and body communications are efficient, there is fast interchange between the thought and the action.  Which impacts the cognitive, processing, auditory (short-term memory), visual and tactile areas, as well.

Everyone on this earth, regardless of age, I.Q. or status can always do better with greater neuro-efficiency!  That’s what the Rapid Recall System (a very specially designed math facts program) does; it provides an emphasis on in-put in such a way that the dendrites (ends of the the nerves) are stimulated enough that neuro-pathways are generated and greater connections, speed, and function are increased.

Now, let me tell you more about the surprises we’ve seen with this program.  I’d mentioned earlier about Jan’s daughter, and her being 15 with knowing how to read or do math.  Jan designed this math facts program and had a perfect candidate to work with right under her roof.  She found that her daughter could, in fact, learn!  In fact, what was so amazing was she had been diagnosed with a 40 I.Q., but with the help of a neuro-developmental program she began to read at a 4th-5th grade level, she did math on a 4th grade level, and can write!  Now… here’s the real SURPRISE~ Jan’s daughter today is a 30 year old young woman. She lives in a residence of Christian young women.  Jan went in to test a new resident who had some challenges and as we was starting to test this new resident she thought, “I wonder how much my daughter has retained after all these years?”  She then gave the speed drill to her daughter as well as the new resident.  Her daughter did (right on the spot, no advance warning) 39 addition problems correctly in 1 minute!  The last time she’d been tested had been 18 years ago!  

We knew this program was exceptional prior to this very up-close and personal experience with Jan’s daughter, but this confirmed what we’d been seeing with our clients who utilized the program.  In fact, if you wish to see the research results done in a couple of schools over the past three years see it here.

I hope you’ll consider this program and many others we have developed as curriculum or companion curriculum.  All are available on our website store.  One thing before I close is:  This program works for gifted, typical and challenged individuals, regardless of age or I.Q.

In fact, I had a mother from California call about our Rapid Recall System. She told me her son was gifted in math, but had never really mastered his math facts, and she’d already purchased 5- 6 programs that didn’t work.  Someone had recommended our program to her, but she was leary of paying out money with no results. She wanted a guarantee, so I gave her one.  I told her if she followed the program for 30 days, and she saw no improvement, we’d take it back, and refund her money.  Instead of a request for a refund I got the most excited mother emailing me telling me, “It’s working!  After all we tried, I am so happy and relieved to have found this wonderful program!”

Yes, we mustn’t take things that are really good for granted.  We see these kinds of miracles happen to people of all ages when the follow the Neuro-Educational Programs developed here at Little Giant Steps.  For these, we praise God!

Today we were looking over last year’s statistics on our product sales.  One thing really surprised me, it was how many decks of Digit Span Cards people had purchased.  Then I got to thinking how powerful these simple cards can be in hands of a parent who sincerely desires to see their child achieve new levels of learning ease.  The other ingredient that will assure success in seeing your child leave behind these struggles is best described in a quote by Agassiz: “His power over his students might be measured by his own enthusiasm.”  There is so much truth in that statement. First, children learn best from their parents, and they will learn effectively if the instruction is given in a fun enthusiastic manner.  One day a mother was grumbling about having to work with her child every day. I suggested, ”Don’t you think you can hype yourself up to have fun with your child for two minutes twice a day if it meant relieving them from learning struggles for the rest of their life?”  The answer: “Yes, I’m an adult and I can change my attitude for the sake of my child twice a day for two minutes.”

You see, when short term memory is not at grade level, the child struggles significantly.  They get really frustrated because they keep experiencing windows of opportunity to learn being slammed shut before they’ve had a chance to receive and hold the information presented long enough to make sense of it.

Imagine being a child who was going on a field trip with your classmates.  Everyone waits for the bus.  Everyone gets on the bus when the door opens, except when you step up, the bus door slams shut and the bus drives off  leaving you there – alone.  That’s what it’s like on a daily basis for someone with low auditory processing skills.  They know and understand about the event, their expectations for a fun trip are set, they share the excitement with their friends, but they never are able to fulfill the promise of the trip!  They are just left there.  Ask any child with a learning disability about how they feel about trying as hard as they can, and never succeeding.  It gets so discouraging. It can destroy all internal hope for that child.

Luckily, fixing this problem with the auditory system is easy.  The easiest are the Digit Span Cards!  Digit Span Decks are used to improve auditory and visual processing (short-term memory) in just 2 two-minute sessions, twice a day!

The benefits from your effort will be improved comprehension, staying on task, ability to use phonics and much more!

A 3 year-old should be able to hold together 3 pieces of information (digits, words or objects), a 4 year-old should be able to hold 4, a 5 year-old -5… and so on. Whether you are 7 years old or an adult, you should be able to hold 7 digits, or, pieces of sequential information in short-term memory.   We provide free auditory test kits so you can check your child’s functional ability to see if they are processing at the appropriate level.  Order it!

Each deck has 125 cards (with a unique sequence on each card). Decks are available in 5,6,7,8,9,10,11 &12 digit sequences.

The A and B decks are a different 125 sequences. In case your child starts to memorize the sequences in the deck you have you can switch to the other deck to offer more variety.  Do something about changing the playing field for your child if they are struggling.  Do it today!

  Who says learning difficulties only happens in children?   There are adults who have spent their whole lives trying to figure out why they struggled so hard to learn, when they knew deep in their hearts they were smart, but for some reason they just couldn’t seem to receive and retain information like other people did.  Some got lost along the way due to never having rewarding experiences in their years in school. Some either dropped out, or chose paths that have lead them into conflict with people, institutions, and some ran afoul of the law.  Can you imagine what could have happened to these very discouraged souls if only they had someone to reach out and say, “Hey, you are smart, but your brain just needs a little help to prepare it to be ready to learn.”  So many of the adults we meet along the way have had lives of chaos and experienced very little confidence that they could ever be a success, not because they didn’t have the intellectual capacity, because they did!  What they had was a disorganized brain, poor early developmental experiences, very low auditory or visual processing skills. 
I have some good news! Lucky for those who are searching; there is a solution.  The brain can change,be trained and organized at the lower levels even if you are an adult.  As long as you are alive, the neuroplasticity of the brain is entirely ready, willing  and able to build new connections. There are techiques to make the changes so the brain becomes organized and all processing deficits, and other areas of dysfunctional symptoms in learning can be remediated and brought up to speed.
One of our Neuro-Educational Specialists has been working with an adult client with whom she shares the pleasure of watching a new world unfold for her as she embarked on her personal journey ina Neuro-Developmental Program. I’ll let the client tell you about her progress:
“I received the program. Thank you. Also, I’ve noticed that my ability to sight-read at the piano is better. I’ve really only been able to actually play a piece of music if I memorize it because, if I ever had to look down at my hands and back up at the music, I would be completely lost as to where I was on the page and as I would struggle to find where I was in order to keep tempo, it’s like all the notes on the page would be moving. It was so frustrating that I never wanted to read music again and decided to start doing my own thing at the piano. This isn’t happening as much anymore! P.C. Houston, TX”
We are so delighted she has discovered, like so many other of our clients; life can be very different, encouraging, and rewarding when the brain has had an opportunity to pick up those steps of development that were either missing, or needed proper stimuli to get them functioning.  Working in the world of Neuro-Education is a really rewarding experience.  We see people begin our programs with pain and struggle, then as they move on into more normal function; they blossom into people they’ve always wanted to be!  Now, that is exciting to watch!

We hope you have enjoyed Cyndi Ringoen’s article.  She has been an associate of Jan’s and Little Giant Steps for many years and we greatly appreciate her desire to serve those who struggle to learn.

In the last piece she offers what you can do to make changes in the situations you may find yourself.  If we can change things at the root cause, then many symptoms get dealt with. When the symptom goes away, function can take its place. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact us at www.littlegiantsteps.com/contact.

Hearing

I suggest the use of Samonas Sound Therapy, which has a proven track record in reducing sound sensitivities. It can also help normalize any frequencies which the child is not hearing enough. Used correctly, Samonas or pre Samonas Therapy should be done very gently with short durations for optimal results. In addition, parents can provide lots of good quality auditory input-reading stories to the child, having the child listen to stories on tape, and talking face to face to the child.

Touch

Parents can, for a few minutes several times a day, provide tactile input to their child. Apply deep pressure (squeezing), starting at the fingertips to shoulders and toes to thighs. Deep pressure often calms children who display ‘Autistic-like’ symptoms. Interact with deep hugs (bear hugs) lots of times a day. You can also provide light touch with tickling (fingertips) or feather on the limbs.

Smell

Provide the child with the opportunity to smell a variety of pleasant odors, i.e. orange oil, peppermint, coffee grounds.

Taste

Allow opportunity to taste sweet, sour and salty tastes to stimulate the taste buds. Use only minute amounts for a child that is hypersensitive to taste.

Vision

Provide lots of opportunity to develop good central/macular vision. Talk face to face often. Play catch, pop bubbles, practice tracking-hold a small toy away from the face and move it slowly side to side and up and down for the child to follow. Discourage inappropriate use of peripheral vision (described above in sensory play). Television, if monitored by parents, can be used to help develop central vision. The child must sit at least 3 feet away and look directly at it (not out of the corner of the eyes). Watch something of high interest to the child.

Stopping Sensory Play

By far, the most important thing you can do for a child diagnosed with ‘Autism” is to stop all the sensory play and spend as much one on one time with them as possible. As stated previously, if you detect sensory play early, all you need to do is distract and redirect the child’s activity. If this is done, it will not likely develop into anything more serious. However, if you are the parent of an older child who has some of these behaviors on a consistent basis, your job will be more difficult. By structuring the child’s down time so that someone is with them, interacting, playing, etc., you will reduce the sensory play because there will be less time for the child to engage in it. Sometimes it means removal of certain types of toys that seem to increase the sensory play. Inputting the appropriate information to the sensory channels will help the child to gradually become interested in their environment in a more typical way. The stopping of sensory play in a child for whom it has become a way of life is difficult. Usually, though, this only lasts a certain amount of time, until the ‘addiction’ quality wears off from lack of stimulation. As the sensory play decreases the pay off for the parents is that they start to enjoy interacting and discovering a new side of their child, a child who is more “tuned in”, less withdrawn, more interactive, and easier to teach.

Conclusion

Autism is just a word for a group of symptoms. If your child acquires the ‘Autistic’ label or begins to display sensory dysfunctions, you will need to address each of the individual issues. The good news is sensory problems respond very well to intervention, thereby eliminating the original symptoms.

Here’s Part 2 of Cyndi Ringeon’s article.  If you missed Part 1, see our blog at Little Giant Steps.

Sight

We have two main types of vision, peripheral and macular/central. Peripheral vision picks up on edges and motion. Central or macular vision is what we use to learn. We see details with it; we are able to line up rows and columns, and clearly distinguish letter, numbers, words, etc. When a person has overdeveloped, or hyper peripheral, vision they attend to `odd’ things- things which have edges and movement: dangling strings, fans, open and shutting doors/drawer, edges of walls, and often their hands/fingers. Underdeveloped macular vision, or hypo macular, vision causes difficulties such as lack of eye contact and lack of interest in pictures, books, television, etc.

Persons diagnosed with ‘Autism’ have some sort of unique combination of the above sensory dysfunctions. One of the most common profiles I find in a person labeled Autistic is: hypersensitive to light touch, hyposensitive to deep touch, hyper auditory, hyper peripheral vision and hypo macular vision.

The scenario described earlier in this article between the doctor, mother and child could be ascribed to this set of dysfunctions. This type of person is not receiving information in the same way as you and I, and therefore, is not responding to stimuli in their environment as you and I would.

Sensory Play

The most likely reason a child with Down Syndrome would begin to be labeled ‘Autistic’ is because of something called “sensory play.” Sensory stimulation, self stimulation behaviors, self-stim, and sensory play are all terms referring to the same type of actions. They are behaviors that a child engages in that are “odd,” repetitive, sometimes obsessive, but they all involve inputting information into the ‘broken’ sensory channel. This is so negative because it reinforces what is already atypical. Sensory play does more than just stop the positive development for the moment, it seems to create endorphins in the brain– -happy feelings.

As the child engages in sensory play, he wants to do it more and more, he craves it, and often it can become an addiction. There are many, many types and variations of sensory play. A majority of sensory play is visual, often stimulating the peripheral vision, but sensory play can also be auditory or tactile too. Following is a list of some common sensory play activities:

Repeatedly opening and shutting doors or drawers; flipping pages of books; flipping books or toys; flicking toys with fingertips; wiggling fingers in front of face; wiggling fingers at side of face; hand flapping; holding toys to the side of face and shaking; twirling or shaking strings and ropes; nose up to the TV.; watching TV sideways; spinning wheels of cars; spinning toys; spinning self; head shaking; rocking; continuous humming; echolalia (repeating videos, ads, or conversation but not communicating); hand wringing; excessive touching/sweeping with fingertips; wall walking; non-language repetitive auditory sounds; banging; pounding; tongue sucking; tongue play; excessive picking of their own skin; pacing/walking in patterns or circles; lining up toys.

This is not meant to be a complete list, but rather a general description that may help parents when observing the behavior of their children. Most of these activities are not inappropriate in and of themselves. Some are even developmentally appropriate at certain stages. They become inappropriate and turn into sensory play when they are done repeatedly or obsessively. I have found in my experience that parents usually are very good judges of what might be potential sensory play. If I point out some behavior that they should try to eliminate, they often confess that they had a funny feeling about it, or thought it was not positive. As the child spends more time in sensory play, they are undoing the positive developmental input that their parents or caregivers are trying to impart to them. Actually, it is even more serious than just undoing what is being put in currently. Sensory play can actually cause significant regression in developmental and cognitive ability of a child.

One of the most severe examples I ever assessed was a child who had a very involved family. They were spending a lot of time each day with him on his developmental progress. In addition, they were ensuring that he was supervised almost constantly so he could not engage in any type of sensory play. His short-term memory was growing; he was able to speak to me in short sentences; he was reading some words and he was very tuned in and following directions. I saw him about 4 months later. He was not following any directions, he was totally tuned out, engaging in sensory play constantly, his short-term memory had regressed by 2-3 years and he wasn’t able to communicate at all with me.

What happened during the four months to cause this? His mother had given birth to a baby who was understandably taking up much of the family’s time and energy. This child had been left to engage in sensory play as much as desired for four months. I am not sharing this to put any blame on the family. They were dealing with a real life situation. I am using it to illustrate the extreme urgency and importance of stopping any and all sensory play so that a child’s development will continue progressing in a positive manner.

My suggestion is for parents to become expert observers of their children’s play. If you notice some of the above-mentioned repetitive behaviors, try and immediately distract and redirect the child’s attention to something more; appropriate. Changing this behavior at onset is relatively easy compared to the task of trying to change: it after it becomes addictive and obsessive. Along with eliminating the sensory play, it is of the utmost importance to have an evaluation of the child, which can pinpoint any sensory dysfunctions and provide you with specific methods of stimulation and activities to normalize the sensory channels. This will offer your child the very best possibility of eliminating the ‘Autistic’ symptoms, thereby providing them with the best possible opportunities for continuing in their development.  Stay tuned for the last part of this series.  Discover the remedies available to you through Little Giant Steps that you can provide right at home.

Thanks to Cyndi Ringeon, B.A., B.S. for her fine article.  We hope you discover remedies you may not have known before:

There is a small, but consistent and significant, portion of the children with Down syndrome who also become labeled as autistic. Once parents have come to terms with the diagnosis of Down syndrome and all it entails, the addition of yet another label, another set of obstacles, often becomes overwhelming. In this article, I hope to provide families with demystifying information regarding the label of ‘Autistic’, proactive observation techniques to detect autistic-like or sensory behaviors, and practical ideas for eliminating the behaviors.

The label of Autistic, whether for a person with Down syndrome or not, is a symptomatic label. This means you receive this label if you have a certain number of symptoms on a list. It is important to know that ‘Autism’ is not a disease; you cannot take a blood test or x-ray to detect it.

What I see in my work with children and families is that many doctors throw around this label rather haphazardly because of a few symptoms. A parent may go to a doctor’s appointment and bring up a few concerns to the doctor: the child rejects hugs and kisses from the parent, won’t leave his shirt on, screams every time mom needs to vacuum the house, sits for hours by himself quietly humming while lining up cars in a neat row. The doctor observes the child in front of him— he won’t make eye contact, isn’t responding to directions (seems almost not to hear), instead is quietly sitting while continually flipping the pages of a book —- AH HAW Diagnosis- Autistic. Having the label or not having the label does not change the fact that the family is dealing with a number of behaviors and symptoms that need to be addressed. The earlier that parents can identify and eliminate the symptoms, the better the chance of the child developing without Autistic-like behaviors.

Autism is basically a dysfunction of the sensory channels. This means that some senses are hyper (over active) and some are low (under active). Because of this, there are atypical responses to different stimuli. We have five main sensory channels, and each of them may be affected with hyper or hypo sensitivities.

Sound

For example, it is common for those affected with autism to be hypersensitive to sound. Sound can actually cause pain and discomfort. Parents may notice the following: covering of ears with hands to block out the sound, extremely negative behavior in certain locations, physical withdrawal or auditory shut down in noisy environments, inconsolable crying that only stops when the child is removed from the noise, or hearing and reacting to sounds before others can even perceive them. If the sounds are too uncomfortable the child will learn to totally turn off the hearing and then cease to make progress in speech and language development-sometimes almost appearing deaf. Often when a person is hypersensitive to certain sounds there are other sounds to which they are hyposensitive, or that they do not process at all. This greatly affects speech, as it is the ability to hear and process tones well that culminates in the ability to produce sound and speech effectively. For onlookers observing this behavior, it appears strange and inappropriate, but most people would react the same way if they were dealing with auditory hypersensitivity. The solution is to address the problem of the hypersensitivity to sound, and the `strange’ behavior will dissipate.

Touch

Touch, or tactility- the ability to interpret tactile input- can be oversensitive, causing withdrawal or reactions to deep touch (hugs) or light touch (tickling, tags, clothing material), discomfort with haircuts or hair combing, aversion to water at certain temperatures, aversions to textures-both on the skin and in the mouth, or overactive gag reflex. Tactility can be hyposensitive, meaning the brain does not even acknowledge that something has impacted the system. Instead of overreaction, there is a lack of reaction. Parents may notice falling and bruising without the normal response, lack of response to hot and cold, lack of ticklish response, and lack of mouth response to hot and cold.

 Smell

Hypersensitivity to odors can cause odd behaviors such as hand sniffing, object and person sniffing, aversion to food odors causing gagging or rejection of food. Hyposensitivity to odor can cause problems with lack of motivation to eat and inability to distinguish between edible and inedible objects.

Taste

Hypersensitivity to taste can cause gagging or rejection of food. Hyposensitivity to taste can cause lack of motivation to eat, and inability to distinguish between edible and inedible objects. Problems with appropriate sensory information for odors and smell can cause serious eating difficulties.  More to come next time.  Yes, the fact is, many of these symptoms can be eliminated.  Stay tuned and discover how Little Giant Steps’ has answers that change the course of many learning difficulties, and disabilities.

Angela, a sweetheart of a girl, decided to write about her academic journey and her experience with our Neuro-Educational Program.  Read her story and get an idea about what could be for your child.

“My parents blessed me with the best education I could imagine, even though I might not have considered it that way when I was younger. I have experienced the settings of a Montessori preschool, public school kindergarten, home school for elementary, private school for sixth grade, and distance learning for junior high and high school. However, what made my education the very best it could be was that we worked on improving my brain function.

Do you want to know the secret that unlocked my full potential? Well, I had a neurodevelopmental evaluation with the Brain Coach, Jan Bedell of Little Giant Steps. She wrote a program (INP-individual neurodevelopmental program) especially for me to help my brain work better; it included academics and PE. At age twelve I became the branch director of San Antonio and earned enough money to be a tax paying citizen. My ability to travel for a job was made possible by my flexible school schedule with New College Preparatory Academy. The secret to unlocking my early maturity to handle the adult responsibilities of a job and independent learning was attributed to brain building.

It all began with a personal evaluation of my academic levels and developmental abilities. I started this whole process because my sister was doing it and my mother wanted us to go through it together. On the day of my evaluation, to my disappointment, I wasn’t aloud to eat anything with sugar and instead I had to eat a protein-filled breakfast. After my assessment was finished Mom and Dad talked with Mrs. Bedell who then wrote a program for me. Every four months I returned for a checkup and an updated program.

The INP created just for me stands for an Individualized Neurodevelopmental Program. It was like a to-do-list of activities that we put on a chart that I colored in once I was finished with each task. This Monday through Friday school week had three sections: (1) on my own, (2) with a tutor, and (3) with the neighbors. The activities I accomplished on my own included chores, specific listening, and computer memory games. Math using fifty percent input, echo reading using a New Practice Reader, and Sequential Spelling using auditory methods were all done with my tutor. We invited the neighbors over for a PE program that incorporated cross patterning so the two parts of my brain could communicate with each other. All of these activities worked together to organize my brain, which enabled me to hold a job.

For two years I have worked as an apprentice for Jan Bedell learning many aspects of Little Giant Steps. Some of my responsibilities included interacting with adults, babysitting children, selling product, handling money, and teaching program activities. Traveling to Austin, Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio one week out of every month was a lot of fun. My flexible schedule was made possible by distance learning.

New College Preparatory Academy (NCPA) is the name of my school, founded by Dr. Kuni Beasley, who helps kids ace the SAT, and who is in partnership with Howard Burg, the world’s fastest reader. There’s an affiliate school, called National Homeschool Academy, for homeschool students. At the beginning of every year I spend about a week boosting my speed-reading, studying, testing, and writing skills. What is amazing is that I was able to skip from sixth grade to ninth grade because NCPA lets me work at my own pace! There are two people who help me in school: my tutor, Liz Sweet, and my mentor, Cathy Bankhead, who grades my work when I e-mail it to her once a week. Distance learning is a great way to do education.

What made my education the very best, was good schools and a fabulous opportunity to enhance my brain’s ability to learn. When my maturity increased then I was able to handle adult responsibilities at a young age and excel in academics. My recommendation for you is to explore neurodevelopment because they say, “It helps anybody with a brain.”