Archive for October, 2011

Learning Difficulties Can Be Resolved

At this time of year many of us are looking for the right costume for Halloween.  Children get very excited about “what they’re going to be this year”.  At our house, it looks like the “Caveman” costume will prevail.

As I think about children dawning masks and disguises, I immediately think about those daily challenges children with learning issues hide or cover up.  #Little Giant Steps#, a neuro-educational consulting group, is all about eliminating the need for children, teens or adults to wear a disguise about what they are able to learn or understand. In fact, there is a name for this behavior of “covering up”.  It’s called “Coping and Compensating”.

Relying On Coping and Compensating Is Always Second Best.

There are programs out there, many grace the halls of our educational systems, that only teach coping and compensating.  Unfortunately, that is not the best solution for us today, in light of the research and developments concerning the function of the brain and body and how most learning issues can be eliminated if we address the root cause of the problem.  When I say root cause, I am talking about the symptoms that the individual displays.  How do you think our society decides on the diagnosis of learning issues? By looking at the symptoms.  Now the big brave question is; “Can these symptoms be treated at the source”?  Where’s the source? In the brain. Yes, they can and have been addressed through the Little Giant Steps Neuro-Educational Program quite easily, because we are talking about the root cause of our functional abilities, which is reflected by what happened to us as infants with our early steps of development.

What Intervention Is The Best?

What #Little Giant Steps# has seen over the years is by utilizing the feature of the brain called “plasticity,” specific stimulating activities that mimic early developmental steps and stages can, in fact, cause the brain to become organized at the most primitive levels of the brain (the pons) and can also positively effect the mid-brain.  It allows the brain to create many new connections not only within the brain itself (that have been delayed in developing for a variety of reasons), but also establishes effective and efficient communication neuro-pathways (connections) between the brain and body. Our programs have been likened by our clients in this way, “It’s like going from a dial-up connection to high speed connections on the Internet.”

#Little Giant Steps’# intervention methods are totally natural, no drug therapy needed, allows the areas of dysfunction and deficiency to heal or change and develop into what God had originally intended.  When a child, teen or adult reaches their appropriate level of function or grade level, the individual graduates from the program. The assist (completed development) that was needed to get the “connections” functioning properly has set the course for even more complete and total developmentally functioning brain and body are in order, as was designed by the Master of Creation.

Please see part of the thousands of children we’ve helped to become whole and reach their full God-given potential by viewing the results of our testing them on Math, Word Recognition and Comprehension.  All programs are done at ones convenience at home with parents, siblings, or (if a family prefers) with a tutor trained by Little Giant Steps.  We’ve made the whole process easy, convenient, and while you may be busy for a time, there comes a time when you’ll see your child (or maybe yourself) making progress in academics, coordination, behavior, conceptual abilities, and most important ~ you’ll see an individual who has mastered his or her abilities and now approaches the world with a healthy curiosity, and confidence to seek and enjoy the many mysteries of life and learning.  The need to disguise, mis-direct, act out, or create distractions are no longer needed. The coping and compensating that drains energy disappears. Life does not need a mask any longer.  And, as one little boy who was on program for the #symptoms of dyslexia# told his father, “Dad, I don’t have dyslexia anymore.  I’m over it!”  Now, the whole family has a new outlook on life, as what he said was true.  He no longer is required to struggle. In fact, he’s functioning above grade level! He is functioning with neuro-efficiency!  His mind and body were now working in unison, the way God intended.  It’s all a matter of  fixing developmental function for those at Little Giant Steps, and it’s the best life-long answer!

P.S. Please check out our Professional Programs and our At-Home Programs : “#Developmental Foundations# or pre-school: “#Early Learning Foundations#” . If math is the problem, see “#Rapid Recall System#” ~ you may what to check out the research done in public & private schools on this one! It’s amazing!  OH!  I almost forgot those of us over 18:  #Memory & Motion #.  God bless!

Little Giant Steps Knows From Practice About Learning

For over twenty years Little Giant Steps has known that all input of sensory information is important.  As is, sensory out-put.  The “System” our great creator devised for us is a total package, not designed to work best with just the Visual, or the Auditory, or the Tactile Systems.  When I first heard of the new theories about “Learning Styles” I was highly suspect, and it reminded me how in our modern day many with good intentions come across an idea, then develop it around a given instance, while fully ignoring the “rest of the factors” involved.  I saw professionals seeking to solve a problem, but in the process “dumbing down” the entire system, as a result.

What Is The Accepted Procedure For Strengthening An Area Of Dysfunction?

Physical therapy is what comes to mind as a good analogy that reputes theories of Learning Styles.  If you have a leg that is weak and not functioning as well as the other, the therapist would not set about strengthening your “good” leg.  No, they would address the area of weakness, the non-functional area and build it up…. because, as we all know, it takes two good legs to walk successfully.  The same is true for learning.  If a person tends to have poor processing skills due to #low auditory processing#, we don’t ignore the need to increase the processing abilities and just tell the person, “You’re a visual learner, we’ll show you pictures, work with icons, to help you get by.  That, in our minds, is called “coping and compensating” and no one will ever be as successful learning by implementing coping and compensating skills, rather than fixing the root cause of area of dysfunction.  All human beings need a good foundation for learning, and that means more than knowing the A,B,C’s and Numbers.  We must have an efficient brain and body that can work send lightening fast communication through all our sensory systems.  If we lack connections (neuro-pathways that can only happen by completing the required steps of development), then we cannot function efficiently and effectively when it comes to learning (Learning Disabilities).  We know students will learn better and easier when their weakened areas of function are addressed and made right by completing the foundational development that was missed in early childhood. Once the foundation is complete, receiving, comprehending, processing, storing, and recalling information becomes organized and efficient.  Which, by the way, makes for a very happy productive student with glowing confidence, because he knows what he knows and can have access to all he knows.  He’s not trying to use only half of what God gave him.

Here’s an article from the NPR Blog, by Patty Nighmond.  It backs up what we’ve known for many years.  I am so glad to see someone out there recognizes we are a “whole” system and all parts need to become as effective and as efficient as possible in order to learn with ease.

Think You’re An Auditory or Visual Learner? Scientists Say It’s Unlikely.

We’ve all heard the theory that some students are visual learners, while others are auditory learners. And still other kids learn best when lessons involve movement.

But should teachers target instruction based on perceptions of students’ strengths? Several psychologists say education could use some “evidence-based” teaching techniques, not unlike the way doctors try to use “evidence-based medicine.”

Psychologist Dan Willingham at the University of Virginia, who studies how our brains learn, says teachers should not tailor instruction to different kinds of learners. He says we’re on more equal footing than we may think when it comes to how our brains learn. And it’s a mistake to assume students will respond and remember information better depending on how it’s presented.

For example, if a teacher believes a student to be a visual learner, he or she might introduce the concept of addition using pictures or groups of objects, assuming that child will learn better with the pictures than by simply “listening” to a lesson about addition.

In fact, an entire industry has sprouted based on learning styles. There are workshops for teachers, products targeted at different learning styles and some schools that even evaluate students based on this theory.

This prompted Doug Rohrer, a psychologist at the University of South Florida, to look more closely at the learning style theory.

When he reviewed studies of learning styles, he found no scientific evidence backing up the idea. “We have not found evidence from a randomized control trial supporting any of these,” he says, “and until such evidence exists, we don’t recommend that they be used.”

Willingham suggests it might be more useful to figure out similarities in how our brains learn, rather than differences. And, in that case, he says, there’s a lot of common ground. For example, variety. “Mixing things up is something we know is scientifically supported as something that boosts attention,” he says, adding that studies show that when students pay closer attention, they learn better.

And recent studies find that our brains retain information better when we spread learning over a longer period of time, say months or even a year, versus cramming it into a few days or weeks. Rohrer and colleagues nationwide are currently researching what teaching methods work best for all students, but only using the evidence.

Solving Learning Issues Begins With Natural Stimulation To The Brain

Listen to a mom’s comments with regard to #Little Giant Steps# Neuro-Educational Programs.  LGS relies on boosting the natural features of the brain (neuroplasticity) that allows for change, repair, creating of new connections so the child, teen, or adult can think more clearly, accurately and with speed. An increase in the ability to receive, comprehend, process, store and recall information is all a by-product of the LGS Neuro-Educational Programs.(age or I.Q. are not a factor, everyone can benefit from Neuro-Efficiency ~ an organized brain).  The brain is actually 97% connections and 3 % cell bodies.  We teach you, the parent,  to do fun activities that can make a difference like you’ll hear from this mother :

A Mother Reports On The Difference She’s Witnessed

A year ago, our 12 year old son was using 1 or 2 word sentences and motions to communicate.    He also had behavior issues and lack of attentiveness that kept him from being part of a regular classroom.  After using our Little Giant Steps Neuro-Educational Programsince June, we are seeing amazing progress with our  son.  He is talking in details and wants to readthe ingredient lists of his favorite foods and record them in my recipe file.  We can hardly keep up with his flood of words now.

He is a lot more interested in people and has eye contact now.  We are more likely to get an answer when we ask him about his day at school.  He wants to play with his 9 year old  brother and neighborhood kids now.   We see a look of understanding in his eyes that we’ve never seen before.   This sounds just too good to be true, but it’s not.

When we finish the dominance trialin a few weeks, we are planning on taking him out of school to home school him using Little Giant Steps program as a base for learning.  Hopefully after a period of time he will have progressed so much that he can return to school and attend regular classes.

We have found Jan Bedell’s Neuro-Educational Program helpful where others were not.  For that we are so grateful.   Thanks, C.C.  Lubbock, TX

P.S. ~ If a Professional Evaluation is not possible, then Jan has provided a way for you to see amazing results with LGS in-home-programs called Developmental Foundations (5yr. -adult), or Early Learning Foundations (2-5 yr.).  Check them out!  They won’t disappoint!

A New Way To Prepare For Learning

At Little Giant Steps learning is be made easy! How?  By utilizing the most up-to-date technology where learning is concerned.  Where does learning really happen?  In the brain.  If a child has a disorganized brain, which unfortunately, so many of our children today have due to the lack of getting the proper (required) neuro-stimulation in their early months of life.  Why is this the case? Because, instead of babies being on their tummies during their waking hours, parents put them upright in seats where they have no way of feeling resistance to their environment and the fact is, all of the developing neuro-pathways that come about from the stimulation from being on their tummies are left in a state of incompleteness.  Therefore, the brain and the body’s lightening fast highways never get constructed in the degree that allows for efficient processing of information.  Babies must go through steps of development.  It’s a requirement.  They must have the opportunity to feel the sensations (rough, smooth, cold, warm), resistance, responses to their reflex actions, [which is how the brain is mapped] that can only come from having their whole body on the floor where they have to raise their head (neuro-muscular, sight, and sound), rock their bodies (proprioception ~ knowing where you are in space ~ too close, too far, etc.), digging their toes and hands into the hard surface of the floor where they push, pull, rock and roll (balance, coordination, beginning of locomotion coordination).  For more information on Teaching Babies, please read this article.

Symptoms of Dysfunction Tell Us Where the Root Cause of the Problem Lies.

For each learning problem there is a root cause that can be identified and remedied. When the brain and body are communicating efficiently then sensory input is improved and the learning process can become a joy. Learning Disabilities has become an epidemic in the United States.

Labels like Dyslexia, ADD/ ADHD, PDD (Developmental Delays, and Autism are hampering more and more schools from teaching effectively, and children receiving the academic success they deserve. These labels have invaded the lives of children and their families and have forever changed the landscape of education. Has the joy of learning been diminished? Yes, it has without a doubt. The professionals at Little Giant Steps are trained to utilize the Neurodevelopmental Approach and have had many years of success in making learning fun again! Little Giant Steps addresses these “symptoms” by using a two-fold assessment. First, using a battery of educational tests, a baseline for math, reading and comprehension is established. Next, a developmental evaluation where nine levels of development in six areas of function are assessed. This information gives the Neuro-Educational Specialist the basis for writing an individualized program. The program will address the root causes. The one common element in all learning issues, from our point of view, has to do with sensory dysfunction. Built into the brain is the element of neuroplasticity which is the natural ability of the brain to repair those areas that are deficient, incomplete, or damaged.We firmly believe that we can make a difference in the lives of our clients because we’ve seen it over and over again. Learning can truly be made a joyful experience that will last a lifetime.

Educate yourself about how you can make a significant difference in your child’s life, and see him flourish in school. Help him to become the whole person God intended, a person who can reach their fullest God-given potential!

A White Paper You Need to Read

#Little Giant Steps’ #founder, Jan Bedell, M.Ed, M.ND (Master Neuro-Educational Specialist) boldly declares a statement of truth that can ignite a revolution against old school ideas and can set a young generation free from dyslexia. Jan produced a “White Paper: #Dyslexia#, The Neurodevelopmental Approach” when completing her masters degree. In 2009 she created  “Dyslexia ~ A Workshop For Parents” to help parents understand what can be done to eliminate the symptoms of dyslexia. It can be downloaded immediately.

Parents Can Be Equipped To Help #Dyslexia Be Eliminated#

Hear from a mother who knows how the truth has set her son free. The Neuro-Educational Programsavailable through Little Giant Steps has many success stories from real families who know the truth. Knowing the truth about the root causes of dyslexia can empower parents and teachers to blaze a trail through traditional mindsets and perhaps stop an epidemic of learning disabilities that currently claims the lives of one in five children. Does anyone care about these disheartened children? Will anyone help their struggling families? Is anyone brave enough to champion a life-saving effort?  Jan Bedell, mother of a mentally challenged young adult, has sacrificially labored for two decades to work with dyslexic children utilizing The Neurodevelopmental Approach  and has successfully addressed root causes of dyslexia. She has set them free from debilitating symptoms by using brain-based, scientifically proven methods that she makes available to parents, teachers, and tutors. Dyslexia is no longer a life sentence. There is hope! It’s up to you to change the course of your child’s life encounter with his full God-given potential and release him/her from the symptoms of this disabling learning issue: Dyslexia.

Jan Bedell is helping families. Jan Bedell has produced a scholarly piece as a way to introduce new information and evidence about dyslexia.  She’s prepared an article entitled, “Dyslexia Unmasked” ~ a shortened version of the research paper.  If you wish to see the entire paper, please email cj@littlegiantsteps.com with Dylexia Paper in the subject line and I’ll send it all to you.  Thousands of families have been helped and are deeply grateful for your neurodevelopmental solutions.