Archive for the ‘Autism’ Category

Nature Plays A Big Part

It may or may not come to a surprise to you, but our children’s processing ability, short-term memory, and lower level brain organization is not up to par these days! Teachers are telling us, even day-care centers have contacted us, because of the “gaps” they are seeing in cognitive, language, fine motor skills, and comprehension difficulties in so many children! Up to par, means our children, would be effectively functioning at grade level. Especially their auditory processing abilities, which effects their learning ability globally.  Little Giant Steps (LGS) does screenings to give that information to parents and teachers throughout the State of Texas, and offers you a free opportunity to discover whether your child is functioning at grade level with our FREE AUDITORY TEST KIT! (ages 5-adult for the test).  Select Tiny Tots Auditory for Preschoolers. Little Giant Steps (LGS) has helped improve the lives of thousands of children, teens, and adults through the Neuro-Educational Approach. This methodology does not teach coping and compensating skills.  Instead, we work at the root level (foundational level) of function by following what nature has provided with the use of neuro-plasticity of the brain. We can change a struggling child labeled by the symptoms they display into an individual that functions at grade level or above.  We address the symptoms, we alleviate them and do away with the label and dysfunction permanently!

What’s Causing This?

I’ve said it so many times, mainly because it is true….With the invention of car seats, carriers, walkers, jumpers our infants have been left out of the required developmental stages.  Each stage creates significant neuro-pathways and connections between the brain and body. Developing strong connections is an important part of mapping the brain to the experiences of the body, limbs, vision, hearing, thinking, storing and recalling information.  God created the baby’s central nervous system to develop mostly after birth.  Initially there are just reflexes, and necessary bodily functions to live.  The brain doesn’t come with all the sensory system to manage all required bodily (visual, tactile, auditory) and cognitive (thinking) functions. The brain has to learn through experiencing their arms, legs, toes, fingers, all of their parts, sensations, and stimulation the world has to offer for the baby to grow and develop as intended.  Miss the foundational steps and stages, and there is gaps in function. Gaps that can be remedied!

One Of The Most Important Requirements

It is through the baby being on its tummy all waking hours that the grand scheme of development is to occur.  First, the baby must be allowed to “experience” the sensations, temperatures, movements, textures, pressure against its body, arms, legs, face.  It is in learning to raise their head the required muscles are strengthened to begin that long  journey to balance, eye tracking, rolling over, sitting up. It is through cross patterning by belly crawling and creeping (up on all 4 limbs) so the lower levels of the brain is organized, and eventually standing erect, walking, skipping, running, racing, playing competitive sports where coordinated thought and action can reach its fullest potential. It is in the fullest state of foundational development that the greatest abilities each person has can reach the maximum design created by God.

Jan Bedell, the Brain Coach®, has developed many tools and programs that will take what may appear as a learning issue, and turn a neuro-deficiency  into an asset of neuro-efficiency or “LEARNING MADE EASY”!  That’s what the Neuro-Educational Programs such as DEVELOPMENTAL FOUNDATIONS is all about.  It allows you, the parent, to change the course of your child’s academic life.  You can make things so much better for your child when you assist them to process information at their grade level, to have greater, faster, accurate cognitive abilities, motor skills (fine and gross), improved language skills, expression, retention of information, fast recall of events, memory, and mind/body integration with superior sensory integration!

Discover What’s Possible

Can you imagine when you can take your child from experiencing what it is like to be on a dial up Internet connection to a high speed line? Everything works so much better, the ability to function at a high capacity is available, and the brain and body can respond with full force in physical, cognitive and appropriate emotional response.  Leave behind the emotional component of frustration in learning, discouragement, anger, and lack of self-esteem, because all these symptoms go away for good!

   Webinar #2,      Be There!

 8:00 p.m. Thursday, June 14th, 2012. 

Register Now:  Office@LittleGiantSteps.com  Put Webinar 2 in the subject line, and you will be sent a link to join this excellent free webinar.  Here’s what you can expect to learn about:

Just like foundation issues in a building can cause all sorts of problems, foundation issues in a child’s brain can cause them to struggle to reach their full potential. Parents often wonder why their bright child has so many difficulties in school. They may even ask themselves, “Does my child have Dyslexia, ADD, ADHD, Low Auditory Processing or a form of Autism?”

Don’t brand your child with a label before exploring the “foundation” issues that can cause the symptoms you see. Become informed about how the brain works or often struggles to work. Learn practical skills that train the brain and unlock its full potential for a bright future for your child. If they’ve already received a label just know this, labels don’t have to last a lifetime! Learn how to make the change from “struggling” to “learning with ease”!

With All The Resources We Have….

Why, at this time in our history, when we know more about what an infant and developing child needs to gain optimum brain and body growth, many parents are unaware?  Little Giant Steps has been doing all they can to get the word out so parents can be raising healthier, brighter, and happier children.

What is most distressing, from our vantage point, is that learning disabilities have become an epidemic force in our educational systems.  Teachers are being more and more stressed by the wide diversity of learning readiness in their students. More children are coming to school with low processing abilities, disorganized thinking (which means a disorganized brain), and behaviors that reduce their ability to receive, comprehend, store, and recall information.

The Neuro-Educational Specialists know that symptomatic functional learning deficits are typically caused from early developmental insufficiency (lack of required developmental activity). They see in their daily practice of working with children and their families that these issues can be eliminated by doing specific brain stimulating activities with a child for whatever time it takes for the brain to develop the neuro-pathways or connections.  As one researcher states, “Those undeveloped (incomplete) neuro-connections are in the brain just waiting for the developmental stimulation process to complete the circuit.”

All Parents Need to Know

A child must have focused attention from the parents for its whole health, and for its complete and fullest potential to be realized. They need sleep ~  sleeps that’s recommended. Most of our kids are sleep deprived in our country! They need nutritious and balanced food intake. They need to be stimulated and nurtured by their parents.  They need to be allowed to be on the floor during their waking hours, from the time they are new born babies, until they have mastered the art of walking, because it is on their tummies that their neuro-musculature develops, their brains and bodies become mapped, so the impulses of thought and action, cognitive thinking, comprehension, organizing thoughts, processing information and all the many things for which the brain is responsible can be efficient and effective.  I’ve said this many times, but it bears repeating,”Becoming neurologically efficient is like going from a dial up connection on the internet to a high speed optical line.”  Both ways work, but the dial up line leaves people frustrated, with many items never being completed, and almost all, eventually, give up!

Please, if you’re a parent, take a look at the free articles we provide for your journey to becoming a well informed parent who desires the very best for their children, and not just give them lip service with good intentions.  You’ll be surprised how much you can learn and how much you can do to change the course of your child’s academic journey.  Leaving children in infant seats, jumpers, swings, high chairs for most of their day, is literally putting their early and complete neuro-development in jeopardy.

Little Giant Steps is truly the best head-start program ever.  Yes, there must be parent involvement, but that is at the heart of achieving the best parent a child could ask  or pray for.

Results Are Always The Most Important

From a client’s mom:

“He is doing so great.  I have a science test that he took recently.  It was so hard!  He got a 108%!  I was super proud of him!”

“This young lad came up seven grade levels in reading in 18 months from 6.8 to 13.8 (grade level placement scores used by schools) and completely maxed the comprehension in a year! He started out at a sixth grade level there, too! He’s only 12 now!  He did not like reading or learning before and after 18 months he loved it!”  ~ from his ND who tested him, provided him with a neuro-developmental/educational program, and then re-tested him every 4 months. 

Reports like this are not unusual from our parents and teachers as they watch children who are on the Little Giant Steps Neuro-Educational Programs.  They have the fortunate vantage point to witness how our clients change and become academically successful when their brains become organized, their processing abilities improve, and their hemispheric dominance is firmly established.  It’s not really rocket science…. it’s what nature provides (demands) during those early years of neuro-development.  Unfortunately, we are doing things with our children in our society that has left many of them with gaps in their neuro-connections, and the mind-body communication doesn’t get the developmental stimuli it requires.  Sure our kids learn to cope and compensate, but by the time they reach 9 years of age, typically, you’ll see them begin to suffer academically, as they try and have failed enough times their frustration and feelings of failure cause them to turn away from all that is good about learning. They can’t function within the windows of opportunities  given in a school environment. No human being does well with a serving of failure each and every day.

Now, The Good News

And there is good news!  Little Giant Steps is here to make sure those learning difficulties are resolved, eliminated, and a new confident successful person emerges.  Please look at how fast these children achieve proficiency in math, word recognition, and comprehension by reviewing these tests of our clients.  If you know of a child, teen or even an adult struggling with learning, then you owe it to them to send them to this site.  We recognize we may not appeal to everyone, but more people than not, after they’ve investigated what Little Giant Steps does,  how we work, they take advantage of our screenings we do throughout the year, and most just call to make an appointment to be evaluated, because they know after reading our articles; they have found what they need.

Just When You Least Expect It!

We’ve been on the LGS Neuro-Educational Program and know it works….

“I finally completed the boys monthly status report and I am mailing it out tomorrow, but, I wanted to share something with you that happened this week that is not on the report. Trent wanted to invite a friend over to spend the night, but we were in the car and the number was not accessible. I told Trent that he could call him on my cell phone and amazingly he remembered his friend’s home number, but that is not even the best part. His friend was at his grandparent’s home (who he stays with quite often). I asked Trent if he knew that number and at first he said that he didn’t, then, Trent said, Wait, I think I know it and sure enough it was the right number.

My heart leaped for joy. Last year this 13 year old boy was doing good to remember his own phone number and now he is a walking phone directory. Praise God!!!!!! We have seen other signs of progress after being on the Neuro-Developmental Program that I included on our monthly report, but this one was a dozy. I think God knew that we needed the encouragement to keep going and finish the race. Thank you guys  at Little Giant Steps so much!”

Little Giant Steps is dedicated to helping all children learn easier, process information more efficiently and create improved short and long-term memory.  We utilize what God’s provided ~ the neuroplasticity of the brain.  A feature that can create new neuro-pathways, stronger connections.  Visit us online for more information.  Also, see the research we’ve completed in public schools.

Jan Bedell, The Brain Coach

Twenty Years Of Success

Little Giant Steps, a neuro-educational consulting group, founded by Neuro-Ed. Specialist, Jan Bedell, M.Ed. M.ND. has developed successful programs to eliminate the symptoms and reclaim the function in the brain which allows for the elimination of ADD and ADHD (Attention Deficit Disorders), as well as many other issues in learning.

Learning disabilities have a set of symptoms that will allow diagnosis or a description of a certain malady or abnormal function.  It’s a “naming” process. At Little Giant Steps we are more concerned with the root cause of the dysfunction and addressing the issues by helping the brain to function more efficiently and effectively.  This may sound pretty daunting, but the fact is as infants there are certain developmental steps the body and brain must achieve in order to become and have the functioning ability as God intended.

The Cost Of Missing The Developmental Steps

When an infant misses vital developmental steps, then we see symptoms and dysfunction typically in their ability to learn easily.  Babies were meant to be on their tummies on the floor where their movements begin to map the brain, so as their neuro-musculature system gains strength and grows the functional ability of the brain can organize movement on the floor with gross and fine motor skill development and eventually to higher levels of function that go on throughout our teen years.  Unfortunately, parents bring their infants home in seats, and keep them in some kind of seat most of their waking hours.  SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) which began occurring in the 1960′s resulted in parents being instructed to never put their babies on their tummies while they sleep.  However, putting your baby on his or her tummy during waking hours IS VITAL if you want a full and efficient neurological system to develop the communication between the brain and body.  If you choose not to follow these natural demands of the human developmental requirements, then you will have a child who will be functioning very much like a internet “dial-up” connection.  Eventually you’ll get the message, but for the most part the window of opportunity will have closed, or the frustration levels will have gotten so great you’ll put the whole episode behind you or ignore it.

School’s Are Needing Help!

Typically, these areas of need begin to show up with great clarity when a child goes to school.  Why?  Because the demands of the breadth of abilities in a classroom require the teacher to teach to the middle of the ability stream, and if your child is on a dial-up connection and unable to receive, process and store information at average and above, then they get lost in the dust. The school’s are saying we have a Learning Disability Epidemic and they can’t address all the needs being required with such diverse levels of comprehension, processing and memory failures.

Learning Disabilities Is Not A Life Sentence

Schools, parents, and others have been sold a bill of goods that their child will need to cope and compensate for their learning disability. That’s a lie.  Learning disabilities can be addressed at the root cause level in the brain by retraining the brain, developing strong connections between the brain and body and neuro-pathways made to operate more efficiently. One of the first things Little Giant Steps does is to help organize the lower levels of the brain, which happens when there is sufficient crawling, creeping, and other vital activities are accomplished during infancy. Our programs work on people of all ages. We have a senior program called Motion & Memory which we use to restore abilities to adults and senior citizens who have lost or are losing function.  Our programs developed for children utilize cognitive, physical, and sensory stimulation to create what was not created at the earlier stages of development.  No coping or compensating is needed when a person is functioning with neuro-efficiency.  That’s what Little Giant Steps is all about ~ leaving learning disabilities and learning issues behind.  The good news is that it matters not whether the individual is gifted, typical, or challenged. All will improve to function at their fullest God-given potential with the Little Giant Step Neuro-Educational Programs.  Have a great year!  If your child or even you need our help, then contact us. We have free consultations so your questions can be answered and most importantly this year can be one of the best years in your or your child’s life!

Listen to this parent’s experience with their son following the implementation of the Little Gaint Steps‘ Neuro-Educational Program. After just a few short weeks on program, one mom wrote the following in an email: 

“We are already seeing progress! Edward (age 7) is looking us in the eyes when he talks to us and when we talk to him! This is huge, because this has been a point of frustration for years. We always assumed that he was more interested in TV or toys than looking at us, but apparently not. I was shocked the first time I called his name and he looked right at me a couple of days ago instead of looking off to the side. We have not changed anything other than adding his LGS program to our routine, so it is clear that the program is responsible for the change.  Thank you, LGS!”

Life Is Improving For The Whole Family

We are so blessed with caring parents who have the ability to reach out to help others. This is the case of Michelle. Let’s read her story:

INCREDIBLE CHANGES

“I am sitting in sunny Colorado as I write this. If you had told me 3 years ago, I would have been able to leave my family for a few days, I would have laughed. God’s grace is amazing. My family learned about Neuro-Educational Programs and #Little Giant Steps# in 2005.

My eldest son has #Aspergers# and at that time he stuttered.  The 1^st four months we were on program his stuttering disappeared. I think that is what sold me on neurodevelopmental approach.  My other son has #Autism# and my daughter has spectrum like symptoms.  Needless to say our house was a very emotional house.  It was hard to find a sitter because frankly no one could handle the three.  It seemed that everything set them off emotionally.  At times on program progress has been swift , at time progress has come slowly, but it has been incredible to see the changes in my family.  Our favorite #program activity# has been those that help with #tactility#.  We love fiddling with them.  Many an adventure in our family has started with a hand full of these.

My Autistic son who never noticed the world outside has taken to asking many if they know Jesus, or Do You have a relationship with Jesus?  His concern of others amazes me.

I am a mom with 3 on the #Neuro-Educational Program# and we still have a ways to go.  The improvement I have seen in my children led me to ask Jan Bedell (#The Brain Coach#)how one became a Neuro-Educational Specialist. (Little Giant Steps trains professionals, para-professional and tutors in the Neuro-Educational Approach/ Neurodevelopmental Approach ~ their website for more information).  What started as curiosity for me soon became a mission ordained by God.  It has been a journey of discovery from me.  I have learned so much about myself and about my children.  My prayer is that I will be able to help other parents whose children would benefit from neurodevelopmental activities and programs.

This journey has not always been easy, but it has been the right one for us.  God continues to amaze me as he places the help I need to accomplish my children’s program.  I am at peace knowing that though many miles away, program will continue and my children are in good hands.

First Step: 

 Get your child neurologically organized.

Little Giant Steps has been providing education for parents and teachers for many years, so they can assist their children to reach their full academic potential.  All learning begins with the brain. So, first let’s get the brain ready to learn. Everyone, regardless of age or I.Q. will improve in their abilities if their brain is better organized and neurologically efficient.

A child arrives in this world with many areas of the brain still developing.  One of the crucial stages of early development includes establishing the central nervous system so the brain and body get connected (we call this “becoming neurologically organized”).  When a child is neurologically organized, information can travel effortlessly between the senses (sight, sound, touch, taste and smell).  When a child is neurologically organized, his movements are coordinated and he has age-appropriate fine and gross motor skills.

Most children become neurologically organized without any outside assistance.  God designed the human brain in such a way that when an infant begins moving, the brain receives the stimulation required to develop higher function.  Infants start out with very random and primitive movements, and then, as the brain develops, their movements become more complex.  It is the cross pattern movement of crawling and creeping that is so vital to a child’s continued progress and development.

If your child didn’t spend much time crawling and creeping, or if they skipped this important developmental stage, there is good news!  It is not too late!  Young children, teenagers, and even adults, can benefit by spending time every day crawling and creeping on the floor in a good cross pattern.  It just takes 2 minutes, twice a day each for cross crawling (like an army crawl) and cross creeping (up on hands and knees).  That’s just 8 minutes a day, five days a week!  Make sure the opposite hand and knee hit the floor at the same time (this cross pattern movement provides the proper stimulation to the brain).  The benefits will amaze you!  Improvement can be seen within 2 to 4 months in academics, behavior, social interaction, coordination of movement and other functional abilities.  It would be best to do these cross pattern activities for at least 6 months to ensure that the brain has received enough stimulation to make these positive effects permanent! 

See you next time with Step 2.  God bless.

Setting Up An Academic Foundation Is Essential

Can you imagine building a structure such as this one, pictured on the right, if you didn’t pay attention to the foundation?  Like anything functional, there must be a logical approach to the beginning of  building a skill set.  God, in his infinite wisdom, created us to have a period of building that lasts our entire lifetime. He also provided a way to set that building process up, and it is called development.  There are natural rules that must be followed in order to have optimum development. Little Giant Steps builds solid foundations upon which the academic lives, successful thinking and living will be built. We are game-changers for those who missed some of those developmental steps, regardless of the reason for it. We are neuro-foundation specialists!

The Foundation Has Massive Wiring

The brain and body must function efficiently together through solid and massive connections in order for us to establish the foundation upon which our five senses are developed and vast functions are built. Our thinking, remembering, and expression of the world and all the experiences we encounter rests on the learning foundations that began on the day we are born and continues throughout our lives.  What science has confirmed with the availability of brain scanning technology, is that function can be restored through the use of brain-based stimulation that does, in fact, create new neuro-pathways and can eliminate the symptoms of learning disabilities by “developing” a stronger and bigger foundation with strong and vital connections. The brain is 97% connections and 3% cell bodies. When there is trauma, deprivation of stimulation, absence of activities that produce the required developmental cues for normal growth and development; we result in having gaps – unseen gaps in our abilities to function successfully in the academic setting or in learning.

What Does Little Giant Steps Do?

Essentially, we are foundation builders.  When a child is struggling with learning, or is noticed to be slightly off the normal developmental track, parents notice.  In school, teachers notice, but no one typically is quite sure what to do about it.  If more people would know that these deficits can typically be easily remedied; they’d do something about it.  It is my hope and prayer that more people will hear our message and will be encouraged to investigate the Neuro-Educational Approach.  It’s a natural way to intervene in problems areas.  No drugs are needed, because we work with what God created ~ the neuro-plasticity of the brain. Our articles are an excellent resource to start in learning, gaining skills, and most importantly, to do something to help your child.  Read them, please.  We also have DVDs if you prefer to learn from videos on our store..

If A Child Shows These Signs, Then Let’s Get Their Problem Solved

• Is your child seems smart, but can’t seem to be successful in school?
• Are you seeing inconsistent recall from a “bright” child?
• Does your child seem to know something one day, but not the next?
• Is he or she able to carry out directions without getting all confused?
• Is your child messy and seems not to have any sense of organization?
• Does your child consistently do things but rarely completes them or even knows they are incomplete?
• Does your child lack logical thinking ability?
• Is your child unable to stay on task?

There are many signs and symptoms that goes along with a disorganized brain, low processing ability (auditory & visual), and mixed dominance.  These are the things we can fix by addressing the foundational dysfunction.  To see how we go about doing that please check out our evaluation services and read the articles: “Learning Disabilities” and The Neurodevelopmental Approach.  Then look at the positive results of our programs in the lives of many children and their families.

Stop the struggling.  Investigate our approach to solving their dilemma. Set them free so they and you can discover their true potential.  It’s there, but the wiring is not quite working efficiently. Little Giant Steps can fix that.