Archive for the ‘Gifted’ Category

 Development Steps Can Be Missed By Anyone

Little Giant Steps has many years of experience in dealing with learning difficulties in a wide range of I.Q.s and ages. Individuals, for whatever reason, can experience difficulty in one, or several areas of learning if their brain organization was cut short by not enough crawling as infants, or if illness, ear infections and the like detoured them from going through each step of development as our creator designed. The one thing for certain, is that parents with children who test high in I.Q. can struggle with certain areas of learning much like those who have diagnosed learning issues.

Paul, a gifted math student, was going through all kinds of difficulties. His mother recognized that while he was a very intellectual superior young man, he worked twice as hard at his beloved math than his younger brother. It pained his parents to see their son, with so much promise, making his way by the coping and compensating skills he was smart enough to develop. Finally, his mom sat him down as she’d been noticing the basis of math (math facts), seemed nonexistent. She made up a little test and discovered her suspicions were correct; they weren’t committed to memory……he didn’t know them!.  It was puzzling that he could do advanced operations, but still lack this vital part of math. She got busy and ordered a math facts program. It didn’t work. He just wasn’t “getting” it. She ordered another, then another.

Little Giant Steps = Giant Academic Strides

A call came into the office, and this mother who’d purchased five other math facts programs informed me our Rapid Recall System ( a neuro-developmentally based curriculum) had been recommended by someone to help her son. She asked questions about it, and then stated, “The bottom line is this: What will you do if he doesn’t learn his math facts from your program? Will you stand by it?”

I was very happy to put her at ease by saying, “If you order the first operation (Addition) of Rapid Recall System, follow the instructions and don’t see any improvement within four weeks, send it back and I will refund the purchase price and shipping.” “You must do the program as directed, how does that sound?” She said, “Well that’s the best deal I’ve had since all those other programs wouldn’t stand behind their product. OK, I’ll order the first operation, and we’ll see how my son does.”

Three weeks later I received another phone call from her. “It’s working!” she bellowed into the phone. “I’m not sure what or how, but he’s got it! Please send the rest of the operations as soon as possible, both of us are over-joyed with what’s happening!”

“What is your son saying is happening,” I inquired.  He said, “It’s just like all of a sudden I get the answers in my head like lightening…. before the answers just wouldn’t be there….. now I just know them….. it’s like someone turned on something in my brain!”  I smiled joyfully, as that’s exactly what had happened. The neuro-connections were now on and functioning efficiently. The information existed like never before. The gap was closed and his circuitry was wired as needed.  That’s the miracle of the plasticity of the brain.  Once it’s connections are strong and massive, the signals travel like lightening, and what wasn’t turned on, now is.  It’s what happens to everyone we, or parents work with those who struggle. Little Giant Steps’ founder, Jan Bedell, M.Ed.,M. ND. has created easy to follow programs utilizing and applying the naturally defined Neurodevelopmental Approach- a methodology that helps everyone and anyone who follows the easily sustained path as outlined within each program. The secret: Intensity, Duration, Frequency with specific adherence to the easy directions.

 

 

 

 

 Accidents Happen

Daily I write about improving the academic abilities through the use of neuro-educational programs developed by Jan Bedell and Little Giant Steps.  What I’ve not shared is that our programs works for those whose brains have suffered trauma.  Today I’d like to share a story of my granddaughter who has always been considered gifted in school.  However, following an accident that occurred while attending the State Basketball Tournaments, not only was her brain hurt, but we were concerned for her life, as well.

Kelsey and 15 other kids with their parents were enjoying the annual High School State Basketball Tournament.  They all were staying at a large motel with an indoor swimming pool, and most of the group were relaxing around the pool following a day at the tournament.  After about 30 minutes, the parents noticed the kids in the pool were acting strange. Some were struggling to get out of the pool, some collapsed once out on the deck. They called for help, then the parents began to suffer from similar symptoms.  It didn’t take much after the firemen got there with the ambulances to determine all of these people were suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning.  All the kids and some of the parents ended up in the local hospital.  Kelsey, my grandchild, was one who stayed there three days, because she was so badly poisoned.  She was sent home on oxygen and her parents were told to keep an eye on her.  She was on oxygen for a month. When she started to feel a bit better, she really wanted to return to middle school, as she didn’t want to get too far behind in her studies.  Within two days of school, Kelsey began to panic, because she discovered she couldn’t think, her brain wasn’t functioning, regardless of how hard she tried.  This went on for a few more days, and we saw her becoming more frightened and confused, I suggested we get her in for an evaluation with Jan Bedell at Little Giant Steps.

The Road To Recovery

We drove to Texas and after the evaluation we discovered our beautiful Kelsey, who was an honor student in her first year in middle school was only able to process auditory and visual information equivalent to that of a 5 and 6 year old .  We were devastated.  Jan steadied us and said she’d seen children with similar brain trauma come back with the neurodevelopmental approach, and felt confident Kelsey could be restored to much of her original state.  She was young, healthy (except for this incident) and had a devoted family who could help to turn this situation around.  Jan wrote an individual neuro-educational program for Kelsey.  She recommended we take her out of middle school for now, as it was producing such enormous stress and a sense of total failure on her, enroll her in an online school NEW College Preparatory Academy, formerly Gateway Academy, and daily follow her Individual Neurodevelopmental Program.  If she struggled too much with the academics, then just work the neurodevelopment program.  She diligently followed the program for five months over the rest of the school term and summer. She re-entered middle school and to all of our delight, not only was she functioning back to normal, but her school testing showed she was even higher than before!  Needless to say, we praise God for his healing mercy, and we were so blessed to have had the opportunity to work with Jan Bedell, Neuro-Educational Specialist from Little Giant Steps (Jan teaches through webinars, too).  We couldn’t imagine these program activities would give Kelsey back all she’d lost and more, but it did.  Now, I know the real power of God’s design, and what a natural approach to working with the plasticity of the brain can truly accomplish.  We are so very, very blessed!  Thank you, Jan and Little Giant Steps!  CJ

 

 Working With The Brain Pays Big Academic Dividends

“From the beginning, EVERYTHING about Little Giant Steps has been exactly what we needed. Jan Bedell, The Brain Coach, has been a tool in God’s hands to literally begin to transform my son’s life in a few short months. Luke has struggled from day one with an array of challenges from physical to learning (dysgraphia, dyslexia, processing issues and at age 9, he still was unable to read). Once evaluated, we began our Individualized Neurodevelopmental Program (INP) and within 6 weeks Luke was reading. His retention seemed to double, his tactile issues lessened and over all our son’s confidence began to change.”

Little Giant Steps has been seeing these kinds of results for the past twenty years with thousands of children.  Typically we see every four months a full year gain via academic testing.

 

What To Do When You Know….

So many parents come to us after they have spent years knowing something was up with their child and their ability to learn and carry out simple plans. 

* They knew the child was smart, but was not being successful in school.

* They knew their child heard their directions, but consistently unable to carry out the directive.     

• * They knew their child was disorganized in their actions, thought processing, and behavior, but assumed they were just lazy or disobedient.  The list goes on.

When The Light Finally Goes On

Unfortunately, all too often it is the child that crashes emotionally that sounds the alarm that signals “vitally important” and something must be done to help this suffering child.  In my own case, my son stated, “I just wished I was dead.”  He was smart, creative, had advanced skills verbally, could do advanced math…. but only in his head. His motor skills were about 4 years behind his mind.  With other families I’ve had to opportunity to be associated with their child had other symptoms. Some couldn’t read, even though they were bright and articulate. Other’s showed signs of intolerable behavior outbursts when they would get frustrated, or they couldn’t tolerate noises or were distracted to the point of being on every-one’s black list.  These were all kids that the parents suspected there was something different, but didn’t act until it became a volatile event that literally shocked and shook their world.  Hearing my 10 year-old son wishing he was dead rocked my world. I suddenly saw the depression, frustration and outcry from his soul.  He knew something was wrong and no one was able to help him.

The Truth

There was help for him, but I, as his parent, didn’t know where to look.  I’d been after the school to help him since the day he entered kindergarten, because I actually saw his distinctive way of interacting with the world when he was three.  His pre-school teacher and I even discussed it at the time!  The school said, “His grades are above average, so we do not have any intervention for him.”  The day he told me he didn’t want to live any longer… the school’s answer just wasn’t good enough!  Then came the resolve and clarity that I had to save my son!  I didn’t know how, where, or what to do, but I could no longer ignore his sense of failure that had been a part of our lives for 7 years, regardless of what the school told me!  So, I prayed, I investigated, and I educated myself.  It worked!  I found a neuro-educational specialist who evaluated him, created an individualized program to assist in getting his brain and body better connected (created neuro-pathways) and communicating efficiently. We addressed his eye-hand coordination deficits with special activities that created neuro-pathways, we developed better cognitive skills and most important, I saw this child… a messy, disorganized child emerge as a clear thinking, acting, and confident son that by age 12 became a phenomenal success in school, athletics, and was spiritually centered.

So what’s my thought for you today?  Here’s a quote sent by a reader of our blog by Jim Rohn. It’s the secret to Little Giant Steps’ Neuro-Educational Programs:

“Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day; while failure is simply a few errors in judgment, repeated every day. It is the accumulative weight of our disciplines and our judgments that leads us to either fortune or failure.”–Jim Rohn

I thank God everyday for the path I was able to find for my son. It allowed him to become whole, reach his full potential and bless others with his professional skills and service to God. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing him grow and become a very successful dentist, father and leader in his community.

The Neurodevelopmental Approach is a simple discipline when utilized each day for a season of your child’s life that reaps benefits beyond many parent’s wildest dreams, not only for those with special needs, but for gifted children like my son, and for everyone in between… regardless of age or I.Q.  Now go have a blessed day!