Archive for the ‘The ND Approach’ Category

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.

 Everything Begins With Gaining Knowledge

Little Giant Steps has many free articles that can give you insight into sound brain-based methodology to  assure improved learning abilities. The premise of this is that God’s natural order is perfect. However, in an infant’s early experiences, there can be vital steps missed, or distorted due to environmental conditions, health issues, trauma, or just plain lack of stimulation that was needed.  In the case of most of our children today, they are placed in seats, jumpers, walkers instead of having enough “tummy” time, which is how God intended for the brain and body to become neurologically wired for efficient communication between the brain and body.  If a baby does not receive enough stimulation to all the parts of his body (trunk, limbs, eyes, ears, mouth, muscles, hands, and feet) then they continue to develop, but they carry with them unfinished connections between their brain and body. Sometimes parents are aware of these “glitches” as early as two or three years of age. Some just think, “Oh, this is just the personality of this particular child,” and ignore it. But, typically these “unique” features are usually revisited after they get into school and it surfaces that they are struggling for some mystifying reason! These children also learn to cope and compensate in order to perform in a way the world is telling them they need to do, either by example or language. Some of these coping skills are very sophisticated and almost genius by design, but they all take additional energy (emotional and physical) to run. Typically we see the gaps showing up when they are in their first or second year of school. Some children reach the “wall” or limits of their coping and compensating skills at age 9 as the complexity of their curriculum will no longer work, therefore we see them “falling” off academically.

What Can Be Done?

First, gain knowledge of the problem.  I would suggest you read Learning Disabilities in our article library.  Next, read about the Neurodevelopmental Approach.  I would encourage you to spend some time with our videos.  Our Heroes is an excellent place to start.  Next is to understand what we have to offer.  Check out Evaluations Tab on our website.  Scroll down and you’ll find more videos there.

What If I Can’t Afford A Professional Evaluation?

Jan Be-dell, M.Ed., Certified Neuro-Educational Specialist, understands many families have limited resources.  With a heart for those who home school and have only one income, or for those who have different circumstances, she has developed two programs that can provide remedies from Tiny Tots to Seniors.  Remember, improving function by training our brain is always possible regardless of I.Q. or age.  The three programs to serve needs at-home are as follows:

• Early Learning Foundations (used in Pre-schools-Level 1, Kindergarten-Level 2, and First Grades- Level 3) typically for 2-5 years of age. It is also very effective for challenged individuals whether brain trauma, physiological limitations, or mentally challenged. This program provides brain stimulation, plus addresses readying the individual for reading, writing and math.
• Developmental Foundations- (used for school age through college) It is based on The Neurodevelopmental Approach and is beneficial for people of all ages but especially for families with children who are struggling academically, behaviorally, or with low self-esteem. The activities included in the Developmental Foundations program are a very fundamental level of neurodevelopment, chosen from thousands of neurodevelopmental activities proven to address brain inefficiencies. Working on root causes of inefficiencies, these brain stimulating activities advance many areas, from fundamental brain organization which controls what we are able to do, to increasing abilities in short term memory, as well as reading and math.  For an overview of Developmental Foundations benefits — click here.  Unfortunately, there is no “magic pill.” It takes consistent effort to reap the rewards that The Neurodevelopmental Approach has to offer. Developmental Foundations may be only the first step toward academic success for some individuals. Please see Frequently Asked Questions for more details.

• Memory & Motion - by Ruth Young,ND,  An Adult/ Senior ND Program. Keep It Simple ~ Keep It Fun. We are healthier when our lives are balanced and the confidence in our abilities is strong. Little Giant Steps (LGS) is an organization that has worked, for close to two decades, in helping individuals discover improved brain function, better long term retention of information, accelerated short term memory skills and most importantly a reduction in stress and anxiety that often robs our dignity and confidence.

 Fireworks is what we expect to see on the 4th of July.  In many ways  fireworks are somewhat representative of what happens in our brains when learning.  The fuse is lit, vital connections are made and a beautiful celebration of  color, light and sound fill the night sky!  Can you imagine if the explosive agents (connections) in a firecracker didn’t work? How much a of a bang  would you get?  Can you imagine if the triggering mechanism wasn’t installed correctly?  The firecracker certainly would never live up to its potential (light, sound, movement), because there would be no way for energy to flow properly so all that was supposed to happen could be delivered.  All the parts were there, but  weren’t connected so it could work successfully.

Little Giant Steps have been solving learning problems over the past two decades.  We make sure the connections are there so the best performance of the brain and body can happen! We call it neuro-efficiency when there is extremely high velocity of signals flowing through the neuropathways between the brain and body working in an organized fashion.

A child, teen or adult won’t ever reach their full potential if the “wiring” or “connections” in the brain aren’t developed and in place properly.  Your brain needs to be developed so there is organization and connections, much like the requirements in a firecracker. We are seeing epidemic proportions of students who are smart, but struggling and falling behind in school.

Can the lack of organization and lack of connections be fixed?  YES!  And quite frankly it is a natural progression  that should occur in the early months and first years of a child’s life, but for whatever reason those vital steps are being missed. ( See the article “Teaching Babies” for a better explanation).  Little Giant Steps neuro-educational programs are designed to provide curriculum AND embedded in those programs are activities that will organize the brain and cause enough specific stimulation to the brain so massive connections are created by doing these programs every day (5 times a week, twice a day for no more than 5 minutes each session!)  Does that sound like an exceptionally difficult fix?  For normal pre-schoolers, down syndrome, or mentally challenged we have the “Early Learning Foundations“.   For those older children (even adults) the “Developmental Foundations” will do the trick.  For those who have more complicated situations, then we recommend a professional Neuro-developmental Evaluation.  The important part is get busy.   Educate yourself, investigate and then get with the program.  Let’s get these learning issues dealt with so your child, teen or even yourself can experience being free from learning disabilities!  Let Independence Day have a special meaning this year, one that will last for a lifetime of freedom!

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.”

My son Will was officially diagnosed with dysgraphia in the 7^th grade by a public school diagnostician.  He had a post-high school vocabulary and reading level but wrote like a 3^rd or 4^th grader.  He was told that he would never be able to take notes on lectures because it would take too long for his brain to process what he heard and then put it down on paper.  Once he wrote something down, it was predicted he would miss one or two of the next points taught! 

Will appreciated the label because it was the first time in his life that he believed the learning problems were not his fault.  Suddenly, he could believe he was smart and that there was help available to get him through school with coping and compensating strategies.  On the other hand, I felt like the diagnosis was a terrible thing.  Would he always struggle in school?  Would he not be able to go to college?  Would he be unable to get a good job to support a family?

Shortly after we learned of Will’s disability I was helping to lead a prayer group in the home of Jan Bedell.  When I asked her if she had a job, she explained that she worked with children who struggled with learning.  I asked her if she was familiar with the term “dysgraphia.”  She shrugged her shoulders as she walked casually into the kitchen saying, “Oh, that’s just because of a disorganized brain.”  My jaw dropped to the floor.  The “death sentence” my son received seemed to be an easy thing for this lady to understand and to fix! 

Within a few months Will had an evaluation and two of his sisters and I went on program to improve our brains.  It was a busy four years that followed of doing what seemed like crazy activities.  I say it like this because in all my training for a Texas teaching certificate and in all my 15 years of teaching in public, private and home schools I had never heard of neurodevelopment.  Nobody had ever taught me about the brain and how to make it work better so learning could be easier.

Today, Will is a successful upper classman at McMurry University in Abilene and his two sisters are making straight As with an extraordinary online high school called College Preparatory Academy.  My brain is working better, too, because now my closets and cabinets are organized, I can remember a 7 digit phone number and I only rarely lose my keys or sunglasses.

You ask, “Could my child have dysgraphia?”  At Little Giant Steps we say “no” to labels and “yes” to hope.  We don’t focus on the learning disabilities or assume they can’t be remedied.  Instead, through an evaluation process and an individualized neurodevelopmental program we help our clients build new nerve pathways so their brains work better.  [It's called neuro-efficiency.]  Carefully chosen physical activities target strategic parts of the brain to improve organization.  Clients play auditory and processing games to increase their short term memory that results in global maturity for children.  For adults these games help keep the mind sharp.  As brain function improves, learning gets easier.

 Sometimes it is a gift to receive confirmation in your beliefs and an outward sign of what you know is really true.  Here’s one of those special moments I will forever be grateful for:

Little Giant Steps has been working with Autistic Children, Teens and Adults (all learning disabilities, actually) for over 17 years. I’ve seen our Neuro-Educational Development Program have tremendous results. But, Jesse, an autistic child’s journey will forever be burned in my memory.
Jesse came to us as an 8 year old, non-verbal little girl. Her only outstanding feature was that she “clicked” her tongue incessantly!  There was no eye contact, no acknowledgement of someone speaking to her, and her mother, Marge, would just continually have to position her and lead her around.  When I first saw her I suspected she might be profoundly mentally challenged. 
Well, just to prove you can’t tell a book by it cover, after she was evaluated by Little Giant Steps’ founder Jan Bedell, M.Ed, M.ND; an individualized program was given to Marge, and training was provided.  When we’d finished her session, I walked Marge and her little “clicking” partner to the door.  As I closed the door, a big lump welled up in my throat.  I was overcome with emotion regarding this child.  Then, I prayed, “Lord, is our Neurodevelopmental Program big enough for this child? I’ve seen it work, but can it work for this child?”  Jesse seemed to have so many issues and seemed so disabled.  I just stood there and wept for a few moments hanging on to the door.  For the first time I felt powerful grief caused by the doubt in my heart, as to whether we could be successful in setting this child free from this life-label of Autism.  I’d not seen a child quite like her before.  For such a case, could our Program work?
Marge & Jesse returned 4 months later (as is our practice) to be re-evaluated.  When they walked in the door of our clinic, she looked up at me when I greeted Marge. I thought, “Wow, this is a good sign.”  So, I tried to engage her.  She followed me for a short amount of time, but noticed the toys on the floor in the play area. Then, I noticed there was no “clicking”!  I commented about that, and praised her and she looked my way and gave an ever-so-slight grin, but turned toward the toys.  After Jan had completed her re-evaluation, Marge came into my office to go over the new program and make sure all questions were answered, as we embarked on the second phase of this child’s program. 
Suddenly, I was aware Jesse was peeking around the door-way. I invited her in to sit with us and gave her permission to play with the little tactile-finger toys that resides on my desk for moments such as these.  She came in, sat in front of the toys and immediately began to put them on her fingers and play.  I continued my instruction and review with Marge, when all of a sudden Jesse began to count!  She counted to 10! I looked at her with amazement!  Then I turned to Marge and asked, “When did she start to talk?” 
Marge replied, “Well, once we got her to stop the clicking, she seemed to start paying more attention to what was going on. Then about 3 weeks after doing the activities on her program, she just started to talk!”
“When did she start to count?” I asked.
“Once she started talking, we started to do the things you do with little kids and she just started to pick things up really well.”  Marge paused, her eyes dropped to her lap. There she sat in silence.
Disturbed by this lengthy silence, I broke in, “Marge, are you okay… is there something else?”  With that I saw Jesse scoot off her chair and hold Marge’s hand…. my eyes began to well with tears as I saw this child who had been so totally unresponsive to any living entity show signs of ….. of what….. of empathy?  Fear?  Upset?  I couldn’t imagine what was going on with Jesse.
With another touch of Jesse’s hand, Marge lifted her tear-filled eyes to engage my tear-soaked face and she said, “Jesse seems like she loves me for the first time.”  I looked at Jesse, afraid my emotion might be upsetting to her…. a slight twitch of her mouth gave me no clue what she was experiencing.  Then I saw her pat Marge’s hand and look her in the eyes just before Marge pulled her up on her lap, hugged her and said, “I am so grateful God lead us to Little Giant Steps… I only wished I’d found you earlier…. but I trust in God’s timing, and what Jan has given us in these past 4 months is a miracle and I can’t wait to see my little girl grow into who God has planned.”
With that, we got up, had a group hug prior to walking them to the door, and as I closed the door after our goodbyes; I looked up and thanked God that the LGS Neuro-Educational Program was big enough to bring this child a very far way from the child I’d met 4 months prior.  Have a great day!

Over the past 17 years, Little Giant Steps has seen the symptoms of Dyslexia be eliminated with the use of our Neuro-Educational Program!  If you think your child who has been diagnosed as Dyslexic is something they will just have to live with, then you need to do more investigation and research into how the Neuro-Educational Program can resolve the symptoms through  it’s brain-based techniques that treat dyslexia, ADD, ADHD and so many more learning issues at the root cause level in the brain.  Read what this mom’s experience has been, then get online and discover what you can do for your child to change the course of thier life for the better:

Dyslexia Testimony:

     When we came to Little Giant Steps two years ago, Timothy was barely passing 2^nd grade.  He wasn’t reading very well, couldn’t remember things that he learned the day before, couldn’t concentrate because the noise in the classroom bothered him and he was just really frustrated.  At home, just cleaning his room was extremely overwhelming for him.

     One of the first things we noticed after he was on the program for about four months is that he was able to clean and organize his room with little supervision.  It is like we have a different child!      

     Timothy has been back in public school for 4^th grade (after being home schooled for 1½ years and focusing on the Little Giant Steps program) and is making mostly A’s and a few B’s.  His reading has improved beyond our wildest hopes.  He has improved exponentially in every academic area.  His teacher said, “I don’t know what you did with him, but this is not the same child as in 2^nd grade.” 

     I met with Timothy’s dyslexia teacher recently because she sent out results of her end of year testing. Even though the report showed that his scores increased in every area, I wanted to know if this was satisfactory progress. His teacher said, “N o it wasn’t just ok progress, it was GREAT progress!”. She said he was the “STAR of the class” and that all of the students look to him. For example, at the beginning of the year he could read 15 out 50 words. At the end of the year he could read 45 out of 50 of the words on this specific test. She said most kids do not make this much progress the first year!!!  She said, “You know, he still has a whole year left in this class.” 

     Here are Timothy’s TAKS scores for this year: 

• Reading:  93 (only missed 3 out of 40). This score is one point away from “commended”.
• Math:  82 (only missed 8 out of 42). Because of this score, he will not be pulled out of class next year for math tutoring.
• Writing:  72 (only missed 7 out of 28).  His writing improved a lot this year and I know it will continue to improve next year.

     We are so proud of him and he is proud of himself, also. These scores are just more evidence to substantiate that the Neuro-Educational Approach (neurodevelopmental intervention) to learning is incredibly successful!   D. C. in Frisco, TX

When the World Doesn’t Understand

By Jan Bedell, M.Ed.

 When your one week-old baby is toting a pair of casts from toes to mid-thigh (congenital clubfeet), the world doesn’t understand.  When your three year-old doesn’t talk clearly enough that anyone can understand her, the world doesn’t understand.  When you spend more time at the doctor’s, occupational therapist’s, physical therapist’s and speech therapist’s offices than at home, the world doesn’t have a clue.  When your adult daughter hugs someone un-expectedly from behind, interrupting a conversation, the world thinks she is rude.  One of the hardest things about raising a developmentally delayed child is that the world judges and doesn’t understand!  My greatest joys and deepest heartaches are wrapped up in my sweet, funny, clumsy, first to pray, on the lookout for how she can help, hard to understand, gift of a lifetime. 

Since my gift arrived in 1977, I have spent my life looking for help and trying to understand people like my daughter.  The answer is definitely found in the brain. What is it in their brains that cause such unusual behaviors?  It’s in the “wiring” and my findings indicate that much can be done about the faulty wiring.  Changing the wiring is a topic for another day but there is something you can do today. When your “typical” developing child encounters a child who doesn’t have that same advantage, encourage them to be involved with that child.  Help them to see how they might help and that reaching out to this special child is a gift they can give. You will be surprised by the gift they receive in return! Blog with us about the special needs of the developmentally delayed population and their families at www.littlegiantsteps.com.

Today I’d like you to meet Liz Sweet, Neuro-educational Specialist.  She has been a home-school mom who has invested her life in the service of others in conjunction with the ministry of her husband, Dana.  Liz’s journey with her daughter is one of watching a simple Neuro-Educational Program with Little Giant Steps bring into being the true potential of her daughter.

Watch Liz as she takes you through her experience.  Liz’s Story

My son was 15 yrs. old with a high IQ and STILL had not memorized his multiplication facts. He was capable of understanding abstract math concepts, but was bogged down figuring out each simple computation because he did not have them memorized.  We tried everything imaginable before Rapid Recall System was recommended to us. I had actually given up and did not expect Rapid Recall System to work either. Amazingly, it did work with just spending a few minutes each day! He now knows all of his multiplication facts.   LS, California