Posts Tagged ‘Natural Solutions To LD’

There Are No Saints In Raising Children

Little Giant Steps is aware that traumatic events during early development can change to course of some areas of the brain.  We see this phenomena occur with our clients who have been exposed to verbal abuse, trauma and deprivation.  There are areas of the brain that respond to “Fight or Flight”.  When a child is threatened daily by an exposive parent who yells and hollers at them, their developing brains are impacted.  Typically, the result shows up as learning issues later on.  The trauma to the central nervous system is repairable, but a parent needs to be aware of the dynamics their behavior when it comes to younger children.

One way I can relate is, I still go ballistic over an event that is prevalent with children under age five.  What is the trigger?  Spilling drinks at the table!  Why does this send me into (as my son would say,) “The Red Zone?  I really don’t know for a fact, but I suspect it was something that sent my dad (who was no longer in our household after I was four years old) into a rage when I was little.  I have no recollection of any specific time it happened, I only remember the horrible feelings of “Fight or Flight”  he could produce in a heart beat. He had a very powerful demeanor and thank goodness I was the youngest and the only girl in the family, as I witnessed very harsh punishment occurring with my brothers. I do recall having a hard time learning anything during the tumulchuous time before he left.

I am not unique in this experience.  Whether parents stay together or divorce, a child suffers long lasting repercussions not only on an emotional level, but the development of all those connections stop when the “Fight of Flight” response is in play.  We all must be aware it is during the early years when the brain is  paring down all unused connections.  In fact, over 50% of the connections a baby is born with will be pruned from the system if left unused and what mother nature thinks is un-needed!

We All Have A History

The details of our history is not as important as the resolve to stop that vicious cycle that not only make us behave in ways we do not desire, because it has a critical impact on those little ones with whom we are to be an example.  If an adult is out of control, then the child will emotionally close down, but also learn to pattern his or her behavior after what they experience.

Several Ways To Go

First, just stop!  Counting to ten can be very helpful to get past that initial flash of rage, which most likely is way out of proportion to the incident and for the child.

Next, breath at least five deep slow breaths.  Get some blood to that brain of yours so you can think, rather than just react.

Finally, use your head.  Did the child accidentally spill the glass of milk? (Or, whatever was done that has you so disturbed.) In all the times I recall my grandsons spilling things, it was never malicious, therefore the corrective action needs to reflect a solution to the accident and a discussion about how you and the child might avoid it happening again.  In fact, it’s amazing if you will view this situation as it really is:  The child has a problem that needs some help in solving.  If you take on the ownership of the problem, nothing good can come out of that…. you’ve already learned how to avoid spilling things!  Understand?

Children Are Capable Of Solving Problems, If You  Help

Recount the (after you’ve gotten yourself over your rage) what’s happened.  Even express to the child how distressed you are, if you need to.  They can handle it, because they tend not to take on other peoples problems!  Then ask them to help you. Ask how they think we can stop the spilling?  Coach them to brain storm with you over this situation.  It can move you out of the place of just being in “The Red Zone” and releave the child’s fear of you and stop with the impulse of Fight or Flight response.  In fact, this kind of constructive problem solving can turn out to be a way to allow them to express their solutions very creatively.  Once, my grandson and I drew a picture together showing the spilt milk and what we were going to do.  It didn’t look like anything when we finished this “action” drawing, but he and I were both on the same side of the situation and solving something that made “Nana hit the fan”!  Try to be creative. Move yourself and the child into a constructive bonding experience, rather than an explosion which can last a life time!

 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.  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

 We welcome an ICAN associate to our blog today.  Cyndi gives great information, but develops skills, as well.              

        Cyndi Ringoen, BA, BS Neurodevelopmentalist,  Copyright, 1999

The controversy between phonics and sight reading has been a long standing argument. Phonics usually wins out in homeschool circles. Despite a strong stance in favor of phonics, many parents find themselves at a standstill in terms of their child actually being able to learn the phonics and then read. It is fine to stand up for phonics, but if you can’t make it work, then it is time to learn more in-depth about the brain that processes phonics.

The brain has two main pathways with which to process information. They are the visual and auditory systems. Each of these has both a long and short term memory capacity. It is the auditory short-term memory that I would like to address in this article. When phonics was introduced many decades ago we lived, primarily, in an auditory society. The children grew up with family dinners, listening to radio and stories of the old days from their grandparents. Children in this rich auditory environment had the opportunity to develop excellent auditory processing ability (short-term memory). Today we live in a very visual society-the likes of Nintendo, VCR’s, T.V., billboards etc. None of these things is necessarily negative, but it contributes to the development of children with stronger visual processing ability and reduced auditory processing ability.

Phonics is an auditory learning system. It is imperative to have a sufficient auditory short-term memory in order to learn, utilize and understand reading using the phonics method. So, if a family is convicted that a child must learn reading by phonics, then they also must provide the opportunity for the child to develop a well functioning auditory short-term memory so that it can be utilized.

 A two-year-old should have a short-term memory of 2, a three year old of 3, etc. up to seven years old. The average in our society for a 7 year old to adult is 7. In order to begin to utilize phonics beyond memorizing a few individual sounds, a child must have an auditory short term memory close to 6. If it is below this, you will see a child who can say all the sounds of the phonemes and possibly put a few together into words; however, at the end of the sentence or paragraph cannot understand what they have just read.

To test your child’s auditory processing ability, follow these instructions: In a monotone voice, slowly (at one-second intervals) give them either numbers or objects. For example: You say, “5…8…1…7” and have the child repeat these numbers back to you in the order in which you spoke them. The child must be able to say a 4-digit sequence back correctly 75% of the time on the first try to be considered at a short-term memory of 4. It is the same for each higher digit.

Children who have an auditory digit span of 4 may (with drill) learn all the sounds of the letters, but they will not be able to efficiently utilize phonics to sound out words. The reason is that short-term memory is a reflection of holding pieces together. For phonics to work you must be able to hold individual auditory pieces (sounds) together and then transform them into a word.

When a child gets to a digit span of 5, they will begin to be able to sound out words more efficiently. By the time they get to the end of a sentence and/or paragraph, the comprehension will be lost. It is not until a child has an auditory digit span of 6 that phonics begins being utilized in an effective manner. So if you are convicted to teach your child phonics, you must first exercise their brain and build good auditory processing ability. Do the above exercise several times a day for a few minutes; you will gradually improve the brain’s ability to process. Each gain of one digit is equal to a developmental year. It is an activity which will take consistency for improvement to happen.

To insist on teaching a child phonics before they are developmentally ready is to set the child and parent up for a lot of frustration and laborious struggle. Focus instead on using your time and energy on expanding the child’s auditory short-term memory. And some parents, once they understand the brain’s role in learning phonics, decide to utilize flashcards for sight words while they are building the processing ability. This enables the child to view reading as pleasurable, and then later adding phonics to build the reading skill.

In the world of neuro-development it is never too late, nor is anyone too old! Why? Because as long as we live and breath, the brain’s repairing ability is available through the neuroplasticity of the brain ~ a feature we are born with lives as long as we do!  What that means is that when we’ve suffered an insult to our central nervous system or our brain (it could be physical, chemical, or even severe emotional trauma) it can be fixed by utilizing activities that activate the repairing features of neuroplasticity which allows the brain to change. If there is disorganization (cognitive), or motor, or emotionality (fears, phobias, anxiety) all can be addressed with the new program called:   Memory & Motion.

Where does one begin to share about one of the greatest gifts God has given our family? Little Giant Steps has been part of our lives for almost 2 years and has truly changed our son’s life. Luke was 9 when he began the program. To understand the miracle LGS has been, you need to know a bit about Luke’s story.

From birth, Luke was not making the normal “mile stones.” Since he was our third child we knew what to expect. It was at his 9-month appointment we started a battery of tests to search for answers. His diagnosis ended up being mild to moderate Cerebral Palsy. The doctors shared that they did not know if he would ever walk or talk. Eventually, our son mastered both. From 9 months on, Luke has always had some form of therapy and he has slowly progressed. Then at age 4, Luke began to have complex partial seizures. These were controlled by medication. Luke went to our local elementary school and we were pleased with the care he received. But, he always seemed to take one step forward in mastering something, to take three steps back. We tried many various options, from repeating Kindergarten to trying more time in “therapy.” Nothing ever seemed to help…

In fourth grade, we moved and our new school was not able to accommodate his special needs. We were distraught to say the least. As we looked into other options, each one had roadblocks. Weeks before the new school year were to begin; a friend asked if I had heard of LGS. Unfortunately, we had not up to this point. Quickly, we watched a video, hopped around on the website and made an appointment to be evaluated. (To be honest, we had to be very creative in our finances and even at this point, God provided).

From the beginning, EVERYTHING about LGS has been exactly what we needed. Jan Bedell has been a tool in God’s hands to literally begin to transform Luke’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 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.

Recently, our journey has been marred with more challenges in regards to Luke’s health. Last year, he was diagnosed with a low grade, brain tumor. Sadly, Luke’s hippocampus was removed, along with part of his temporal lobe. We had to take a break from LGS and months ago begun the program again. While Luke is healing, there is clear evidence that his memory is hindered. Our hope is God will use LGS once again to do what no other program or therapist has ever accomplished.  So far, we see good progress.  I am not sure what would have become of Luke had God not placed LGS in our lives. It has done miracles in our boy…and we are forever grateful for Jan’s evaluations, Michelle’s constant contact, guidance, encouragement and Alyssa’s administrative gifts.

I was originally going to make my own digit span cards, and it never got done. So, I bought some (Digit Span Cards) from Little Giant Steps.

I bought some digit span cards. I love them. It is so much easier to get things done when everything is right there and done for you.  (Editors note:  We suggest you order a Free Test Kit to establish the current functional level of your child’s auditory and visual processing abilities. All directions are included with our products)

I bought the whisper phone- love it. My son is now saying Vincent instead of Sincent. I have also been using it with my other kids. My 8 ds had a hard time saving virgins (a bible quiz answer). Immediately he could say it correctly. Also, my almost 3 dd has been using it.

I bought some pencil grips -great!! Especially for my artistic ten year old.   I also bought Sequencing in a Flash and a cd. 

The service was very quick. I received my order in just a few days. (Thanks Jan)
P.S. Don’t forget there are a world of free information offered on their website, too!

www.littlegiantsteps.com ~ investigate, educate and bring your struggling child into his/her real potential!

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

“Thank you so much for the encouraging words and advice – it really helps me to stay motivated and hopeful. I appreciate this group so much.

FREEDOM

 And now…. I have some great news from my “neuro-program” boy… he learned to ride his bike without training wheels this week! Last year he just did not have the skills at all, but this spring he had picked up on his own and started riding his scooter, and his balance was so good on it that I thought it might be time to try the bike again. It took only one good head start from Daddy, and he was off down the road – he even turned a curve and came back!!!  He was so excited!!  He drove into the driveway, dropped his bike over, and came running up to high-five his daddy and me, saying, “I KNEW I COULD DO IT!!!” This is from the little boy who suffers with feelings of failure at so many things. And his sisters and brother were running along behind him cheering him on, and one of the neighbor boys shouted “YOU ROCK ISAIAH!” He was so proud and needless to say we were, too.

I wanted to share this with you guys, since I seem to share only when I get discouraged. I can see where his program has really helped his body awareness this past year, among other things. I am praying for more to come! “ ~ Selena

It is amazing how nature will heal, if the right stimuli and system is set in order.  Read about this child’s recovery from his mother:

“A couple of days ago we were driving home. A song came on the radio and from the back seat I heard, “Oh, this is my favorite song. I love this song.” It was Jeremy. The song he was referring to is a good song, but his words were more beautiful to my ears than any song could ever be. It was not too long ago that Jeremy would ride in the car with us and never comment on anything. He didn’t look out the window. He never said a word. Not only is he talking, he is expressing his opinion, and he knows what he loves.

Today, we are home together watching it snow. He is playing with his toys on the floor. The radio is on and Jeremy is singing a worship song about Jesus… another song he loves…. what a beautiful sound.”