When I was asked to use one word to describe my experience with Little Giant Steps, I said, life-changing. When our daughter started the program, she was highly frustrated, emotional, and her attention span was terrible. The only way she could focus on school work was in a totally quiet environment. She wanted to help and follow instructions but could not remember. She was also hyper-sensitive, we had to cut out all tags from her clothing. Megan improved two grade levels in math, word recognition and comprehension in one year. She can now read in a noisy room and leaves most tags in her clothing. Her auditory processing skills have improved dramatically. We know that Megan would have been given several different labels if we had taken her to Scottish Rite. We feel blessed that Little Giant Steps has given us hope for her future. Thank you and God's blessings.

T. E. in Plano, TX July 2005

My son was 10 years old, in the 4th grade and having problems at school (and other places), becoming too emotional in class and causing problems with off-task behavior. When he did get really upset, it took him a very long time to calm down. He was brilliant at some times and totally absent-minded at others; having trouble recalling what he had mastered the day before. Focusing on tasks for 15 minutes was a real challenge and his work required constant supervision for him to complete assignments. He longed to play with other children but would withdraw when playmates were around. He was hypersensitive to touch and had trouble controlling his hands. There were other issues as well.

We took our son to an Educational Diagnostician and a Pediatric Neurologist. Both professionals agreed he was a bright child with mild ADHD. One advised medication and the other did not. Then, I heard a talk given on neurodevelopment and what kinds of problems it can correct. It was as if they were talking about our son. We had our son evaluated and began a course of neurodevelopment.

By the end of 6 weeks, he began to be able to skip; he had never been able to do this. By the end of four months, he was going to the principal's office less than once a week, before it had been 2 — 3 times a week. By the end of the school semester, at about 5 months, his interaction with his peers had dramatically changed and he was not so solitary as before.

During the summer, he surprised us by swimming in a straight line across the pool (without any coaching). In summers past, he always swam in a curve, since one side of his body would not do what the other side would (3 years of swimming lessons had been unable to correct this).

This year, in the 5th grade, we have seen steady progress. Our son can now stay on task for hours a time and can remember much better what he has learned. He has not been to the principal's office once! There have been some upsets during recess, but they are much milder and less frequent than before. He is carrying an E (for excellent) in conduct and all of the staff at school remarks about the change.

Sunday School and Children's Church workers all have noticed the difference in his behavior. Even some of his classmates come up to his mother and tell her how much different our son is this year. We are not finished with our son's neurodevelopment work but we have seen such a dramatic improvement. This neurodevelopment thing really works! Everyone is a lot happier at our house these days. Neurodevelopment is an answer to prayer.

Grateful in Texas 03

This is working!!! We are seeing improvement upon improvement in Allison. She's
not My unreliable, unpredictable, immature little girl anymore, but has blossomed
into a very responsible enjoyable 14 year old! I have also used our experience to encourage so many other moms. When God is in the middle of something (and He is in this) the blessings extend far beyond what we ever imagine. Thanks for your ongoing encouragement. It makes all the difference in the world.

L. H. in Carrollton 8/05

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 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 so much.

Pam C. 3/05

I am happy to say that due to all the help you gave us, Baylor has transitioned very smoothly into the classroom environment. He continues to excel in math - he has a 98% average in Saxon 54. His language arts skills are also coming along smoothly. His attention span continues to improve - although he still struggles to stay on task. He got very good feedback from his teachers and I feel like we have the tools to continue on this journey toward being all that God made him to be. We so appreciate all that you taught us and I recommend you and your products often!! Thank you so much!!

Dea B. 12/04

My youngest son, David, was diagnosed with PDD (Pervasive Developmental Disorder) when he was 8 years old. He was in pretty bad shape at the time; he was rocking and biting himself, he had a very limited vocabulary and could not speak in sentences, he was having night terrors and he was depressed, and he was functioning academically at about a Kindergarten level. I met Jan Bedell when David was about 10 years old and we began working on the Little Giant Steps program and the process of recreating David into what I believe God intended.

Today, David is a happy, well-adjusted, independent 21 year-old and a shining light among his co-workers, community and church family. David is very active in our church. He has struggled for years with both expressive and receptive language delays but now he is leading public prayers and leading singing. The only medication he is taking is for his allergies, no anti-depressants. He is working full-time for the Garland ISD maintenance department and he loves his job! He has been driving for about 2 years and about a year ago, he purchased a used truck (with cash). He takes care of all the upkeep, maintenance, insurance, etc. for his truck; he makes his own breakfast and lunch every day, he keeps up with his laundry and buys new clothes and anything else he needs. He is still living at home but he is very independent and we are hopeful that he will be able to live on his own in a few years.

We have worked with David using the Neurodevelopmental Approach off and on for about 10 years now. We did 2 years of program with him when we first met Jan; then we took about a 4 year break. Then, Jan would receive some training in a certain area and we would try out her newly required skills on David from time to time (and David would take another giant leap in development!)

About a year ago, we started David on yet another program, doing all of the new cross-pattern activities that Jan had recently been trained on. David was very faithful with his program for about 10 months. After just the first 2 months, we, along with his job coach at the time, began seeing some improvements in David’s language skills; one of the last hurtles for David. He was picking up things off of the TV and from sermons that he had never picked up on before and he was also able to express his feelings to us for the first time.

Recently, on Mother’s Day, my 21 year-old “disabled” son, whom a pediatric neurologist once told me would never graduate from high school, never hold down a job, never drive and never live on his own…wrote me the sweetest Mother’s Day note. Here it is…

“Mom,

Thanks for taking care of me through the years. Ephesians 6:1 says, ‘Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.’ I completed that mission. You inspired me to do the right thing. You showed me how to express my feelings. You helped me not to get mad at certain people. You showed me how to love.

Thanks so much for all you do. I love you, mom!

Your Son, David Thompson”

My husband later told me that David came up with the words he wanted to say and typed it up on the computer and all my husband did was help him spell a few words. When I asked David how I helped him to express his feelings and not get mad, he said it was because of the “therapy” (floor exercises) that I made him do last year. These floor activities stimulated the pons area of David’s brain, and David understands that these activities helped him to get in touch with his feelings and to be able to express his feelings, as well as control them.

I thank God every time I look at David that He lead us to Little Giant Steps.

M. T. in Garland, Texas 5/08

Believe it or not, after 3 days on program and actively working to decrease Mazey's stemming (constant clucking sounds), she began to say more words and sing songs instead. Her special Education teacher sent a note home that Mazey was much more verbal in class on Tuesday. Yeah!!! Thanks for your support,

Sadler ,Tyler TX 9/05

Within just one week after starting program, our son (moderately autistic, severe language delay) was stimming noticeably less (particularly with doors and light switches) and engaging more appropriately in play. He is also much less ticklish on his feet and around his neck. This makes it so much easier to put shirts and socks on!!!

E. R. 4/01

My husband and I have one son who has been on program for 6 months. We home school our children. Our middle son did not start learning to read until he was 7 years old, and reading and spelling have always been difficult for him. We are mainly working on visual dominance, macular reflection, and tactility issues. I sometimes feel like the “Patch Patrol” constantly reminding him to wear his patch! And then, there are the dreaded “bug glasses” as we like to call them (pinhole glasses)! We have also worked on visual and auditory sequential processing, conceptualization, and articulation. At our 4 month re-evaluation, we were so encouraged with the results. We saw changes/progress in all areas, including a 2 grade level jump in all academic testing areas. I was especially thrilled with his improvement in reading decoding which is very weak. We have yet to see improvement in spelling, but I have faith that it will follow once his visual dominance and reflection problems are completely corrected. I am sold on the benefits of this program and so very thankful for it and the work of our evaluator. It has been an answer to prayer!

Jen B. 12/99

My son, age 7, was evaluated one month ago. He has big time dominance issues but praise God, the ear muffle and eye patch are working miracles. His emotional state has gone from constantly on edge to “go with the flow”.

J. S. 1/2000

Wow! Nate is really doing so well with academics now. He is learning his math facts, a new vocabulary word every day and his reading has just soared over the last few weeks. Now that his auditory digit span is up to six, he is able to sound out words phonetically.

The most amazing changes have occurred in the way he relates to people and life around him. We recently took a family vacation to Orlando, FL. It was wonderful – because of Little Giant Steps, my son was able to “cope” with large crowds, changes going on, communicated with people, and was socially interactive with people. He even found a friend at the pool – a little British boy that was his age that was there on vacation. A year ago, we went on the same trip (my husband goes to an annual conference in Orlando) and it was a total nightmare. Nate couldn’t deal with anything. It was an awful time. This time, he was just like any other “normal” child; instead of freaking out, he would say to me, “…mom, my feet hurt and I’m hungry…” which was a blessing to us. We purchased a behind the scenes walking tour Sea World – got to pet a penguin and a shark, got to feed stingrays and dolphins, we had lunch with Shamu, etc. He participated in all of it – an enjoyed it to boot! It was a great family vacation for us – thank you so much for helping us help him. I can’t thank you enough!

Cathy Wheeler, Plano, TX

My son is doing fantastic! He is just like a different child. Everyone comments about it; the speech department at the public school, our family, friends, etc. He is playing t-ball and is an excellent player. I wondered if he would be too shy w/ all of the attention and stimulation, but he is not having trouble at all.

The program was a lot of work and at times I thought I must be crazy for doing all of those things, but I wouldn't trade it for the world now. I am grateful to Jan and Little Giant Steps for teaching me how to help my child reach his potential.

M. S. in Magnolia, TX 10/05

After 6 months on the Neurodevelopmental Program this mother of a 6 year-old with developmental delays wrote: “Jeremy is doing VERY well. He's getting easier to work with. His attention span is increasing and he loves the Math N' More! He likes to listen to the counting CD while he copies his numbers.

This morning at about 6:00 a.m., he was awake and I could hear him talking in the monitor. He was calling out, "Mom..." ~ That was a first! He has referred to me as mama for a while, but that was the first time he called out to me to come to him.
He's using many more words all the time. A few weeks ago, we saw his old Special Ed teacher at church. She hadn't seen Jeremy for a couple of months. She was amazed at how he's changed. Her exact words were, "Oh my goodness. He's here, he's really here. He knows what you're saying and he responds. That's great." She also told us whatever we're doing it's working, so keep doing it! I told her all about Jan of course. Thanks again for everything.

Ives in Edmond, OK 8/05

Our son just started Little Giant Steps. We have been working his program as diligently as possible. I wanted to tell you about a “little giant step” I experienced last night.

At our initial meeting, it was mentioned that the adrenaline and cortisol in his body can hinder “sympathetic” feelings. Along those lines, I have never seen him cry because he was genuinely sad. I have only seed him cry when he was angry, had been disciplined, or did not get his way. Last night I saw him cry a different “cry”. It was not the out of control hysterical cry I am used to, but a quiet, sad cry because he was upset about something.

His little brother let our dog have one of his stuffed animals (a monkey). The dog bit off the hands and ears. Instead of first getting furious and mad at his brother (normal reaction), My son came to me crying about what had happened to his monkey. He was upset and very sad for his poor monkey (it was not a human, but at least he showed compassion for something) and he wanted to be held and consoled by me. Besides when he has been ill, it is the first time I can ever remember him acting or feeling “tender”. I felt like crying myself.

God Bless LGS and the work you all are doing. What a motivation I experienced to keep moving onward!

Allen H. 6-2007

A year ago, my 15 year old daughter was only able to do less than half of her 9th grade school work. I’d known for a long time that she was having problems, and I’d tried many different things to attempt to help her, but obviously, something was seriously wrong. Much prayer and searching led us to Little Giant Steps. We started the program with much “weeping and gnashing of teeth”, but managed to persevere, and each time she would go in for an evaluation, she showed tremendous progress. After one year, my daughter’s reading comprehension progressed from the 6th grade to college level! As we prepared to start up school again, my daughter told me she “hated” geography and literature, two subjects that we would be doing again, using the curriculum that she had bombed out on two years earlier. I tried to reassure her that she would understand it better, but she remained unconvinced. We have now done four days of school. She has already finished her literature assignments for the whole week and told me, “I even understand it!” She is also really enjoying geography. I thank God daily for LGS and the help that we have received from them!

J. D., Galveston, TX 7/08

When I was asked to use one word to describe our experience with Little Giant Steps, I said, “life-changing!” When we first met Jan, Jonathan was really struggling in his school work. As a 3rd grader, he couldn’t read well, couldn’t spell anything, and was forgetting his alphabet. He could hardly copy from the white board and his writing was not smooth and legible. Emotionally, he was insecure, shy and very down about himself. He hated school work and didn’t want to play with his 3 other brothers. As a home school mom, I tried to help him, but nothing worked.

When we first started the Little Giant Steps program, I was overwhelmed with all that needed to be worked on. The first 8 months, we saw little improvement, but he was making progress. After this, I made therapy the number one priority. We got up at 6:00 a.m. to do chores, etc. and started doing LGS activities at 7:30. That’s when we started to see big changes. In our excitement, we added two of our other boys to the progam.

After two years of hard work and determination, Jonathan is finally a different person. He is in the 6th grade and reading on an 8th grade level and loves to read! He is spelling and remembering. School is enjoyable now and he does very well. He can copy from the board. He is making straight A’s in 7th grade math and really likes it. He now laughs and plays games with his brothers and friends. He has become outgoing and confident.

Rebeca Bradley, Troup, TX 05/08

When I was asked to use one word to describe our experience with Little Giant Steps, I said, “freeing!” I knew Joseph was smart, but how he daydreamed! He had a hard time focusing and when he did math, he jumped all over the page. It took him hours to get school work done. Also, he would have little bursts of frustration with his brothers and was hard to reason with. I was tired of always having to keep my eye on him and everything.

After the improvement in his brother’s life, we decided to have Joseph join the program. Joseph really took the initiative and woke up early and did w hours of therapy before his other school work. It has been very freeing to see him change. At completion, he is reading at 10th grade level. He is actually enjoying Algebra and he can focus and complete his work twice as fast. He doesn’t skip around anymore. I do not have to check on him constantly and he is trustworthy to get his schoolwork done. He gets along so much better with his brothers and will actually reason out situations. He is much calmer, yet fun and still our comedian.

Rebeca Bradley, Troup, TX 05/08

When I was asked to use one word to describe our experience with Little Giant Steps, I said, “rewarding!” Joshua needed just a little help with his speech. He seemed to have a hard time communicating what was in his heart and his speech was slightly “thick”. He also was behind in reading comprehension.

He joined his brothers with therapy and we worked on switching his ear dominance. In a short time, he made some great changes. Just recently, he said he could tell his right ear was starting to kick in. Because of therapy with Jan, his reading has really improved; he went from 7th grade comprehension to 10th grade comprehension. His speech is greatly improved and much more understandable. He does very well in school. As a musician, playing piano, guitar and trumpet, getting that right ear dominant has helped him so much in many ways

Rebeca Bradley, Troup, TX 05/08

Yesterday Stephen was reading his 1st grade Pathway pretty smoothly & easily, so I stopped him. I suggested we try the 2nd grade reader that I have from Rod & Staff. He had shown some interest in it a few months ago, but it was too hard. I put it in front of him yesterday & he read 90% of it quickly with little assistance from me. Then later that night I caught him in bed with a flash light reading ahead of his "lesson". This morning he is at it again. Instead of doing his chart after breakfast he's in here reading to himself relaxed in the hammock!!! (I'm not going to stop him either!!) When he gets stuck on a word, he just asks me, & then continues on. It's really bolstered his confidence considerably. Just thought I'd share. I knew that you would rejoice with me over any progress. What a joy to see him reading cause he "wants" to! He is tackling the words he doesn't know instead of crying "I can't".

Thank you, God. Thank you, Ruth. I've waited 10 years for this day.

B. Sanderson 05/08

We are so very happy with the Little Giant Steps program. For the first four months, my 17 year-old daughter did very little structured academics. We focused on the Neurodevelopmental Activities on her program instead. At every question I had of “Should I continue this?”, her evaluator, Ruth Young, would answer, “Let’s just wait, it will be easier in a few months.” At our four month evaluation, I was shocked at the progress Sarah had made. Her reading comprehension jumped from a 7th grade level to an 11th grade level in just 4 months. A few days after the evaluation, I heard my daughter read for the first time since long before she started with Little Giant Steps and I joyfully listened to her read at an adult level for the first time in her life. Sarah has attempted Algebra on two previous occasions and I had just about given up hope that she would ever understand. After the four month evaluation, we started Algebra again for the third time and this time she gets it! She has taken 5 Algebra tests and her scores have ranged from 80% to 100%. It is like teaching a different child. Even when she doesn’t understand something, her reactions are usually much more mature. Wow! Thank you, thank you, thank you.

C. P. in Houston, TX 1/08

Thomas has turned a corner in the past two weeks. His emotional swings are less and his outlook on life is bright. He's cleaned his room nicely without being reminded a zillion times, and his "maturity" level has increased -- even his teenage sister is complimenting him and commenting on his changes. We are so encouraged. Blessings to you all --

S. 9/05

After just four months on program, this mom wrote: “Thank you so much for the encouragement. I did give Elizabeth a "high-five," and I could tell that she was very proud. She has learned to ride her bike and she is learning letters and numbers, finally!!! Royce and I see so much improvement in her. Thank you again.

Kemp-Sugar Land, Texas 6/05

I have been writing things down that Lee has spoken to me since we began the Neurodevelopmental Program. Some of these include:

• "I am glad we are doing this instead of E- Sylvan. This is more fun and I am getting the help I need."

"I feel like I am getting more things right because of my ear thing. I have more confidence."

Young in Texas 3/05

I wanted to update you and Jan on Will. He is doing pretty good in school. We are very proud of his grade averages so far : history 92, P E 95, Science 83, Math 77, Language Arts 91 LDC 100.

It has been homework every night and but we are so proud of him. He is retaining information which we thought he would not be able to do. He is really having to listen and be attentive and process the information quickly to be in step.

Again, our family wants to thank all of you for your support and help for Will. I know that Will gained much from Jan's input and instruction. I don't think we could have made this decision for him for school if he had not had the last 2 1/2 years with Jan.

C. W. in Texas 2/05

I am so thankful and grateful to be able to share this approach with others. It is so strange to me that so many of my friends have children with issues that can be helped by the neurodevelopmental approach. It was such an answer to prayer for us that I just can't help but share your program with others when I see them struggling. I am praying that the Lord will continue to use my family to reach others that feel hopeless and that are looking for an answer. The neurodevelopmental approach makes more sense than anything else out there. All of the testimonies tell me that this works. I will continue to share this approach whenever the Lord gives me the opportunity.

The icing on the cake is that you are Christians. When I first began researching for an answer to our problems, I prayed that the Lord would show me where to get help and that the people would be coming from a Christian view. I did not want to deal with anybody that would give me a bunch of mumbo-jumbo. What a blessing you all have been to my family! We appreciate your dedication in helping us more than you will ever know!

Beverly S. 10/04

My son, age 7, was evaluated one month ago. He has big time dominance issues but praise God, the ear muffle and eye patch are working miracles. His emotional state has gone from constantly on edge to “go with the flow”.

J. S. 1/2000

Our son came up two years academically in 3 months. The biggest indicator of progress to me has been that he is reading for pleasure! His problems are quite minor compared to what many families are dealing with, we were just frustrated at the lack of progress in several areas and felt like we needed an outside viewpoint.

Jenny M. 2004

I want to take a moment to share with you how excited we are about Miles' progress. His improvement of more than 4 grade levels over the last 8 months is fantastic! Thank you for your periodic reassurance to keep at it and your reminder that progress takes time.

For any of your other families that question whether continuing with the program has value I can only say, the change in your child may not be obvious since it is incremental and you are seeing him or her every day. Trust your initial desire to help your child.

As each of Miles' reevaluations approached I repeatedly wondered whether I should stop “wasting” our money. Was he making progress? Was this an exercise of futility? Miles has made a tremendous leap in ability in less than a year. The sense of achievement and pride that Miles enjoyed when he saw the results of his reevaluation was worth everything to us.

D. Young 6 /04

My 3 year old grandson absolutely loves to do his Math N' More each day. In fact, he would like it if I'd let him continue past the two pages you recommend. Each day he wants to do more. He had terrible ear problems between ages 1 & 2. He missed a lot due to not hearing and his speech was distorted. It's amazing how he's picking up in his speech now that we're doing some of the neurodevelopmental activities. Thank you for helping our children!

C.R. 3/06

I put the pages from Math N' More in sheet protectors in a large notebook. My three year old really enjoys working on the activities. One day I got some other activity books out that I had bought at the department store, my little guy said, "no mommy, I want my big school book (meaning the Math N' More notebook)"

K. C. 7/06

"My kids love the Principle Approach to History — Self Government! Even my youngest child, who is 6, likes to listen to it. I did not get the Teacher's manual; I just read it to the kids and we have discussions, most of the time we look up the bible verses in an easier version for kids. Thanks for the recommendation."

S. L. 4/06

"We were on our 3rd phonics program in one year when Jan suggested that we do Dick and Jane in a Flash. After just one session, he read pages 9 through 20!!! I was amazed! I wish we would have had this a year ago. I would recommend it to anyone. I am thoroughly impressed with Dick and Jane in a Flash!"

A. G. 7/06

"We just began using Math Facts in a Flash (addition and multiplication) with different kids in our homeschooling family. They go through their math assignments each day. Memorization was never a strong point with me but I can see this format of just a few minutes twice a day making a HUGE difference for my kids...and I am learning a few facts myself."

T.W., Highland Village, TX 7/06

My daughter was having problems with her math facts. She has just completed Math Facts in a Flash (Addition) and she's got them all down! Thanks for a great product! We're starting on subtraction next.

L. C. in San Antonio 10/05

After 3 months on Samonas Sound Therapy, I am happy to report all is well. I am noticing that my 17 year-old daughter has become more coherent lately. She is joining in conversations more and if she is having trouble hearing us, she is telling us to speak louder. She said that before that it was too stressful to try and join in and understand the conversation, she would just give up and zone out. That is gone, even my husband has commented on how happier she seems. What a blessing to see such positive changes and a happy responsive child.

C. S. in Dripping Springs, TX 4/16/08