"Brain Gym" Program ???

[Horst]

Hello All,

I am continuing to feel my way thru my 8 yr old's ADD - inattentive. I just finished reading "12 Effective Ways To Help Your ADHD Child" and "Stopping Hyperactivity" a book dealing with crawling exercises and STNR. I was intrigued by the thought of helping mature the brain.

Just yesterday I contacted a woman who will be evaluating my son and reccommending certain exercises for a program called "Brain Gym". Do any of you have any experience with the "Brain Gym" program? Has it helped? Or have any of you tried the crawling exercises promoted by 2 books mentioned above.

I really don't want to go the "medicated route" unless I've tried other things. I don't want to put a label on my son that could define his image of himself for the rest of his life. I'd love to be able to just fix this! I'm sure you all could identify! Realistically, I know I probably can't just fix this, but I want to do all I can to help.

Thank you for any information you can give me. I deeply appreciate your time.

Horst

[catatonic]

Horst,
You're probably right that you won't be able to "fix" your child's ADD...what you CAN do is control it's symptoms well enough that he functions acceptably without medication. We've done that fairly well, although there are some ups and downs, along with a few REALLY difficult stretches. "12 Effective Ways" was the first book I read on natural treatments, and I still think it gives a practical, sensible approach to using supplements and looking at other alternative treatments.

I was very intrigued by the "Stopping Hyperactivity" book. The whole issue of an immature Single Tonic Neck Reflex made a lot of sense to me. Unfortunately, I've had bad luck being CONSISTENT enough to complete the exercise protocol successfully. We've started a number of times, only to have something interrupt our schedule and send us back to the beginning. We intend to begin again when school starts and we are on a more predictable schedule. I think it's worth a try. I must say that we saw some improvement while doing the exercises, but whether it is due to the STNR, to the regular physical activity first thing in the morning, or to the very structured schedule it required, I really don't know.

With respect to "Brain Gym" -- I will warn you that I take a very conservative view. Educational kinesiology, which includes Brain Gym and Edu-K, seems to fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum which has "hocus pocus" on one end and "scientifically proven" on the other end. I wouldn't consider it hocus pocus, but it's not likely to be the universal cure they seem to be saying it is. I think in CERTAIN CASES, it could be tremendously helpful, but it also seems that they make inflated claims of how much it can do and for how many people.

If this feels right to you, it's probably worth giving it a try. After all, you are not going to hurt your child with this treatment.

If you do go ahead with the Brain Gym program, be sure to keep us posted on your progress and what you think of it. I'd be interested in hearing about your results and impressions.

[AustinsMom]

I have looked at Brain Gym, but my impression is it won't have an impact on ADHD issues as much as LD. One hallmark of LD is that the two sides of the brains don't communitcate well together. I think anything that promotes information crossing the corpus callosum (the connecting fibers of the 2 sides of the brain) can be helpful with LD. I think it depends on what your child's weaknesses are, and if you don't mind putting the time in to something that has no guarantee of effectiveness.

[Horst]

Catatonic and Austin's Mom,

Thanks for your replies. I believe I'll still keep my appointment on Friday to see what she has to say. But I appreciate you sharing your cautions with me. I'll try to go in with my eyes wide open.

I wonder if you would have any advice on what are some good questions to ask? I know I don't want to rely on just testimonials, but I'm not sure how to phrase questions on scientific studies...

Horst

[catatonic]

How about something along the lines of...
"I'd like to learn more about this before I invest my time and money in it. Are there any scientific studies you can recommend?"

I'd also want to know:
"Are there any published results I can look at on how successful this is with ADHD kids?"

"Do you know of any of your current or past patients who wouldn't mind me calling them for first-hand information?"

I'd want to know how long they have been doing this.

Ask for specific information on what the goals of treatment are in terms of changes to the brain, etc., and how they will go about accomlishing those goals, and how long/how many sessions it will take. Ask how they will measure progress to determine if those treatment goals are being met.

Finally, it would probably be worth a call to your pediatrician or neurologist to see what they think about it. I'd take any MD's opinion with a grain of salt, however, since they are often not receptive to any type of alternative treatment. They tend to write them all off without having much knowledge of them. Still, it's worth a quick call. They'd probably know through the grapevine if Brain Gym has had some good results, or if they've been sued, things like that.

I think the most important thing is not to be intimidated. You will be paying these people a lot of money if you sign up for treatment, and that really does give you the right to take up as much of their time as you feel you need and to ask as many questions as come to your mind. It's okay to leave without scheduling future appointments. (You can use the excuse that you need to call from home when you've got your planner/calendar in front of you.) Forgive the pep talk if you don't need it...but I always need one!

[AustinsMom]

Horst,

I am a strong proponent of the "leave no stone unturned" philosophy when looking for things to help my child. Austin has a LD in addition to ADHD, so I have done much exploration, and definitely not all of it with established treatments.

We have had some success with alternative treatments--not cures--but improvements. (vision therapy, LDA allergy treatment). We also did the "Stopping Hyperactivity" program for the first 2 segments, and saw improvements. We took a few weeks off during which my husband broke his ankle, which added a new wrinkle to our lives since he is the one who primarily did that exercise program with Austin, and we haven't started back in on that yet.

There are schools who have used Brain Gym with whole classes and have seen reading scores improve. I don't know about all of the research specifics; I know they had a control group design but don't know if there were flaws in the design that would have affected the outcome. My son's LD school is having a presentation on Brain Gym in October to look at incorporating it into their classrooms.

I think you could lay money on the fact that your MD will not be an advocate for it, and most likely won't even have heard of it. I wouldn't let that deter you if you think it is worthy of trying.

Good luck with your meeting, and think of me as being here cheering you on also. Keep us posted!

[Horst]

Catatonic & Austin'sMom,

Thanks for your support and great suggestions. We went to the appointment and I was impressed and left feeling hopeful. However, I didn't get very much time to question her as her time was very tight and she spent the session evaluating Andy. So I don't have as many answers as I'd like.

But she believes she will be able to really help Andy in math (his weakest area) and tells me that by using some kind of "picture flashcards" will be able to help him memorize his multiplication facts very easily. Considering the trials and tribulations addition and subtraction have put us thru, that sounds too good to be true - and maybe it is, but maybe it will work.

I did get a chance to question her about how many sessions she thinks Andy will need - and she thought 7 or 8 would do it. That is only about $200 plus all the time I spend working with him at home. Now $200 isn't chump change to us, but I've probably already spent that on ADHD info books and vit/mineral supplements. I guess I figure it's worth a shot.

We shall see! Again thanks for your help and I'll let you know if I think it is helping my son.

Horst

[Horst]

I just wanted to let you know that I truly believe I have seen improvement in my son from the Brain Gym program. Specifically in handwritting, some math, but mostly in his ability to concentrate.

Everything isn't "fixed" but I am very encouraged and would reccomend that it is worth a try.

[catatonic]

Thanks for sharing your results. I'm so glad to hear this is working for you. Are you using other treatments with it, or have you noticed these changes solely from the Brain Gym?

[Horst]

Catatonic,

Thanks for asking... the only other thing I've been doing differently is the Omega 3 supplaments and magnesium (when I remember to add the liquid mag. to his milk).

I do notice a definite difference when he is off the Omega 3 and it is not my imagination! Twice now Andy has been sneaking his "fish pills" into the trash for a period of about a week. I couldn't understand why all of a sudden he was not being able to perform tasks I thought he had conquered. After investigation, I found out about the trashed fish pills. A few days after starting them again, he's back on track. I'm so glad you have shared about the Omega 3 deficency, it makes a big difference in my son.

The only drawback is that he sometimes smells "fishy", like on really hot days. Has that ever happened to somebody else? I wonder if it has something to do with the fact that he pops the pill in his mouth and then swallows it instead of swallowing it whole. He isn't good with swallowing pills and would rather do that than swallow. (personally, I don't think I could stand the taste - guess he doesn't like it either, hence the trash!) Any way I have explained to him as kindly as I could that fish pills are very important for his brain to worth the best it can - so I hope to find no more pills in the trash!

To sum it all up, brain gym has been helpful and Omega 3 is beyond a doubt working.

[rosyred45]

Glad to see your getting back on track Horst, now just remember to check the trash when he is having an off day