Tag Archives: learning disorders

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I've treated many children on the autism spectrum (ASD)and children with ADHD who have struggled with their speech. Many parents have told me that the speech therapy did not work well. Many times, a child with ASD or ADHD also has a right palatal weakness. If the part of the brain that controls tongue movement on the right isn't working, the child will not be able to move the tongue in proper ways. Since it's summertime, parents have more time for therapy with their children. I suggested last week that a mother of a 7 year old boy (who is doing marvelously with neurology treatment) bring him to his speech therapy directly after his treatment here. The speech therapist reported that "it was the best therapy session ever! He was like a different child. They even finished all the treatment for the first time with time left over!" When the brainstem works well, the tongue works well too. Then speech therapy will have even better results. Go, brain, go!

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Did you know that I check for persistent primitive reflexes? A primitive reflex is a reflex that is normal in an infant, but not normal after about one year of age. It is estimated that 30% of American children have one still present that should have been gone long ago. If they are present after their normal developmental stage, they could be the underlying cause of learning disorders and also things like wetting the bed, poor handwriting, lack of focus, sloppy posture, poor reading, fidgeting, and many other symptoms. When the brain develops in childhood, it does so in certain specific stages. The inhibition of these reflexes are a good sign that the higher brain areas are developing normally, each one during its specific stage. The inhibition of these reflexes are the cornerstone of good postural development AND then good cortical development. Do you know any children struggling with these things? Let's get them checked!

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I am happy to announce that I recently received my certification specialty in Childhood Developmental Disorders.  This umbrella includes many childhood challenges including, ADHD, autism, OCD, sensory deprivation disorder, violence, anxiety and dyslexia.  If you know anyone who can be helped with these challenges, please refer them to my office.  I will be able to determine if the child has a deficiency in a specific brain area. If so, my area of passion is to create neuroplastic changes in these problem areas.  I also give homework so that the child and parent have more control as well an ability to support and stabilize the treatment in the office.  I believe I am the only person in the state of Washington that has this certification.  Thank you!

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When we started treatment with this boy, his mother was very busy and wasn’t always following our homework. Nonetheless, we were seeing neurological changes in the office before & after treatment. I kept encouraging the mother, knowing that it was only a matter of time before she would notice changes in his signs and symptoms—because his pupils started to respond to light in a powerful way, as they should normally do. Most autistic children have pupils that don’t respond to light.

Within a week his mother noticed he wasn’t having as many meltdowns.

The mother said she had been trying to get the boy to trace letters of alphabet for years. Two weeks ago she texted me saying, “after the treatment in your office today, my son came home and went directly to the playroom on his own. This is the first time he has been self-motivated and the first time he’s ever gone to playroom himself. He proceeded to open a book and trace every letter of the alphabet from A to Z.” The tracing has progressed and within a week he was tracing the letters of every month of the year and shapes of animals for long focused periods of time.

Last week the mother came in so excited. She told me that not only was she noticing changes, but everyone around her was noticing changes in her son. She said, “We had a meeting with his aide at his school. Up to this point he has needed a full-time aide with him at all times during the school day. We have meetings every week. This week the aide told me that my son has been doing so well at school; he hasn’t had meltdowns for weeks, is listening to her, is respectful, and is doing his work.” She continued, “my son no longer needed a full-time aide, and as of this week is going to a part-time, half day aide. Also, we are part of an autism support group. Once a month we get together and I play with another little boy who is autistic, while another mother plays with my boy for an hour. When we switched back to our own children at the end of the hour, the mother said to me ‘I forgot that your child was autistic!’ I am so happy we found you!”