of remediation? Before the format of this board changed there were some folks who did things like IM, PACE & Neuronet, but it seems like the posts have dwindled.
Well, I’ll pose my question anyway….
My son, age 9, has been in a program since Feb. that is similar to what I’ve read about Neuronet or Balametrics or even Dore. It’s not a chain or franchise, though, just a local center. The program is supposed to help w/adhd and LD, but we put ds in it mainly for motor skills as he is dyspraxic. It would be nice to see improvement in other areas, too, though.
Anyway, it is working! It seems miraculous, since he’s had years upon years of PT and OT and progressed at a snail’s pace.
He can now do a number of things he could not do *at all* a few months ago, including catching a ball! His body is just so much more coordinated. Before he was one of those people who could not walk and chew gum at the same time. It’s getting so much better, though of course he has a ways to go.
My question is for those who’ve done similar interventions, is there a progression in how the improvement happens? I seem to recall reading somewhere that gross motor improves first, then fine motor and then other issues. But now I can’t find that reference anywhere.
Donna
Re: Anybody here whose had success w/alternative types (m)
The developmental model I use is the pyramid. Sensory-level development is the bottom layer, which you want solid because everything above is dependent on it. Sensory-level development includes motor, vision (visual efficiency skills such as convergence and accommodation) and auditory.
The next layer of development is cognitive skills. These include attention, visual and auditory sequencing, visual and auditory short-term memory, pattern recognition, logic and reasoning, working memory, etc. This is the middle layer of the pyramid.
The peak of the pyramid is academic learning. Ease of academic learning depends on all of the layers below.
With this model of development, you basically focus on sensory-level therapies first in order to reduce sensory-level deficits as much as possible. Once that has been achieved, you work on optimizing cognitive skills development. (Programs such as Audiblox, BrainSkills and PACE work on this level.)
In this progression, academic remediation is the very last step. Theoretically, if gaps in the foundation of the pyrmiad have been filled in by means of appropriate therapies, academic learning will have become much easier and remediation will go faster and be more complete.
Nancy2
Re: Anybody here whose had success w/alternative types (m)
Nancy3,
Where would you put IM into this pyramid because it works in brain timing which then is supposed to help with the focus, attention, motor planning and sequencing. I have a child working in VT and am placing him in IM this summer because we cannot do both during the school year. Is it a waste of time and money to work on this therapy before the convergence and accommodation is take care of?
I see my son struggle with the use of the metronome on all activities. I see him struggle on the body work the doctor is doing as part of the VT. It is improving and we were doing balametrics at home for a while but life took over for a while. I believe there has to be a balance between school, social, and remediation.
To Others,
Thanks for all of the great information.
Always Wondering….
Re: Anybody here whose had success w/alternative types (m)
Yes I have.
For my dyslexia I did the Dore program and it worked. since then I have run a blog about dyslexia, adhd and autism focusing on alternative (non-reading / academic) based approaches to these problems.
On [url=http://www.Myomancy.com]Myomancy[/url] you can find the latest news and the scientific background of these treatments.
I also run the [url=http://treatment.Myomancy.com]Myomancy Treatment Database[url]. This covers every treatment, mainstream and alternative, for dyslexia and ADHD on the net.
Chris
Okay, thanks everyone (m)
I am sure I don’t have to tell you how wonderful it is to see my son’s progress lately. On the one hand, it gives me hope he’ll continue to move up the pyramid, as Nancy described it. OTOH, I sometimes think it is too good to be true…so having the feedback is priceless.
Chris/Tregenza, I’ve checked out your website. It’s awesome! You must work very hard at it so kudos to you & thanks.
Donna
Re: Anybody here whose had success w/alternative types (m)
Sorry, I didn’t see the question earlier.
I would place IM in the sensory-level category. It would be fine to do IM before all of the vision therapy is finished. IM can be done with auditory feedback alone. IM is usually very helpful for motor planning. The only time I heard that IM didn’t help was with a youngster who had severe unremediated SID.
Nancy
Re: Anybody here whose had success w/alternative types (m)
No problem, Nancy3. I assumed you were on vacation or something. You have always been wonderful about following up.
I’m hoping to see some improvement in handwriting, sequencing of information when speaking, body timing, and improved sustained concentration. We will see what we get….
Hi Donna,
No doubt Gross motor skills are the basis, which is evident in babies.
Yet, it really works in a mutual process. Where development in one, supports further development in the other, and on it goes.
Geoff.