| Male child From Brain Gym Instructor: Gillian Hindshaw Report supplied by Sean’s mother: “Brain Gym Enhances Quality of Life Sean is my 12-year-old son who has a specific learning difficulty, he is severely dyslexic demonstrating the typical signs of dyslexia, particularly with his schoolwork. Dyslexia not only affected him in the world of academia , but also spilt over into his social world, as it is not organic and does not see or feel boundaries. For instance, he was always losing equipment or clothing, or forgetting instructions that were given to him by adults. Sean’s world was full of negativity and I just could not protect him from it all. ‘Sean don’t forget your football kit, and have you found your boots yet?’. ‘I thought I reminded you about your geography homework yesterday!’. ‘Mr King said you should remember to bring it in yourself…’. The list goes on and on … I would attend a parents evening or receive a report and typically it would say, ‘Sean does not concentrate in the classroom’. ‘Sean is lazy he could try harder’. Out of this cocktail of negativity low-self esteem and frustration began to brew, and I knew I had to do something and quickly. For a year I floundered from one recommendation to another, trying all sorts of ‘miracle cures’ some of which did work, but the improvement would quickly plateau and then trail off. I changed Sean’s school thinking that an environment with lots of sport and pastoral care would at least give him a boost. Again this worked, but it was limited, and again I had to find something else. The school recommended Sean to attend kinesiology (brain gym) with Gillian Hindshaw in North Leigh. Sean was eight years old by this time. I took him along to see Gillian and this was the start of a long and successful relationship, with Sean having approximately five to six sessions a year. Sean responds well to brain gym. For example, Sean was anxious when he held a book therefore this anxiety wouldn’t allow him to relax with reading matter. I did not even realise that just the act of holding a book caused Sean a problem. Gillian works directly with Sean’s brain to seek out what requirements are needed to make his life easier. Sean will sometimes think a particular improvement and request this (at his last session he thought it should be his cricket techniques – even though there was six months before the season started again). Fortunately his brain’s priorities were different otherwise I could see the list growing (rugby, football etc.). Having said this, sometimes it is fairly obvious to see what help Sean needs because he can struggle and at these times his brain tends to agree. Over the past four years Gillian has worked with Sean on both his academic and social life and as you can imagine the list is fairly long. So it’s not the details of these sessions that I am concerned about here, as everyone is individual and therefore it is tailored around these needs. Instead I would like to explain the enhancement to Sean’s quality of life that brain gym has achieved. I have seen phenomenal changes regarding Sean’s academic and social life. The academic is now being accepted into Sean’s long-term memory and he can retrieve it weeks later and understand the schoolwork much better. Pathways in Sean’s brain have been cleared which were once closed off. He is much more proactive and confident within classes. Ultimately Sean is happy and has high self-esteem and this attitude allows him to relax and not be so frustrated. I know that I will be taking Sean to Gillian for the rest of his school life (and probably beyond). I am so happy to do this with the knowledge that it works! Sean is no longer overwhelmed with life and is surrounded by ‘much improved, keep up the good work’. He looks and acts so together and is no longer so confused and overwhelmed.” Male child From Brain Gym Instructor: Buffy McClelland PhD S was aged 9 in 2005 when his mother brought him to me for help with a variety of problems. He had recurrent daydreams like waking nightmares, had a very poor memory, had difficulty in concentrating and was very distractible. His handwriting, spelling and organisation were poor. He was receiving learning support at school. After 4 sessions, his mother described S as a different child. Everything except handwriting had improved. His school reports showed significant and consistent improvement, and he was much more confident. We went on to complete 10 Brain Gym balances in total over 10 months. During this time, S's school test results were greatly improved, his reading much better, the horrible thoughts stopped, S no longer needed to play the clown to attract attention, he gained an outstanding mark for history, and he was much better at sports. His mother also reported that the irritating mouth noises that he continuously made had spontaneously stopped, to the relief of his family! Now, in 2008, his mother reports that everything is falling into place academically. He has done well at the common entrance exam and has been accepted into the senior school he wants to attend. His spelling has improved dramatically. Most importantly, he is now happy and confident in himself. Male child From Brain Gym Instructor: Gillian Hindshaw Report supplied by Nadine C (Luke’s Nanny - surnames supplied): “We cannot believe the improvement in Luke since having the Brain Gym sessions with Gillian. Luke has Dyspraxia and would struggle with everyday tasks in life and since going to Gillian (Brain Gym) he is succeeding so much more. He is so much more confident in things he does and is communicating so much easier. Luke’s maths has improved and is going from strength to strength. Over the last few sessions we have been working on swimming which has greatly improved. Luke loves his sport and Brain Gym has helped with his tennis also. Because of Brain Gym we feel Luke has made huge improvements academically and socially. It has helped him calm down within his class environment and interact with his peers much better. We are very grateful for all of Gillian’s hard work and would highly recommend Brain Gym for any child that is struggling.” Male child From Brain Gym Instructor: Buffy McClelland PhD R was 7 in 2007 when his mother brought him to me for Brain Gym. He is mildly to moderately autistic, and was struggling at the mainstream school he attends. He had a low threshold of attention, found it difficult to join in with others in school activities and had rather poor language skills. He was unable to do handwriting at all due to a very poor pencil grip. We did six short sessions of modified Brain Gym, simplified to make it easier for him. By the fourth session, his school was reporting dramatic improvements in language since he started Brain Gym. They commented that R was improving at twice the rate of the other children in his class. After the second session, R expressed an interest in writing on the computer, which he had resisted up to that point. His teaching assistant sat down with him, discussed what he wanted to say, R then typed it independently on the computer, the assistant then verified what he had said, and wrote his intended words underneath. Here are two examples, showing his dramatic progress over a few weeks (the assistant's transcription of R's words are in italics). First attempt 12th June: On snb I w t s f. M sh h f p a a btf. I w on th b cs. T ws a ht sn da. On Sunday, I went to the school fayre. My sister had her face painted as a butterfly. I went on the bouncy castle. It was a hot sunny day. Attempt on 17th July (5 weeks after first attempt): Yestday wos spts day at m scol. My favort evet wos the runi and jumpi ov the hudls. Yesterday was sports day at my school. My favourite event was the running and jumping over the hurdles. His mother also reported that R was now enjoying painting and colouring in, was joining in much more with other children at school, and was able to work in a group for the first time. He also wanted to do his homework (a new breakthrough)! His school were really pleased with his progress. Now, in 2008, his mother reports that his gross motor skills (especially balance) are drastically improved, and he's now tearing around (without stabilisers) on a bike that he totally rejected a year ago as being “too hard”. She said this was "Something I never thought I'd see!! We set up a slalem in our close at the weekend, and he was weaving in and out of a row of (toy) road cones every bit as well has our neighbour's son (who is a year older)." Male child From Brain Gym Instructor: Ghislaine Freedman Little boy A., a low achieving autistic, first came to me 3 years ago. He was aggressive, holding on to his ears to block out noise and bear walking, on the inside of his feet. He had strong curvature of the spine, eyes were down, but he was able to write his name with his left hand and held onto the pen with the whole hand (full grip). He had never crawled. I was told he was due to have a spine correcting operation. I have been working with him, every two weeks, addressing one problem at a time. It has been a long journey with him and I will spare you the details. He came to me last Saturday, with a CD he wanted to listen to, at full volume, of course, and enjoyed it thoroughly with no problem. His pen hold has shifted from the whole hand to the thumb, index and middle finger. He now walks using the whole of the feet. And, more incredible, his spine has straightened nearly completely, so the operation is not now necessary. He can now swim, ski, and concentrate for about 20 minutes. His siblings (younger than him) are no longer frightened as he interacts with them, at his level of course, without aggression and with playfulness. His mother had to sign for him to understand simple commands. He can now communicate his needs, and even shows a sense of humour. All this has been achieved with Brain Gym, and of course, a dedicated mother. Male teenager From Brain Gym Instructor: Janet Illidge Michael, aged 15, was officially diagnosed with Dyslexia at age 8 by Huddersfield LEA. His Dyslexia Tutor in Huddersfield recommended that he try Brain Gym. Spelling age - as tested by Dyslexia support Teacher at his secondary school: 8 years Reading age - as tested by Dyslexia support Teacher at his secondary school: 8 years When Michael first came he had very obvious balance and co-ordination difficulties and walked with a very flat-footed, eyes down gait. On talking to him it emerged that he had 2 key goals:
In order to boost his confidence and self-esteem as quickly as possible we decided to work on his desire to able to achieve his sporting goal, which also it transpired included being able to play football with his mates and not let them down. I took him through the PACE process to see what happened and sow the seeds that this was a process he would be regularly using to help him reach his goal - he was willing to give it a go. In this session I also checked out his eye tracking and what happened when he had to read - the stress in his system was clearly huge after just a short paragraph. At the end of session Michael was clearly quite tired but willing to give it a go and practice at home. The second session 2/3 weeks later was truly amazing - unbeknown to me Michael had been tested by the Special Needs Support Department - he was due another assessment so it transpired - and the results were truly amazing to everyone - myself, his teachers, Michael and his parents. His reading age had gone up by 1 whole year and his spelling age by 6 months! Michael was clearly over the moon with the rapid response and came to see me every 3/4 weeks right up to his GCSEs. We went through Repatterning balances as he continued to progress and use more of the Brain Gym movements to assist his progress. His parents quickly reported progress, such as Michael's ability to plan what he needed to take to school each day, he could plan his own revision and was more easily able to meet deadlines for assignments than ever more. Plus he was extremely relaxed at home, he was so much more confident in his own abilities. He also started to make noticeable progress with his initial goal of being balanced and co-ordinated when playing Rollerhockey - after his 3rd session he told me had scored a couple of goals - he was over the moon. It was also plain to see that he was now able to walk with a lighter step and his head was up with his eyes looking out at the world and not down at the floor. Naturally, there were times when Michaels resolve would flag as he travelled over each month but he kept on as he was clearly aware that his life was changing in a very positive way and this was backed up by his Dyslexia Support Tutor who had encouraged him to try Brain Gym in the first instance. With regards to his second goal - ie, improving his reading and spelling and comprehension in order to boost his GCSE grades, we achieved incredible success. Michael went on to achieve 2 grade Cs and Ds which enable him to gain a place on the Computer course he wanted to do at College. I also worked with Michael’s younger sister for a few months, as she too, had difficulties with reading, spelling and concentration. We worked on vision and listening - it subsequently emerged that there were several vowel sounds which she was unable to register - a side effect it transpired from lots of ear infections aged between 2 and 3. She too, used the Brain Gym movements to enormous positive benefit and found that The Thinking Cap, The Owl and Repatterning processes all helped to improve life in the classroom. Female child From Brain Gym Consultant: Mandy Jenkins This is a report on her daughter by Mandy: Brain Gym dramatically changed my daughter’s life prospects. At age 9 she had fallen 2 – 3 years behind in the core subjects and, due to school phobia, had needed to change school. Her previous teachers had maintained that she was an average student with no real concerns other than an unduly fussy mother. I had invested in private Ed Psych, IQ and follow-on OT assessments which had revealed non-specific learning blocks and significant learning impairment issues as well as the need for long-term special needs tutoring. Clearly, I was on my own with the struggle to meet my learning daughter’s needs, but then I stumbled across the remarkable benefits of Brain Gym. At the initial consultation my daughter’s profound cross-laterality blocks were (for the first time) identified and then addressed, prompting improvement and ease in a wide range of skills from the 3Rs to ball catching and tying up shoelaces. During the subsequent sessions her concern issues, whether spelling, mental arithmetic, staying on task, coping with daunting teachers or friendship disputes were, one by one, resolved. The benefits of Brain Gym were clear to behold because her shifts in capability were goal focussed and quickly noticeable. Fast forward five years and subsequent IQ testing scores were so improved that the Ed Psych declared the results to be both impossible and inexplicable. Today she is thoroughly enjoying life at university where she is developing her creative and communicative potential as a fine art undergraduate. Having observed each step of this triumphant journey I have no doubt whatsoever that such an outcome would not have been conceivable without the facilitative influence of Brain Gym. Female child From Brain Gym Instructor: Mary Howard Report from Mother of 10 year old girl, April 2008: “We called in Mary Howard to help our daughter, then 10, with co-ordination difficulties resulting in writing and spelling problems. The Brain Gym exercises were fun and even those she found hard soon became easy. I think her writing and spelling improved as a result. We took the book to school and her class started doing the exercises too! It has not solved the problem altogether but it has certainly made a difference. I wish the programme was available in all schools, so many other children would benefit.” Female child From Brain Gym Instructor: Buffy McClelland K first came to see me in autumn 2007. She was 8 at that time, and had a formal statement of her Educational Special Needs. Her main problem areas were significant difficulties in sequencing information, poor auditory processing, memory and maths, and her reading was below the average for her age as well. Up to this point in time, we have done 6 Brain Gym balances, and K has enjoyed the sessions and home practice. A month after the sessions had started, her teachers began reporting that B was now concentrating very well and that her auditory skills and attention were improving. After only 6 weeks, she had improved so much that she was taken off the statement at school! In February 2008 her mother reported that her reading was now fabulous, and that K had good focus and concentration overall. K is moving in the right direction with maths and is learning her times tables progressively. Her family are delighted with her progress and are continuing with Brain Gym sessions with me. Male child From Brain Gym Instructor: Virginia Armstrong H was a 6 year old boy who came for improvement with his handwriting. As part of the balance I asked him to "write a sentence", this on a roll of lining paper with no lines. H wrote the first sentence which I then tore off and took away so he couldn’t see it.
After doing PACE and Lazy 8s [a hand-eye co-ordination activity which also involves crossing the body midline], he rewrote the sentence, on the same type of paper:
He wrote “I had a” and then said "cool" - he couldn’t believe how well he was doing it!
I find it so interesting that he has obviously sounded out DaD in the first line as he has used capitals as well as lower case for 'had' and 'dog.' He was thrilled with the results when I compared them. The whole process took less than 2 minutes. Male teenager From Brain Gym Instructor: Gillian Hindshaw Report supplied by mother: “My son aged 14 started Brain Gym with Gillian Hindshaw in 2006. He was assessed with Dyslexia at aged 6 and found schoolwork difficult and some days impossible. A lack of confidence stopped him from making friends and joining in with group activities and he would not try anything including school work if he thought he would fail. These are my son's words:
Female child From Educational Kinesiology Consultant Hilda Pillay Cajon Hilda reports on using Brain Gym with her daughter: I will give you the reason why I started to train as a [Brain Gym] Instructor and that was because my daughter was having such difficulty in year 2 of infant school where she was not at the reading level for her age and maths was just another problem. I took her to David [DavidGillett, one of the earliest UK Brain Gym Instructors, now deceased] and he made Rhianne do The Cross Crawl and drink water. For homeplay we had The Double Doodle, Lazy 8s, The Elephant [all Brain Gym activities], and several others, and PACE and in three weeks she had risen to one level above her expected reading age. Rhianne is 18 now and she was 6 then. She continued to do well in her reading and never had a problem after that. Her Mathematics from being at Level 3 out of 5 she was put in Level 2. Her maths she has always had to work at it, as it is not her favourite subject. During her GCSEs we did Brain Gym too, working with Seven Dimensions of Intelligence [advanced Educational Kinesiology tools], because her predicted grade for Maths was a D, she got a B. Sophia (my other daughter) was 30 weeks premature, and she does have a problem with writing, not being able to grip the pencil and at 5 her teacher complains of her bad writing. I have used the Seeing Balance and could not believe my eyes, her writing improved within days, and was neat with better pencil control. Female child From Brain Gym Instructor: Mary Howard I worked with [a] 9 year old girl for 8 sessions over a period of 10 months. She was born prematurely (25½ weeks) after a long and traumatic birth. She had problems with her writing which, although creative, was unreadable and with co-ordination. I worked with both Brain Gym and Primitive Reflex activities. This is [the] feedback I received after working with her for 2 months: Report from mother, January 2006: “[My] daughter has started reading and is reading more all the time. Not quite up to Harry Potter yet, but the other day I had to drag her away from a book in order to eat - never happened before ever! She has about six books for Christmas and has read them all. Hoping this keeps up. Her writing is more legible now and her spelling is getting better so something is definitely happening here!” Adult female From Brain Gym Instructor: Dr Buffy McClelland J was a senior business systems analyst in her late 30s when she had a severe illness which left her with apparently permanent problems with concentration, memory and difficulty in organising her thoughts and actions. These problems made life so difficult that she was unable to work. J saw me for 4 Brain Gym sessions in late 2001 and early 2002. At that time, J was doing an Open University Masters Degree, but was really struggling with the work. After 4 targeted Brain Gym balances, and home practice of the movements, J reported a considerable improvement in her ability to tackle her Open University course work, and her confidence to do so. In particular, she reported a dramatic improvement in her memory. At that time, she was also taking a course in Tarot reading, and was asked to memorise 78 card names and meanings. She managed this in three days, and easily retained the information for 2 weeks. This was very different from her poor memory before the Brain Gym sessions. J said at the time " I am very pleased (and relieved!) at the difference Brain Gym has made to longstanding problems". Today, in 2008, J tells me that she did not actually gain her Open University Degree, but was extremely close to doing so. She reports that she did much better than she had expected before the Brain Gym sessions. She has now a permanently improved ability to organise herself in many ways. She has also found that her artistic creativity switched on after the Brain Gym sessions, and can now draw well. Female child From Brain Gym Instructor: Mary Howard I worked with this 9 year old girl only once. She had used Brain Gym activities before ... I did a Dennison Laterality Repatterning with her. The following is an email I received from her mother in February 2007: “We’ve been having some very good results with my daughter recently. Her school work has improved above the class average and she is becoming much more confident in her abilities. I’m still working towards a routine of consistency with all of her exercises but on the whole she does practice daily.” |
