Not twenty minutes after I did a Facebook LIVE on music therapy last week, did Trisha email me to say she was feeling totally hopeless. She said that she had tried having her daughter listen to Mozart and there was some improvement but nothing like what I was describing. That’s because listening therapy is so…
Continue ReadingLukas was one of my first clients and I’ll admit – I was terrified I was going to fail. He was 14-year-old, and had non-verbal autism. He didn’t make eye-contact and couldn’t read. Mom was burnt out from caring for Lukas. She had tried healthy diets and ABA therapy and every other intervention specialists recommended…
Continue ReadingYou know the stereotype of military dads? Rigid, no nonsense, cynical. I know that you know what I’m talking about. I’m not saying the stereotype is true – I honestly don’t know enough military dads to comment. But Brian fit the stereotype. The dad of a boy who had ASD, dyslexia, ADHD and SPD sat…
Continue Reading“It’s like it goes through one ear and out the other.” How many times have us moms joked about that? If you have a child with ADHD or a learning disability, it can feel like an everyday occurrence … and it’s not so funny after awhile. It can feel downright frustrating for you and your…
Continue ReadingiLs is a brain stimulation intervention that is based on the fact that we can change our brain – we can essentially re-wire it through specific and repeated stimulation, a concept known as neuroplasticity. As in building strength and endurance with physical exercise, we are able to build neurological pathways and synaptic activity at any…
Continue ReadingOften, our educational interventions are putting a roof on a weak foundation. The acquisition of reading, writing, math and other academic skills is dependent upon a normally-developed nervous system. Communication between the brain’s two hemispheres and integration of sensory input from the eyes, ears and motor systems must be intact for adequate response to intervention…
Continue ReadingLet me tell you about a client, Nick. When he first started my program, his parents were certain he would need additional reading therapy on top of addressing behaviours related to autism spectrum. They said, “let’s do iLs first to address behaviour and processing and we’ll deal with reading afterwards.” Yet in those next few…
Continue ReadingADHD is typically defined as a problem with inattentiveness, lack of concentration, hyper-activity, impulsivity or a combination thereof. Most current strategies for addressing these symptoms are behavioral or pharmaceutical. The behavioral approach is a good start but it relies on the cognitive processes of the cortex, our “thinking brain,” which are often ineffective when it…
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