Pyramid of Potential

Vision - resources for improving reading, writing, and math

April 30, 2015

Hey Folks!

This is the last week of Autism Awareness Month. Below is the MOST powerful email that I have received about improving the brain and Autism as well. The email was written by a special ed teacher who had attended a workshop I gave through PESI called Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, and Dysgraphia (see the right hand panel to see if I will be giving it near you!) The exercise that he refers to is explained through the video link below it. Please pass this on to everyone you know who suffers. This activity is not the silver bullet (it works about 80% of the time) but is free and simple.

"Just a quick note from California. I have a student that a year ago was basically a selective mute on the Autistic Spectrum. I have put a lot of work in class working in the Moro and can report that she changed like a light switch coming on. She is speaking in class, she will transition independently, is reading basic readers, and is exhibiting significantly fewer behaviors to the point that we may be removing the 1:1 behavioral specialist from her IEP."

Mark Steiner

The best Moro reflex integration exercise

For more exercises that are related, the Hypersensitivity and Anxiety download is on sale only through April 30.

There is one more week of Autism Awareness month. We have our Hypersensitivity and Anxiety download on sale (http://store.payloadz.com/go?id=1780001), which includes the exercise from the video, plus others to help with anxiety and motion sickness. Be sure to get yours before the end of the month!

We are starting our early bird special for the Brain Advancement Training. Head over to Brainadvancementteam.com for more information. Contact us if you are interested or have some questions. Act now to save the most money.

Thank you so much! Kathy

Vision - resources for improving reading, writing, and math

Vision Resources:

Step 1:

Always start at the base of the Pyramid of Potential, with neurodevelopment (primitive reflexes) and do the exercises from the Maintaining Brains Everyday DVD daily for at least 30 days. Results will improve even more if it is done 60 to 90 days, as well. If there is a physical or emotional underlying issue like Autism, mitochondria disease, Lyme's disease, or neglect or abuse at home, the exercises should be continued. They take only 15 minutes a day and are very powerful! It is not the silver bullet, but works in 80% of the cases, and improves the brain for vision. Doing this step first will decrease the time and cost of further remediation.

Step 2:

It is always best to see a professional when you are looking to remediate. Because vision has to do with so much more than acuity, a trip to the behavioral or developmental optometrist for an evaluation may be in order. This is highly suggested if the following symptoms are present:

Can read but doesn't like to
Excessive blinking
Rubbing eyes
Ability to read, but only for a few paragraphs before tiring
Difficulties with copying from the board
Skips lines, letters or words
Double vision
When writing, doesn't stay on the line
Reversals of letters and numbers past 1st grade

To find someone to help, go to www.covd.org or www.optometrists.org . These people are trained to do evaluations and vision therapy.

If you cannot afford vision therapy, which can run into the thousands, try the resources below.

Step 3:

Colored Overlays are inexpensive and in 40% of the cases of struggling readers, make a huge difference! They cost about $5 each and can be found at www.irlen.com, http://store.nrsi.com/nrsi-colored-overlays.html, and www.amazon.com has many choices as well. For some people, it is an instant cure for Dyslexia!!

Step 4:

For $12 a month, you can try www.eyeqadvantage.com. Although it advertises itself as speed reading, it improves tracking, saccades and peripheral vision. It is not as complete a program as vision therapy, but it is accessible to almost anyone!

Step 5:

For free, but then YOU are creating the therapy, try www.eyecanlearn.com. The two paragraphs on the home page are very important to read, to see what this web site can and cannot do.

Step 6:

After working on vision and improving it no matter what the cause and remediation, it is time to look forward. Rarely is this enough!! Beyond vision, it is very important to retest cognition to see if there continues to be an issue with memory, attention, processing speed and logic. If there still is, it is now time to improve them, using a program like Growing Brains Everyday (www.pyramidofpotential.com/store) for elementary grades, or Equipping Minds (same link) for older people, or to learn to be a coach for your child or students (www.brainadvancementteam.com). This is one of the least expensive and most effect way to improve brain functioning, and you can save significantly if you sign up before April 30!

"JUST FINISHED MY 60TH LESSON!
Thanking God that from your direction Kathy my memory is better! I used to be so worried! Now I know that I can help myself and others!
So excited for the future ahead of helping children and adults to be the best they can be!
Thank you Kathy for your love and commitment to this field and to us!

You are a true inspiration!"

-Mary Jo Fleishman, Brain Advancement Coach graduate, Canton OH

June Conference - Don't Miss It!!

Saratoga Jazz Festival: http://www.spac.org/freihofers-saratoga-jazz-festival

Consider a vacation in Saratoga Springs, New York!

June 28 - The Plastic Brain:

Improving Memory, Attention, Processing Speed and More

Registration is at www.tinyurl.com/plasticbrain

Save by registering before May 15!!

Throughout the day, Ms. Johnson will train participants in exactly how to remediate some of the most difficult problems that are a result of incomplete brain development in infancy. However, as she likes to say, there is no silver bullet! Each child is an individual who will require a unique approach.

Ms. Johnson will describe a model where the emphasis changes from spending increasingly more time and energy on academics to incorporating brain development into early childhood, special education, and regular education classrooms, freeing up the teacher to teach more academics as a result.

She will share the results from an elementary school in Wisconsin who is implementing these methods with significant cognitive improvements in less than a year! "the improvement in the classroom has been the best news that we hear" Wisconsin Teacher Ryan McBurney

The Developing Brain and Case Histories

Body and Mind Health, and the effect on brain development

Nutrition, Stress, Exercise, Sleep

Neurodevelopmental Stages; Why Cognitive Skills never Developed

Primitive Reflexes

Symptoms and Integration exercises

Incorporating reflex exercises into the school day

Sensory Development

Auditory Processing

Symptoms of an auditory processing disorder

What to do

Visual Processing

Tracking and Convergence Screening

Simple eye exercises

Irlen Syndrome and Colored Overlays

Vision Therapy

Cognitive Skills Development

Phonemic Awareness

Attention

Memory

Logic and reasoning

Processing speed

Integrating brain development into school day without losing precious academic time

June 29 - Primitive Reflexes:

Foundation for Learning

Registration is at www.tinyurl.com/primreflex

Save by registering before May 15!!

The primitive reflexes have been around as long as people have been around. They are present primarily to force the infant to move the body in such ways that it develops and matures to survive. The additional benefit, as humans, is that along with motor movements, many other brain components are developing that help with academics: the visual system, the auditory system, the ability to concentrate, remember, and understand.

Several people have commented that they believe this is the missing link. And indeed, in my experience since 2000, I have found that the integration of the primitive reflexes to be one of the least expensive and most effective therapies today.

"I have a student that a year ago was basically a selective mute on the Autistic Spectrum. I have put a lot of work in class working in the Moro and can report that she changed like a light switch coming on. She is speaking in class, she will transition independently, is reading basic readers, and is exhibiting significantly fewer behaviors to the point that we may be removing the 1:1 behavioral specialist from her IEP." - California Teacher Mark Steiner

Introduction

Case histories

History of Reflex Integration

Research

Primitive reflexes guidelines

Beyond Primitive Reflexes

Moro Reflex: