Many children who are adopted in the US from other countries thrive perfectly fine. Yet, many children have troubles:

 

For these children, what has happened?

 

Read the page about "Developmental Delays in Internationally Adopted Children" http://www.adoptionarticlesdirectory.com/DevelopmentalDelays.htm

"Hi Kathy,

Thank you so much for your e-mail!  I have been so pleased with the Maintaining Brains DVD!  Just having used your DVD prompted the results in the testimony I sent to Carol.  Within two weeks of daily utilization of the DVD we began seeing those changes in Zdravko.  Zdravko was born in Bulgaria and we adopted him at 8 years old.  Like most post-institutionalized children he arrived with significant developmental delays, not to mention the health concerns we were aware of prior to his arrival.  Zdravko was born with a facial cleft which resulted in having no nose at all.  A nose was crafted for him by a french surgeon at the age of three, but significant oral and plastic surgeries still lie ahead.  

 

It is typical that for every three months a child spends in an orphanage they lose one month of developmental progress.  Many post-institutionalized children also present with varying levels of cognitive delay, learning disability, mental retardation, ADHD, and attachment disorders-- among other issues.  A significant number of these issues are related to a lack of cognitive stimulation during their infancy and toddler years.  Often times any formal education provided is limited, at best.  The significance of their transition to the United States cannot be overstated, having so many adaptations to manage, especially among older children.  The acquisition of the English language happens rather quickly with respect to conversational use, but mastering cognitive English is quite another story.  In addition, losing their native language so abruptly is another issue in and of itself.  Upon his arrival we chose to place Zdravko in school according to his developmental age, not his chronologic age. Now 11 years of age and in his second semester of 3rd grade, Zdravko reads at a beginning 2nd grade level. 

 

Currently we are into our sixth week of utilizing only the Maintaining Brains DVD.  For the first time, on Sunday Zdravko was able to read/sing a hymn at church and keep up with the congregation.  This after three+ years of church attendance twice per week.  It was a joyful sound!  It is becoming more and more obvious that new neural pathway connections are being established and perhaps previously present ones either improved or re-connected.  My husband and I are delighted with the progress Zdravko has made since beginning the exercises and eagerly anticipate the strides to come!

 

 

The next email came from Tim's mother, who adopted him from an Eastern European country, and who is now 18. The family spend many many years putting him through all kinds of therapy, and the thing that helped him the most was doing the $34.95 Maintaining Brains Everyday DVD.

 

"Woo! Hoo! I wish you could see Tim now that we have completed thirty days of the reflex exercises. We completed them mid-December but I am just now making the time to write to you.

 

He is now asking how and why questions (has never done that before), he is making decisions (never done before), he is making jokes (never done before), he is smiling and appears to be happy, he is becoming socially aware, his anxiety seems to be gone! It is UNBELIEVABLE. If I had not witnessed it myself, I would not believe it.

 

Family, friends, neighbors and the psychiatrist have all asked "what's going on with Tim, he's different?" They have all noticed. We did not tell anyone (except you) that we were going to do the reflex exercises. He says he doesn't notice any difference but it is hard to judge yourself.

 

I see him going through all the stages of childhood that he did not go through cognitively. This is good and bad. Right now his brain is like a pinball being bounced around. He is taking information in but has nothing to compare it with to help him understand or problem solve. It is somewhat like a deaf person who can all of a sudden hear. They cannot make sense of the sounds they hear.

 

 As best we can tell and he can communicate, he is now aware that he is lonely and doesn't know what to do about it. 

 

I tried to encourage him that the problem was a good thing, it shows growth/progress. A month ago he would have had no idea he didn't have any friends. So he is in a precarious position as I see it. He has access to his brain now, but there isn't much for him to access and we need to fill it and develop it.

 

His psychiatrist is greatly intrigued by all of this. He also wants to do more research on this. I gave him your web address and he fully admits this is working better than 'talk' therapy. He kept pushing talk therapy and I finally told him that wasn't going to work especially when one has a pervasive language disorder, and missing logic and reasoning skills.

 

All in all we are encouraged by everything.  I hope you are encouraged too by the progress (something actually worked)!"

Finally, I want to share with you a story about a little girl who I worked with. She was adopted from Kazakhstan as an infant, and like most children, struggled. She took the Gibson Cognitive Test when we first started with her, and most of her scores were well below the 50th percentile mark. Two years ago, I received this email:

 

"Hi Kathy, Wednesday is a very big day for us; Valentina will be graduating from Dr. Fox's vision therapy! For over two-and-a-half years she has seen you, Patty, Dr. Herbold, Gladys, and Dr. Fox and has even done some riding at STEP and now Kendra has changed so much from the shy little six-year-old you first met, you might not recognize her!"

 

The next school year ended a year ago. When Valentina's mom got her report card, she called me first to tell me that she had received straight A's!!  She obviously was so thrilled to see such success for her daughter. Since then, Heliena Fox has become a Brain Advancement Coach in Troy, NY, and you can reach her from her website: http://www.brainadvancementteam.com/heliena-fox/ 

 

Are you interested in learning more about primitive reflexes that help so many internationally adopted children? If so, take a look at this web page: http://www.pyramidofpotential.com/primitive-reflexes/ 

 

Thinking about becoming a Brain Advancement Coach? There is more information at: http://www.brainadvancementteam.com/