Is Tinsley House a lot of old codswallop then?

[MerryMarigold]

Interested in this. Based on another thread. A couple of people inwardly groaning (or outwardly!) at the mention of it.

I have read the books, but not progressed to any assessment. Ds1 has some 'issues' which are nor obviously anything in particular but reading about other kids and a lot on here, it is fairly clear - auditory processing, dyspraxia, dyslexia, sensory processing overload, difficulty focussing/ concentrating. The auditory has been diagnosed by an OT, the rest have not. He should have started The Listening Programme but it has been delayed. The other (potential) issues are not being dealt with at all.

These issues he has then have a huge social and emotional impact. I have been desperately rummaging around for help and solutions since the end of YR when things got very bad for him.

Where I agree with the Tinsley House is that there must be a common root to all this, and a therefore a common treatment. Rather than dealing with symptoms, is it not better to address a cause. Where I am not sure is that I am not an expert at all in any of this stuff. Is it just a load of made-up stuff which is trading on parents' concerns?

I have significantly changed ds1's diet and added in Tinsley House suggested supplements and seen significant improvement in him this term. I don't know if this would have happened anyway. It certainly didn't happen during Y2 and there was actually some decline in how he was doing academically.

I just want to hear the pros and cons, really. Here's an invitation.

Gentle Lithium to children? As in the toxic drug prescribed to those over 12 with bipolar disorder whose periods of mania are judged severe enough to be more of a danger than the drug?

Your posts really are very muddled and odd.

from me too starlight

Wot for?

Didn't realise there were 5 pages! For what you said on page 1 :)

And this Actually, I'd like to make a correction. There IS lots of help for these children, but the help is ineffective at best, and harmful at worst and absolutely anti-parental-involvement.

@pigeon

Yes, yes and no.

PS, The schools mentioned were all Primary/Infant schools, so very few of the children were likely to be over 12, and the child I mentioned whose behaviour only improved after the Head of his private school banned him from boarding (and the cricket team I seem to remember), was only 9.

And yes I DO know he was on lithium, because his foster parents would give me the drugs to hand over to the Head every morning on the days I had him.

Perhaps the muddle and oddness is because YOU dont know what you are talking about.

PS this is my last post on the subject as it isnt helping the thread starter.

gentle as someone who supports and has a standby power of attourney for a friend who is bipolar and has had to decide treatment options with the support of the medical and psychiatric professions, I can assure you that I am well acquainted with the fact that pharmacological doses of Lithium are toxic and that those taking them have to have regular tests of liver and kidney function as well as watching their diet / alcohol intake which is why it is most certainly not recommended for those under 12. No decision to prescribe it are taken without carefully looking at the risks /benefits.

However as I am sure you are aware Lithium is a naturally occurring mineral and some say a supplement can be beneficial in certain circumstances but only in the sort of doses you might find naturally occurring in a bottle of mineral water. Over and above that it becomes unsafe.

I do not in any way claim to be expert in the diagnosis or interventions available for ADHD or ASD except that I do know they are very different conditions and are not, as you persist in calling them, in spite of what we have told you to the contrary, "medical situations". No GP would be diagnosing or treating them. However I do know that in the case of ADHD there are a number of avenues in terms of counselling, therapy and coping and support strategies that parents are encouraged to pursue before the still controversial use of drugs and then only drugs that are regarded as having few side effects such as Ritalin and a whole host of other modern possibilities (though their use is still seen as ) rather than an old drug like Lithium with recognised serious side effects. As a supplement maybe but I am absolutely sure that no one would advocate the pharmacological doses used for those who are bipolar. I would add that having had a friend with a DD who had ADHD in my DD's class I really felt for her mother. Whilst her behaviour was beyond the pale on occasion, my DD once came home with her footprint on her chest, She was nothing so much as a lost and bewildered soul. Yet her mother had to endure the ignorant tittle tattle that came from other parents ( she lacked love etc.) even when her mother was describing the sort of decisions the family ended up making as a result of the fear they experienced as a result of her inability to understand risk. They moved to a community where she could grow up with more support and less temptation.

This is all relevant to this thread because it is precisely this sort of ignorant tittle tattle, that our children are just "badly behaved" "weird" " a bit slow and stupid" and their diagnosis just a "fad" that leaves parents like us scrabbling around for solutions to our children's behaviour in the hope they will be "normal" when actually the diagnosis of their developmental difference, not "medical situation" opens up all sorts of opportunities for our children to succeed just as they are. I am quite sure not a few of the incredibly bright but a bit eccentric characters I have encountered in my academic and business career have been ASD /Dyspraxic/Dyslexic. In the past some succeeded in spite of their difference. Wouldn't it be great if in future they were equipped even better to succeed? Rather than diagnosis and support being regarded as a "fad"

I am sorry you feel I am denigrating genuine sufferers, I am not, but I have 30+ years of experience, both with children and as a volunteer medic, and although most of the children I have seen have been correctly diagnosed, I have also seen a number - from behavioural problems through to broken bones (~5-10% depending on what the diagnosis was) that are blatantly wrong.

Some were SO obviously wrong I have seen hospital nurses arguing with the doctor about the diagnosis on more than one occasion, only to be over-ruled and the child left to suffer.

In the behavioural problem misdiagnosis, a large fraction of the cases I was aware of had either aggressive or rich (income over £150k), and pushy parents. In plain language, giving a medical reason got the doctor out of the firing line.

I would also refer you to the incident 20ish years ago where peer pressure allowed one fruit-loop to convince the entire staff of a childrens welfare department that the local children were all being abused by witches; doctors and nurses were all sucked in despite there not being a shred of genuine evidence.

The really scary thing is that the fruit loop is back out there preaching the same line at childrens departments around the country.
(Source - Private Eye).

Some of the children snatched were never returned to their families.

Gentle I am sorry that you clearly have an issue with the medical profession but you are right, your posts are now way off thread. There is no suggestion that anyone on here is doing anything but seeking the best support for their child.

I think there is some confusion
Lithium Orotate is a supplement that can be bought over the counter

Lithium Carbonite is the "medical" version prescribed for bipolar etc which can be toxic

How on earth can you, as a non-medical professional claim misdiagnosis for any of the children. That is being absolutely ridiculous.

Pushy parents and those on £150k cannot buy a diagnosis. They can however, often find the resources to jump through the many hoops put in place to encourage a dx of bad behaviour or parenting fail, which many authorities prefer as it lets them off the hook for providing support that costs money.

I dare say, that you see many children of affluent parents receiving more resources than another child who may need more support but has less able/financed parents and you think this is wrong. It is. But what is wrong is that this disadvantage child is being failed, not that the other child is having their needs met at considerable expense to the parents.

We recently started tinsley house (DS dyslexic, emotional outbursts, social issues). I am hopeful, though yet to be fully convinced. However, one area which has undoubted benefit (for us) was the Engaging Eyes vision training. We started this a few months before Tinsley house- as I knew DS had probs with eye tracking (losing place reading, difficulty catching a ball etc). We no longer have problems with either of these things so I know it is working. You don't need to do Tinsley to do Engaging Eyes. Can't recommend it highly enough if you have DC with vision dyslexia problems.