Slow Processing

[IndigoBell]

After a year and a half of fighting asking, and moving school, I have finally managed to get school to test DD for dyslexia. (Not that they disagreed she had dyslexia, they just didn't want to test her....)

Anyway, it said exactly what we knew already. That she can do all the parts of reading, i.e. knows her letters and can blend, she just can't read. And that she has problems with her working memory, and slow processing.

Does anyone have any ideas how to help slow processing?

OfficeBird - you do come across as cynical .

Retained Reflexes are baby reflexes that are meant to disapear at 4-6 months.

They are easy to test for and so they only start the program if the child definitely still has them. You can then test months later and see if they still have these reflexes. If the reflexes have gone then it was definitely the program that got rid of them, because they aren't spontaneously going to disappear at 7 years otherwise.

Can you prove that getting rid of retained reflexes made the huge improvement you saw everywhere else? A bit harder - but it is fairly likely isn't it.

There are also clearly differences between anxious parents of children who don't have problems, and anxious parents of children who do have problems.

OfficeBird

I understand your question and it is one we have considered many times over. My DS started the treatment at 6 and is now 7 and, as you rightly say, a year is a long time and they do progess etc.

DS was "tested" in relation to

Balance and coordination

Eye movement

Short-term memory

Sequencing skills

Spatial awareness

Left/right dominance

Visual motor integration

All I can say (sorry, bit rushed for time) is that if we had not seen with our own eyes the changes in DS in terms of the above (these are checked regularily by the chap we are using), we could have attributed his other changes to "normal" growth and development. However, we have absolutely no doubt that the problems he had in the aresa listed above were a result of the "programme" we are following as some of the problems he had would have stayed with him for life absent the programme.

It is hard to do justice to the changes in DS here or to explain what the issues are and how the treatment has helped. As his mum, I know that these are
due to the treatment. Yes, I suspect like in most areas, there are good, bad and indiffent folk offering to help. Thankfully, we got and are getting first rate help.

Obviously up to every parent to follow their gut instincts and go with what they feel with work for their dc.

Hope this helps.

Does anyone know anytingabout RRS retained reflex syndrome?

I would appreciate some thoughts before we embark on a very costly programme. Has anyone been to the David Mulhall Centre?

It is thisfact of parting with large amounts of money tat concerns me. I cant find reeence to RRS in any British or American medicl journals! Makes me a little uneas. His programme seemed to make perfect sens but is hat because I wantyed it to make sense??

As far as I have read there is very little robust evidence that sensory integration/retained reflexes therapy works (unless anyone knows any different- would love to see some) but anecdotally it seems widely accepted and is available on the nhs (albeit with interminable waiting lists).
However I've read a couple of books (disconnected kids and another title i forget just now) on the subject that give an outline of a kind of DIY assessment and exercise program. I feel like it could be a real help to ds but like dawning day worry about the amount of money you have to pay out for something that isn't scientifically evidenced.
How do you go about finding a reputable therapist?

Hi Everyone!

We have had loads and loads of threads about retained reflexes on the SN board, if you do a search.

This is a very old thread. Since then My DS has done retained reflex therapy at the Sound Learning Centre. And it has been absolutely amazing. He has gone from needing a statement, to coming off the SEN register. It has taken a year to get those kind of results. A year of doing OT exercises every night.

DDs slow processing and working memory problems were partially cured by Auditory Integration Training. She's gone from being unable to learn / read anything, to being able to learn / read at a slow pace. So we will be starting RRT with her in July at the Sound Learning Centre, in order to improve her even more.

As well as the sound learning centre, other places other MNs have used are Hemispheres and INPP

Sops - I don't know about your financial situation. But if you can afford it you should do it. Absolutely. I'm sure it will work - but if it doesn't, so what? All you've lost is money. And if it does work - your kids will be vastly improved / cured.

PM me if you want more details.

We used the David Mulhall Centre and were delighted with the results; see my earlier posts above.

So glad we did it. Yes, it takes time and money but so glad we had enough of both to do it. Why not go along and see what you make of it? On our second visit we were converted from cynics.

Please fire away with any questions/feel free to PM me too.

Dyslexia is a man made problem, a Social Construct.
Dyslexia is about having neurological issues which cause problems decoding and recoding the graphic symbols society choses to use to represent the sounds of speech.
There are three cognitive subtypes of dyslexia : auditory, visual and attentional. So an Auditory Processing Disorder (listening disability), a Visual Processing Disorder, an Attention Disorder, or any combination of the three can cause the dyslexic symptom. Developing and using alternative compensating cognitive skills can cause working memory (short term memory) problems.
And this could explain poor information processing issues.

dear cpbp, new to mumsnet.
my eldest son is 5. he is gorgeous yet so frustrated by various rrs symptoms. already i have yanked him out of school in his nursery year - because he was not thriving.then after a term at home he went to a steiner kindergarten who 1 week before this summer holiday suggested my son do not return as they were unable to contain his challenging behaviour or provide any resources to support him.
so now he is at home with me awaiting a schoolplace ,we live in a very oversubscribed borough for schools and i just don't feel i can chuck him in anywhere. he has not even begun formal learning yet.
do you know what is available on the nhs comparable to the body brushing and sensory integration programmes described above? and how does one go about accessing them? when i google nhs rrs nothing is coming up. x h

Hannah, I don't think you'll get retained reflex therapy on the NHS.

It is done by some occupational therapists, so get a referral (trhough your GP) to an NHS OT and ask them...... Sometimes they also do Sensory Integration Training, which if you can get for free is also worth doing.

If you can't afford to go private then I recommend doing these 2 things:

GAPS diet - we're having very good results with this diet at the moment.

And Disconnected Kids - which is the closest program to Retained Reflex Therapy I have found in a book.

Doing those two things should help a lot, for almost no money.

Good luck, and PM me if you want to ask me anything.

IndigoBell - Not sure if this is the same but my DS had an assessment done which showed he was delayed in visual perception which by looking into it and the report I recieved seems to mirror dyslexia.

We have been sent by an OT a programme to follow and apparently it can be corrected!!

This may not be any help at all!
x

Anna - :) We've already done vision therapy with DD, which sounds like what you are talking about.

And yes, it did cure her vision problems. I was very pleased with it.

What is it which your LO has problems with? x

Just wanted to add if anyone is looking into retained reflexes their is a practioner who is brush and INPP trained (very experienced) who practices in Windsor and unlike INPP doesn't charge for any sort of assessment prior to starting. Bob Allen, not sure where else he holds clinics. He is also a Johansen sound therapist.

RandomMess - do you have a link or contact details for Bob Allen?

email address [email protected]

He doesn't have anything on the internet, too busy - he teaches as well. I have a work mobile too if you want to contact me and you get no joy with email him.

RandomMess Indigo,

Did you contact Bob Allen? Did he have anything to say on the effect of RR and INPP on working memory & processing?

Hi I am new to mums net and joined to get some help for my son who has dyspraxia like symptoms. Could you tell me how things worked out with the different therapies you tried and if you ever tried the Mulhall Centre. Thx so much

Indigo bell just curious a few years on how you have got on and what you can recommend? I have a dyspraxia son, very interested in this info on retained reflexes

Brain gym! It sounds stupid, it looks silly but it works! My mum was a practitioner for years and didn't recognise my dyslexia and dyspraxia because I'm high functioning but as soon as I was formally diagnosed aged 17 I started on daily brain gym and it helps. It helped me get through college and uni, I've let it slip since and I can see the difference. Don't focus too much on the bits she struggles with, make sure you give plenty of time to things she loves - most of us neuro-diverse peeps are very creative so let her make and create!

Hi, thanks for advice. Just been looking at Brain Gym, is it all based in the US? Can I follow something online with him?

Katclo I don't think indigobell posts anymore (unless under a different name). Her posts have been so helpful for me.

They people who set it up are US based but there are practitioners in the UK - edu-K is worth searching

Hi
Our son (aged 9) has just been diagnosed with dyslexia. Does anyone have any experience of Cellfield? Interested to hear anything about method. Thanks