Tinsley House Support Thread

[IndigoBell]

An awful lot of us are now doing Tinsley House, either by going there, or by following the recommendations in The Brain Food Plan

So this is just a general support (and hopefully good news) thread.

Stage 1 of the TH therapy consists of:

1. Multivitamins

• Omega
• Zinc & Magnesium
• Multivitamin

1. Healthy eating diet

• High protein, low sugar, no artificial sweeteners, additives etc.

1. Specific exercises done 3 times a day

Sorry Indigo - you've only told me that about 10 million times....

My DS has been on osteocare for years due to his dairy allergy so I've just kept him on it but upped his dose a bit. We use eyeQ too and he has 5ml mixed in with his breakfast (weetabix) and a 5ml spoonful. He hates it but he does it, bless him. I use the eyeq capsules and swallow them whole and there is no taste at all, might try him on some capsules next.

He also has some animal multivitamin tablets with no artificial colourings etc. which go down well but I have no idea whether TH would approve or not.

His eczema is almost gone. His cracked hands are really healing and he had the bumps too (but would itch them raw) and they are pretty much gone too :-)

He seems so much healthier even if not much better at sitting still. He's always looked so tired and unhealthy but now he looks so vital and I'm sure he's growing for the first time in ages (he's the smallest boy in his class and actually smaller than all but one of the girls strange as he was a massive baby) I've had to take him to Next to buy some age 6 jeans and he'll be 7 in June so I was getting a bit worried. It's a joy to behold him looking so well

In fact, thinking about it, I've been giving him 5ml of osteocare and 5ml of eye-Q for a few years, who knows what his symptoms might have been if I hadn't. How strange to think I was doing the right thing but at the wrong dose!! Although the carb reduction is brilliant too which I would never have done on my own thanks to the dietician we saw telling us to feed him carbs to get calories into him...

2 weeks until TH

I was told the same thing jalapeno I was also told to let him drink as much milk as he wanted - which stopped him eating!!!! Arggh....

I made a breakthrough this morning, finally got DS2 to swallow a capsule aged eleven [happy], it took half an hour and a few tears. After some trial and error we discovered that he can swallow them if he uses a thick drink like smoothie instead of water to help them go down.

PS, I take magnesium and B vits too, for PMS, I feel they are helping (can't afford to be grumpy when I have my three to deal with).

wiggly I am just starting to take cal, mag and zinc as well as fish oil for my pms and menstrual problems...its been truly awful since I had ds1 (3)

Took Ds for his second appt at TH yesterday.
All good news for ds. Repeating the tests showed us how his muscle tone has improved and his dyspraxic tendencies have lessened too, giving us renewed impetus to keep going with the stair and spinning exercises. Apparently, after testing him twice more to make sure, it seems his convergence insufficiency is still quite marked so he will be starting on the vision therapy as soon as we get a little technical issue ironed out.
The most significant thing though about the day was doing a 'groundhog day' of when we went for our first appt. On the 3 hr drive down ds was so relaxed and calm (even when he was being sick). Last time he was fidgeting and whingeing all the way even with the ipad for entertainment- this time he only played with it for about 10 mins and spent the rest of the time chatting (yes- chatting!) with us or gazing out of the window, same on the way back too.
We stopped for lunch at a pub before both appts and the contrast was amazing. Last time he couldn't sit still, was giddily throwing himself about all the time or wriggling uncomfortably on my knee, making lots of noise, accidentally kicking over the dog water bowl, spilling drinks- in short, a right pain! Yesterday though, he sat nicely, no fidgeting, no loud noises, ate his meal with good manners, just such a striking difference. Spending the day with him was an absolute pleasure and didn't leave the pair of us drained like it often used to.
When we got back he wanted to do the vision therapy straight away but due to the technical issue he couldn't. Instead of the usual grunting, groaning and stropping he said 'Oh well, I can do it tomorrow instead'
Later he and dd were playing top trumps, (being able to play a game and stick to the rules is progress in itself), but then dd won his favourite card from him. Instead of the usual response of making a big noise and whacking dd, he ran to the other end of the landing and started jumping about. I said, 'what are you doing?' he replied 'I'm just going over here to express my anger'

Pop - Wow! That's amazing. Fantastic progress.

You guys give me so much hope. I'm in very exciting talks with my SENCO at the moment - and stories like yours really help give me the energy and courage I need.

Pop, you must be delighted!

It is great to hear that test scores improved.

I think your description of the change in his behaviour and ability to cope with the journey says even more about the changes in your ds.

Has his hearing improved at all? My ds seems to have a return in his glue ear and I am fascinated to see whether it has improved by Easter.

pop how fantastic! You must be thrilled. Ds1's muscle tone had also improved when he was tested last week. We start the VT this week

3 hour drive? It is for us too!...are you near the east mids by any chance??

Went into Y5 yesterday at ds1's school - I am a parent helper - and ds1's class (Y4) came into their class the Y5 went into their class to view each others work and so I saw a drawing of the Taj Mahal that ds1 had done...it was so good! Ds1 has never really been "into" drawing/art/crafty things before

He is also dancing at home and finding music and movement at school easier too!!

Pop that's fantastic

Pop - what a fantastic progress! Well done

Thanks everyone- I am basking in a warm glow of positivity here!
A mixed morning chez pop with ds getting up in a bit of a grump BUT as we walked in through the school gate I lost track of him in the throng of children. I wondered if he was dawdling as usual but couldn't find him so went to his classroom. He'd hung his coat up and gone into the classroom and was happily chatting with his friends I said goodbye to him but he hardly looked up .
I feel like we really can look forward with more confidence now and I'm reassured that if we keep committed to the program we can expect more and more progress.

becarooo, yes we are in east mids too.
For the PMS I would def recommend high strength evening primrose oil- works wonders for me (dh def knows when I run out )

pop Its a long journey isnt it??? :$ Worth it though!!! I love all the faces in your last post!!

Ds1 is off to a playdate with the boy who lives round the corner!! AND 2 other mums have asked if Tom can go to their houses to play with their children!!! Maybe TH is letting ds1's personality shine through at last???

Hi all,
so we are 8 days into the supplements and have been making gradual diet changes. Which seem to be going well at home.
Haven't made any progress with getting DS to take part in the exercises -hmm may need a different approach.
My biggest problem is DS seems to be having more dramatic outbursts and he is not eating his lunch at school.
He is complaining that the lunch hall is too noisey and he doesn't like the big playground, that is too noisey too.
He also said he needs a quieter school as the noise makes him want to be naughty?
I don't know if its my imagination but he seems more talkative and expressive of his feelings.
Have approached school and they are not willing to let him eat lunch else where, but will spend time to help him transition from playgorund to lunch hall (they play out for 15 mins first).
Any other advice gratefully recieved from you guys.

Been to see Robin today for the kids 3rd check up.

He was very pleased with their progress. All of the changes we've noticed are good signs.

DS and DD have to continue vision therapy for another 2 months.

Which apparently should improve DSs eye contact. (Fingers crossed)

(When you finish the auto mode you need to contact Robin so he can set the next stage rather than waiting till you go back again )

Got told off reminded to give DD enough protein at breakfast - Oatabix is not good enough.

Glad to hear all is going well for you too, indigo.

denellen, ds often doesn't eat his lunch at school (and despite me asking 3 times for school to check he has eaten they never bother). I put in things that he likes but still no luck. I just make sure that he has a high protein, brain food type breakfast which will hopefully keep him going.

Denellen - the 'more talkative and expressive of his feelings' is an excellent sign. The first thing I noticed with DD was how much better her speech was.

I think all changes in behaviour you're seeing are signs of progress. They're signs that different bits of the brain are starting to work.

Stick with it a bit longer - and somehow get him to do the stairs.

If he finds them very hard, he can start with just 3 going up and opening his eyes for going down. If he's very wobbly you can hold his shoulders to steady him while he's doing it.

If you can't get him to do the stairs, then you need to do the spinning chair exercise. (Also described in the book)

Good luck. I'm sure you'll see progress in a few more weeks if you stick with it.

Denellen, would your ds wear earmuffs/ear defenders at lunchtime? Would that be enough to muffle the noise a bit for him?

I feel it is two steps forward and one step back sometimes with ds. Although outburst do seem to be more short lived at the moment.

Indigo, good to hear that your two dcs are doing well.

Does the vision therapy require downloading onto the computer or is it done straight off a cd? (wondering whether have enough memory on computer!) do you have one cd for both dcs Indigo?

Was going to suggest ear defenders too!

I think the changes you are describing are all good signs, albeit it might not seem like it!!!

We are on day 2 of VT. Ds1 is coping well with it so far.

daft you need a computer with internet acces for the VT. Its one disc with 100 licsensed uses. There are "tutorials" for each exercise too you can view anytime.

The only think ds1 has said is that when he has finished the VT his eyes feel "sensitive" (?) To begin with it takes about 22 mins but this gets less and less and by the end its about 4/5 mins.

Next week will be hard dh is away and dont really know when he will be back..hopefully saturday but its a but up in the air atm.

OMG!

Ds1 just rang me on the way to his GPs after school (they do pick up on a friday) to tell me he got "star writer of the week" award at assembly today!!

This, from a child who last year struggled to write a sentance, let alone a paragraph!!

How lovely and so exciting!

A big celebration in the Becarooo household this weekend then.

It is lovely isnt it?

I think what I am most pleased about is how happy and proud he is to get this award.