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

Sigh.

If you want to talk about ethics in schools (and please bear in mind that some of the children on this thread have been badly damaged by schools and their "ethics"), then that is another thread.

If you want to talk about TH and the programme and the ups and downs we are all having, then please do.

I hope you find it useful, as the rest of us have.

Oh, and btw indigo and I have both been personally attacked for doing the TH programme and have been called, variously, "deluded", "gullible" and been warned that we "are in a cult".

So, please understand where indigo is coming from. Some of the posts got pretty nasty and she is, understansably still a bit raw.

Well, I'm sure I could fit into the deluded and gullible gang, given all that I've tried over the years!

I dont want to fight with anyone and I certainly dont want more permission slips! It was not about whether any of it was a good idea or not but the first thing that crossed my mind when I read the original post was "Someone will complain about this" Some others obviously felt the same

Personally I am more than happy for my DS's school to do what they see fit to help my DS but I know others think differently.

And Indigo did say that the school were not going to tell parents/carers yet in response to your post "Who ever said it would be without parental consent?"

Wowza really the Tinsley House cult ? Missed that thread thankfully. Hilarious that people would think healthy eating a few supplements and some simple exercises maketh a cult. Maybe we could all live in a gated community and grow our own veggies that would be cool For anyone who is interested I have never been to TH do not intend on going but am just following the principles as everyone is welcome to do. I have had some lovely mums PM when they have read about my recent success and are glad of a bit of encouragement!

Lol at TH Cult! Do we need a bi fire to wwalk around and wear hats?

Sorry you have had a hard time about this Indigo. Luckily, the professional people I have told about it (Ds' support teacher and consultant neuro) have been, if not supportive, at least interested to my face.

Re: Ds' allergies this weekend, so far so good!

RuningGal - happy to answer any questions you have about TH. As you can tell a number of us are very happy with it.

You can get loads of benefits without visiting TH. If you do the stairs exercise, the supplements and the diet, for 2 months, you should get good results.

And if it doesn't help - well at least you've tried. You can cross it off your to-do list, and try the next thing :)

Can I just ask those of you who are supplementing zinc, do you give it separately to the other supplements? I have finally bought some, but am wibbling about giving it to Ds2 as he is on really good form atm and I dont want to rock the boat!

Yeah, if it hadnt got so nasty it would have been funny

rg Perhaps you could pm indigo and she will tell you about what parental involvement is going to happen? As I understand it she is going into school to talk to parents about the programme...but, as I say, you will need to talk to her about specifics.

sphil I give ds1 2 capsules of vegepa after breakfast. Then I give 20mls of each of the floradix after tea. No problems here so far. HTH.

daftmaul Fingers crossed! Ds1 hasnt complained of hayfever symptoms yet either

It also really made me think

Do people really consider a good diet, vitamin and mineral supplments and some neuro development exercises that "alternative"????

I am hardly covering ds1 in goats blood and sitting him in a pentangle!!!

Beca If you really want this to work get him into that pentangle right now!!!

I have been a bit lax on the exercises of late there really is no excuse other than laziness and I guess because DD's behaviour has been so good I sort of thought I could get away without it. Have slapped myself on wrist and am going to get back in there today. Our behaviour chart has 5 smiley faces on it this week going for number 6 today and DD is reading absolutely everything she sees with her phonics. She saw the word "pest" yesterday and pronounced it "pissed" everything is a word game at the moment she will say I know a word beginning with b and then continue to reel off lots of b words. My heart is always in my mouth when she says "I know a word begginning with F"
Off to a local farm this morning and then swimming this afternoon.

Thanks Indigo

Had been meaning to post last week as I was looking at supplements and didnt really know where to start. Will post again when I get my head in gear.
Am doing lots of OT stuff ATM , also DS is going through ASD testing so lots going on

HCJ - you need to keep doing the stairs exercise till she can do it perfectly 'carrying a tray of your dozen best wine glasses filled with expensive red wine' :)

That will take at least 4 months of doing the exercises 3 times a day.

When she can do it perfectly PM me and we'll try and figure out what to do next (or obviously email Robin)

RG - just start. Do the stairs exercise today. Starting is always the hardest part.

DS2 is doing AIT this week and next. I'm sure his language has come on heaps. Which has lead to a much calmer house as he's able to negotiate with DS1 and DD rather than just growling at them.

DS1 is getting really stressed about SATs because he wants to get a level 6 in maths and reading! School asked him if he wanted to sit them so he said yes, but now he's really stressed. He might get a level 6 in maths - but I'd be very surprised if he got one in reading.

So I've added rescue remedy chewy stars to his daily vits. They seem to be helping him a bit. But really just counting down the days to the blasted days are over and ignoring how disappointed he'll be on results day

rg As indigo says...just start. I made so many excuses to delay starting the programme...honestly! Ordered the supplements but they didnt arrive for a while, etc etc

I have been so surprised by how painless its been tbh...was imagining all sorts of dramas and tantrums and it just hasnt happened....(yet!)

Ok, finally found something to make DS (aged 11) happy.

He's just been asked to speak at an election campaign meeting in the civic centre!

He's going to be opening for Bob Crowe

It's the socialist election campaign meeting.....

Indigo - my Ds1 is also very stressed about SATS - he's a level 5 in maths in teacher assessment but is getting 4 or 5 marks below in practice exam papers. I think it's a concentration issue - he hardly ever struggles with method but makes calculation errors because he rushes and doesn't write down his working (I think). Similar problem in reading - he's a comfortable 5 in class, but only just scrapes a 5 in the paper. He minds because they set in secondary according to SATs results and he wants to be ' in a good set'. I might try the Rescue Remedy - hes responded to it well in the past.

Sounds as if your DS is doing amazingly!

sphil - maybe your SENCO can talk to your new SENCO and explain that the SATs result may not be an accurate picture of his abilities?

I also know that some schools that say they set by SATs actually set by teacher assessment - because the SATs results come in too late for them to make their class lists.

So again, may be worth qualifying with his new school.

DS is doing amazingly well now. But he really wasn't 2 years ago. We moved school 2 years ago (for all the normal SN reasons). At the time school were talking about getting him a statement. He was fairly 'challenging' in class. He was doing 'average'. So in 2 years he's made about 5 year's academic progress.

This is the first year he's been able to stay in class for a mental maths test. :)
And this is the first year he's been able to cope with being told off.

His progress is due to:

• Auditory Integration Training
• Retained Reflex Therapy
• Cranial Osteopath
• Tinsley House

But his anxiety is still way too high. He has a bit of OCD due his anxiety. His view of the world can be a bit odd.

And there's still something about him which means strangers do notice he has Aspergers.

So, still haven't finished therapy yet. :)

He sounds very similar to a boy I used to support in class who has AS. This is the first year he's been able to stay in class for mental maths too! He has made huge progress this year because he's with a teacher who has 'structure' as her middle name! She's also incredibly good at ignoring the negative and rewarding the positive. I know his Mum and think I will mention TH to her - she already uses homeopathy on him, and is very open to new ideas.

I am hoping that school will communicate with the secondary about DS - I think they will. His teacher this year has him in the second to top group for maths and reading ( top group are the potential level 6s) and they've always been good at recognising 'where his brain is' rather than what he produces on paper. He will be in a separate room for SATs with more supervision and a person to transcribe words that are illegible!

DS1 said "Hello" to my stepmum when she came over yesterday. She noticed that immediately, he wouldn't normally acknowledge someone saying Hello. It is her daughter with the SPD and ASD. She was amazed by my story about the fleece, very familiar story to her.

We had the consultant paed letters to the GP/OT/teacher cc'd to us and he seems to be demonstrating "sensory modulatory behavioural problems such as his tactile hyposensitivity and auditory hypersensitivity". She wants to know what the school think before she refers to CAMHS because he may have signs of ASD, he seems fine with adults but she is worried about how he interacts with his peers, in particular although he plays well with other children, he would like them to follow his play themes. Nice way of putting it

So.

Ds1 went with his friend to a play park yesterday and is - as I type - at a friends house playing.

Cannot believe the difference in him since this time last year. Its incredible!

We have now been to Tinsley House; thanks to those who have posted advice and comments on this and other threads.

Just a bit of background to give our starting point: DD is 13 (year 8) can read and write and is in the top set in school. She does struggle with scanning text, especially now when she is expected to find material from a wide range of sources for essays or homework. She has difficulty listening to the teacher and making notes at the same time which seems to create a problem in maths and science. Her current school are reasonably supportive and she is considered to be doing very well. She was diagnosed by an EP as having poor working memory and processing (dyslexia) at the age of 7 and had specialist "multisensory" teaching for about 2.5 years. Our primary reason for going to TH is probably to enable her to reach her true potential academically. I also feel that she is not particularly literate in the widest sense of being able to easily access print media and know what is going on in the world. She has no behavioural issues but lacks confidence and is considered "quiet" in school.

Robin Pauc demonstrated that she has a problem with convergence and she was prescribed the stair exercises and the tooth brushing with her left hand while standing on her left leg. She will probably be given the computer exercises when she goes back in two months.

As for diet, as we are vegetarian, he recommended Echiomega which is the vegetarian version of Vegepa; multivitamins and zinc + magnesium. He thought our diet was OK but said to add more protein to DD's breakfast and lunch he thought quorn, vegetarian pastes etc are ok but to avoid processed stuff, sweets etc. He said DD can have sweets or crisps twice a week - popcorn is OK but not everyday. He also mentioned to watch out for artificial sweeteners and especially e- numbers including those hidden in shampoo, deodorant etc.

Anyway that is our starting point; so it will be interesting to see if there is any progress over the next few months!

Good luck fluffy.

We have a second/followup appointment in a week.

Just to confess that DS1 has fallen off the diet wagon big time over Easter - chocolate, ice lollies, carb breakfasts, forgetting to take the Vegepa and boy have we noticed a difference. He's lethargic and tired, flopping around the house, lacking concentration, stumbling over his words etc. From tomorrow we're back on track!

Good luck fluffy

daft hope the follow up goes well

sphil Its interesting isnt it? Ds1 has had a McDs this easter hols but it doesnt seem to have had an effect as yet...its his first junk food in 4 months so not sure what I was expecting....

Ds1 continues to grow in confidence and is reading well

Sphil - well it's good that you can see a difference when he's off the wagon :)

That makes it easier to stay on track.

BF - good luck

DM - is this your 2nd visit? Hope it goes well.

Bec - well done little roo.

My DS2 has finished AIT and we can see a big difference. For the first time all 3 kids are playing together!!!!!!!!

When I said to DS1 it was nice to see him playing with DS2 he said 'well DS2 is more talkable now' :)

I'm thrilled with DS2s progress (bet school don't notice :) ) - but with all 3 kids playing together we have really turned a corner. Life is really getting easier now.

It's the last day of the Easter holidays and usually at this point I am ready to stick my head in the oven and am camping outside the school ready to fire DD back in but for the first time EVER I have had a brilliant break with DD and will actually miss her when she goes back on Monday
She has been lovely no tantrums or bad behaviour I just cannot believe the change. I am such a happy Mummy