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

Shipping...I am aiming for "average"!!!
:)

DD did her 4 vision exercises this morning happily.

You know what? Only one of them is really a vision exercise. The other 3 are directly twiddling a piece of her brain.

She found the 2 new ones amazingly hard. Which reassures me that Robin knows what he's doing and they will work.

When you see her doing the exercise it is clear it really is messing with her brain :)

indigo one thing that I am not clear on - I have done vision training and retained reflex therapies, DS has taken fish oil supplements for years and has always a low GI diet with a relatively high protein/carbohydrate ratio (I have PCOS and have low carbed for about 15 years) and 100% believe that environment impacts on neurological development and that particular interventions do work - reflexes are retained, tracking, automatic hand eye sequence, listening skills etc all improve. (Although GP recently said that referrals to the CPOC clinic were being tightened up - advised to see private optomotrist first - and there was doubt about its effectiveness).

Now to the but ... his problems are worse, KS1-KS2 progress has halted, EP assessment shows regression from 50th to 10th percentile in processing and from the 27th to the 4th in short term memory/freedom from distractibility. I am struggling to make sense of this - is it expected in some children where there is an underlying condition not impacted by the interventions (such as APD or ASD) and are there interventions aimed at impacting on underlying structure associated with these conditions? imo 'dsylexia' is not itself a physical condition but is an emprical manifestation of an underlying structural difference or deficit that has causal effects in specific environments such as reading/writing cultures. I thought that APD/ASD were life-long conditions - which is not to say that no intervention will be of any benefit - but that there cannot be 'catch-up' in the same way. What's your theory/ies?

My theories are that both the GAPS diet and TH are right.

That the kind of ASD my DS1 has (ie mild Aspergers) is caused by and fixed by the exact same thing my DDs dyslexia is and my DS2s dyspraxia is.

DD did vision therapy and retained reflex therapy before TH. They didn't work at all. The vision therapy Robin prescribes is much more effective than what my behaviour optometrist did.

And there is no relationship between retained reflexe therapy and the neurodevelopment therapy TH prescribes. They are not at all the same.

I believe DD would have qualified for a dx of APD prior to doing auditory integration training and she no longer would. But obviously that is only speculative as she wasn't seen by GOSH.

Retained reflex therapy did help DS1. But we went to an excellent place to do it. And the same place didn't help DD.

But certainly the RRT the BO got DD to do was total rubbish. As was the vision therapy he prescribed. Were we just unlucky? I don't know.

Have we just been lucky with TH? With it helping both kids? (DS2 isn't doing it yet). I don't know. But so many people on this thread are happy that it seems likely that it's not just luck.

This term my school tried the TH stairs exercises on 10 kids. They are so impressed with the results that next year they are going to do it with 40 kids.

Sorry if this is a stupid question but about to start the chair exercise this morning and the book says swivell it to the left I just want check that it means the child's left not mine as I will facing ds IYSWIM? Also I know it says to to it three time a day but how many times per session do you do the swivell thing?

TIA

Oh and as an aside and I could be imagining things ( or wishfull thinking) but we cut out all crappy food a week ago and yesterday ds had his most calm and cooperative speech therapy session we've had in a year. Even the SALT commented how unuaslly cooperative he had been!

No I dont think its a conincidence! :)

I think its means your ds's left as you are in front of the chair?

Thanks badvoc - off to spin ds!!

I don't know how many times to spin (because my kids are older we never did this) - but I do know you're meant to spin slowly.

It's unlikely to be co-incidence and if the SALT also noticed its unlikely to be wishful thinking :)

Small victories.

Small victories add up to huge victories.

catsdon'tcare. I don't think it is a coincidence either

So correct me if I am wrong - TH differentiate between autism per se (absence of VENs) which is characterised by particular manifestations (absent eye contact, flapping, toe-walking and absence of affection) in addition to cognitive manifestions and autistic traits which can be seen as a form of extreme developmental delay resulting from impeded functioning of VENs?

Theoretically the argument seems sound - but I get a bit twitchy where money is involved. I am in agreement that impediments to functioning can be removed - eg it was argued that the action of insulin blocked or impeded ovulation in PCOS but it was easy to test this hypothesis either by taking medication or elimating/radically reducing carbohydrate consumption (far easier than the medical route). Plus women ovulate every month and so results are fast. I also know that officially the effectiveness of this is questioned and women adapt to a 'condition' that does not actually exist. I also know that the theory is sound and have two sons to prove it.

So, are VENs present but impeded, can impediment be removed, do the techinques successfully remove impediment to development, will improved neurological development result in improved learning outcomes and increased self-esteem? Gamble - but do I feel desperate lucky?

I am not sure whether it is the money or the hope that concerns me having just gone through the 'acceptance' stage of grieving for an imagined future.

I can only talk about my own experience and this time last year I was desperate about my son.
He has asd and severe dyslexia with dyspraxia thrown in for good measure.
He was struggling and so were we.
I would ask yourself the question; if a paed/LA/senco/teacher provided these therapies at no charge would you do them?
If your answer is yes then it is the money that is an issue for you. I cam empathise...my dh is angry that we have had to fund all this ourselves but is very happy with the results!
Have you read "is that my child?"
It might answer some of your questions...and you can do the exercises and start the supplements for very little financial outlay.
I know what you mean re; hope. But without hope what do we have?
Good luck x

KeepOn - I think you've understood the theory the same way I have. That spindle cells develop at 4 months, so provided development was normal until 4 months, all the stuffs there - it's just not working very well.

As for money, you can start the therapy without seeing him. Do the stairs exercise 3 times a day for 8 weeks. Take the supplements for 8 weeks. After 8 weeks you'll know if it's going to work for your DS or not.

If it doesn't - well at least you know.

The hope is if course harder. But all you're doing is an 8 week experiment. Nothing much.

Hi - haven't posted for a while but ds has been with TH since Jan and is doing fantastically - talking in sentances, trying hard in class, has stopped stimming and is having far fewer melt downs We have a skype with Dr Pauc tomorrow so will hopefully change his vt as he is now quite happily doing his "Wheres Wally?" and ignoring the bouncing ball on the computer to the point that he doesn't even notice it has stopped! . Diet is better too but we still have issues in getting the supplements into him.

On a more concerning note - I have been concentrating on ds2 over the last lot of months and I seem to have taken my eye off the ball with ds1 - just realised he is seriously struggling at school - wrt reading, handwriting and spelling - school are suggesting dyslexia so I guess I'm going to have to take him down to TH god knows where I will get the extra money from I have been giving him the same supplements are his brother and he can do the stair exercises with ease and the standing on one leg one. The only thing we have found out is that he has a convergance problem with his eyes (picked up on his routine eye appointment) and has been given bi-focal glasses to try and help. Hes 8 btw. Any advice?

Talk to Robin. I'm sure the vision therapy will make a world of difference to him.

Very good news about DS1 though. Really pleased for you.

Whojamaflip, I am going to pm you about VT

who Great news, thanks for updating.

I def think your ds could benefit from VT...good news is there is now a much cheaper tracking software that he can do! :)

oh amd my ds1 had major convergence in his left eye...pretty much gone now after VT :)

Can someone link me to which where's wally book we need to get as I forgot and too embarrass to ask Robin?

Thx.

Sorry have not been around much with the baby walking on furniture I barely get a spare sec.

But at least we are getting somewhere with th, or with something else we are doing, DS keeps improving slowly but surely and has jumped 2 p levels since Easter and think it's expected 1-2 in a year.

I just got the book 1 from wh smiths...they are numbered andn there are loads"
Good news re ds...my ds has also done very well this year

BlueShark - glad DS is making progress. You can use any where's Wally book.

My DS just got his Year 6 SATs results. Level 5 across the board. I'm thrilled.

Start of the year his writing was a 3a, and he'd never done a mental maths test in his life. Every time the class did a times table or mental maths test he used to walk out.

So he's done really well.

That's amazing! Well done indigobell's ds

Wow, amazing!

give the little indigo a huge hug for me, hope the other 2 cheer you up with good results too. Amazing news!

You are not going to believe this. As you all know DD can't read (or spell). She's just finishing Y4 and her reading level is a 2c. Ie she's at the standard you'd expect for halfway through Y1.

(and her spelling is a lot worse than that)

On Sun at TH she had to read for Robin. And she got stuck on words like 'pony' and 'afraid'. She didn't even know what sound pony started with (b, d or p)

Started the 2 new TH exercises on Mon.

This morning she read flawlessly.

She read a letter containing words like 'secondary' and 'priviledge'!!!!!!!!!!

She's always very up and down. So no guarantee she'll still be able to read tonight.

But she has never ever read this well before.

(sorry. 2c is half way through Y2 not Y1 )