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

Hi Guys,

Not much TH news here, everything's ticking over very, very slowly. Can't wait till we're finished - or at least get the next exercise :)

However, in other news......

After reading a few months ago that allergies, particularly dairy, can cause dyslexia symptoms I took DD to a nutritionist - who found she was very intolerant of dairy!!!!!

So we cut out dairy 3 weeks ago, and day by day she improves. Her spelling is now readable. She's made more progress in spelling in the last 3 weeks then in the last year!

Then, I read 'Smart but feeling dumb' which suggests that Dyslexia et al is caused by inner ear problems - and treatable by travel sick medicine, or anti-histamines, or anti-nausea medicine!

The symptoms he described sounded more like DS than DD (travel sick, anxious, panicy, falls over....) so I asked him if he every felt dizzy - and he said "Yes, every day"! :( :( :(

Which he'd never told me before. So I bought him a travel sick medicine - and gave it to him yesterday - and straight away he stopped feeling dizzy!!!

Unbelievable.

The excercises in this book:- www.vitalsounds.com/AstroProd.aspx

Astronaut Training: A Sound Activated Vestibular-Visual Protocol for Moving, Looking & Listening (Handbook with Companion CD)

are having an AMAZING impact on DS (we are only at section 3). I'm so impressed and utterly convinced that sorting out his inner ear issues is absolutely key to making a real difference for him long term.

I'm getting quite desperate to find a UK therapist who can help me follow this protocol properly for him with no success but I can't reccomend that you take a look at it strongly enough Indigo. I don't see travel sickness pills as a lifetime solution to something that could potentially be significantly helped, (I doubt anything is a cure but you can make a real difference while they are still growing).

We've only been doing it a month but the changes in DS are pretty dramatic already e.g
he can use cutlery for the first time ever
he can swing himself at the park
he's kicked a football back to a friend
pitch sensitivity has reduced
less prone to getting overwhelmed by "life" iykwim. (less dizziness).

It focuses on the inner ear and so helps directly with all aspects of the vesitibular(balance = dizziness) - visual- auditory triad.

I only recomend it for those who KNOW their kid has a specific inner ear issue - it's not a "general" thing like many OT therapies so won't be suitable for everyone on this thread.

I'm really frustrated that google and my enquiries to date have only thrown up US based therapists. If I find someone who does do this face to face in the UK I'll be sure to let you know.

Yes, I agree travel sickness pills are only a temporary solution.

But they a) tell me more about the problem, b) give him temporary relief and c) give me time to work out how to fix it.

So thank you very much for linking to this. It does sound like something I'm interested in.

Also need to talk to Robin when we next go, because I don't know how much his therapy will help with the inner ear problems. It's possible that the next part of the therapy will totally fix his inner ear problems.

Incidently Dr Harold Levine who treats kids with Dylsexia et all with Anti-histamines and travel sick pills etc, says they only need to be taken for 1 - 4 years - then the inner ear problem is fixed.

I hope you weren't offended by my comment on the travel sickness pills. Cos you know actually as a temporary fix while I continue the hunt for a therapist experienced in this area it sounds like a fantatstic idea!

(You KNOW how desperate I'm getting for Ds to be able to learn to read & write He's going into year at NC level 1 ffs!).

It's US based so whether there is an equivalent UK programme without the flashy "astronaut" description is summat I'm really keen to find out. There is a US/UK language barrier sometimes iykwim, with the UK using much less showy terminology. I'm finding it hard to believe that NOONE in the UK is getting paid for helping kids like this, given the prevalence of dyspraxic traits.

I don't see it as a "substitute" TH more as perhaps a what you do next AFTER TH has finished working it's magic perhaps? The link above is really a specific inner ear programme.

If a pill could sort dyslexia/dyspraxia etc then surely big pharma would be making a killing from it by now? ( - no offence to Dr Levine - just my own cynicism kicking in.)

Hmmm....ds1 still has real difficulty with his knife and fork...

Dore tried to work with Dr Levine and mass market his magic (before he invented the Dore program) and Levine wouldn't let him - so maybe that's why big pharma's ain't doing it?

I agree about looking at DSs inner ear problems after TH - if TH doesn't cure it.

which I think he will

A quick question about VT - what happens when ds has all the stars? We've been doing it for ten days and he has 6 stars on the base in and base out activities already. Does it recalculate and change activity once you've competed the set of stars?

When Break In and Break Out are done, you then get Jump Duction, when that's done you then get Autoslide.

When all the stars are done on all the programs, you then ring / email Robin and he looks at your results and tells you what to continue with.

Normally he assigns Jump Duction for 6 minutes or something like that.....

Just spoke to Robin, and he says his therapy will cure DSs inner ear problems. (Because it's caused by a problem with the cerebellum, which is what he fixes)

But to keep him on the travel sickness medicine in the mean time.

So, I'm really pleased.

Brilliant re inner ear thing. Poor ds must be grim to feel dizzy all the time. Thanks re VT

Ran out of vits a couple of weeks ago and thought I would see what happened if i didn't replace them. I would not recommend this to others, DS much stroppier more impatient and increased meltdowns, could be coincidence but I don't think so.

Back on them today and plan to monitor closely!!

Good news, DS swallowed vegepa capsule today so no more trying to hide disgusting fishy oily stuff in his food!!!

NOW I'm finally interested in signing up for TH Indigo

(For others on the thread I rejected it initially because the diet wasn't personalised, & I've been looking at that area since Ds was 4 months old, but bought the book for the exercises & was impressed iyswim).

Welcome bochead. Dh and I look at Tinsley house with its diet plan, supplements and exercises that they aren't going to do ds any harm and it might change his life. We have been on the programme for just ten weeks but can see life changing results already. Robin's theory about developmental delay fits ds' profile so much better than the aspergers diagnosis he has - eg even before TH his behaviour steadily improved as he matured whereas you would expect someone with aspergers to become more aspie as they got older. We feel really positive about his future now.

Me too shopping.
Robins theory of developmental delay syndrome fits ds1 to a tee.
He was the first hcp in 8 years to be able to tell me why ds1 tip toe walks.
8 years.

Sadly despite the great strides DS is making in some areas - the more he gets the more "Aspie" he gets iyswim. Much as I'd love to delude myself otherwise he isn't wired in a NT way, his thought process is totally rules based - to the point I sometime wonder if he thinks in binary. Somewhere along the line his brain took a right turn when everyone else went straight on iykwim. I am convinced that the early language and diet work I did (sing & sign) stopped him winding up further down the spectrum than he did. My sibling has a neurodisability & he was dairy intolerant from birth so the diet thing kicked in before weaning. Even now he doesn't LIKE the way fizzy drinks make him feel, so won't touch em out of choice.

Sadly he's a bright kid so appears "normal" in a clinic setting chatting with one nice lady, as he remembers "the rules". (took him a year but he learnt to make eye contact for example). See him in the playground though and he's the mad scientist looking for bugs round the edges while all the other kids interact. His mates know he's "different", & I've lost count of the number of Mums who have asked me if he's on the spectrum at the park.

The highlight of his summer hols? Finding a new species of slug [hmmm] That's NOT normal for an 8 year old. Last year we couldn't go on playdates as he wanted to know if people had cockroaches and used to crawl around their kitchen skirting boards looking for evidence (tell me YOU wouldn't be offended?).

I am absolutely sure you are right bochead.
Early intervention is key for so many reasons.
My son is also pretty clever in showing hcps what he knows they want to see and his behaviour has never been an issue.
I could have cried at his first paed appt. he didn't tip toe the whole appt and then as we were walking to the car he pranced on tip toe the whole way
My son is obsessed with ww1 and ww2....his friends watch Ben 10 and he watches dads army :)
He was 9 in June.

But if Robin is right then our boys' problems will be mended. That is the most wonderful thought. I really believe ds will just be a little 'quirky' when we finish Tinsley house rather than a pita at school and controlling at home. I can see his brain improving after just ten weeks, in a year we could be almost there.

Shopping - DS is 'almost there' after a year - and he still has heaps and heaps more therapy to go.

So where do you think he'll finish?

Yes.
Ds1 is almost there.
Almost.

They will be superheroes indigobell :)
God, ds would love that given his current marvel comic heroes obsession

Ds1 had 7 American style pancakes for breakfast this morning :)
It's got egg and milk in so am not too worried about it diet wise!
He is reading every day and we are doing apples and pears 4 x per week too.
He is doing the tracking exercise every day too and usually gets them all right :)
Am nervous about year 5 but I was nervous about year 4 too and it was great for him :)
His writing is getting neater and smaller but, god, he's still slow! :)
He is so good now at swimming and badminton and cycling :)
Am hopeful.
:)

Did you have to roll him out of the door after 7? :)
Brilliant re reading. I am proud of how ds has done this summer, was thinking about it this afternoon. We have done 10-15 mins reading every day and 10-15 mins maths or writing - no moaning about either. He does VT every day and is getting lots of stars. We're also teaching him to ride a two wheeler and (fingers crossed) he is nearly there. Will be over the moon if we can crack it before we go back to school.
Getting nervous about sept though. He is moving to a new school which could be amazing for him but only if he stops tantrumming and refusing to do what the teacher asks (sigh)

Time shopping.....I am convinced that all it is going to take is time....

:)

I'm just hoping that I can help DS before he gets too old to participate in therapy willingly iykwim.

What brand of travel sickness pills are you using? Can't help thinking this might help with back to school transition a bit so keen to get to the chemist and get DS on some this last week of the hols. Back to school is historically a rough time of year for us.