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

Beca so glad to hear that news- absolutely brilliant!

Just a little note on progress here too with ds' reading. He has got so much more confident and fluent of late. His teacher put him up a level a couple of weeks ago and I have since tried a few of the level above that with him- he reads them all very easily with only a little help.
Reading is not a 'problem area' for him as such but he only just got onto yellow in Oct 11. Since starting TH he has gone up 3 levels- pretty good going I think.
Today he got a sticker from the head for listening to instructions too .

What's the difference between these TH excercises and RRT?

DS was a failure to thrive bubba so his early development (prior to 4 months) may have been delayed. I've done a form to get his hospital records to double check this as tbh from about 6 weeks all I remember is a vague blur of tests, 2 hourly expressed feeds around the clock and my pfb shrinking like something off a famine appeal ad before my eyes, while the experts tried to figure out why. (Turned out the culprit was his dairy intolerance).

If you do the stairs exercise 3 times a day for 2 months, you'll know if the TH therapy will work for your DS or not. :)

The stairs exercise is described in the Brain Food Plan book.

TH and RRT are different. TH is based on what area of the brain is underdeveloped, whereas RRT works on inhibiting infant reflexes.

I'm fairly sure TH is more effective (especially after reading the stories today) - it is def quicker, easier & cheaper. :)

At 4 months spindle cells develop in the brain. I'm sure your DS's spindle cells developed properly. If they don't develop then your DS would have severe problems.

Yes Daftmaul, my DS has thrown up a couple of times straight after vitamins or said his tummy hurts.

He was really ill this weekend and I still don't know if it was a tummy bug or the osteocare liquid ...

I'm giving him lower doses of everything now just in case.

boc My ds1 was also a FTT baby...his early weeks were like something out of a nightmare for us He had undx IUGR (intrauterine growth restriction) so basically my placenta stopped working at about 32/34 weeks but it wasnt picked up. He was born at term weighing 4lbs 15 oz....he went down to 4.5lbs and was a very poorly baby indeed. He also had a strep infection in his blood which wasnt picked up til he was 6 weeks which didnt help matters! Also prolonged jaundice.

For a while they did query CP as he was so very floppy. He did not sit up unaided til he was nearly 10 months old.

I can really relate to your comment about a famine victim baby....I dont think my dear uncle (who passed away 18 months ago) ever got over his shock at seeing ds1 for the first time...he was 5.5lbs at this point and looked very poorly indeed My aunt could fit his whole head in the palm of her hand

Now however, he is a strapping 8 year old who is in the 75th centile for height and weight

I think we are very lucky ds1 is as he is...in fact I know we are. He could so easily have much worse problems than he has.

AFAIK RRT is designed to pick up any retained primal reflexes - that we are all boen with like moro - and use the exercises to inhibit them and encourage the postural reflexes to take over - which should happen at 1-1.5 years old.

TH exercises are designed to stimulate the cerebellum (literal translation = small brain) at the base of the brain/top of spinal cord which in some kids with symptoms of dyslexia/adhd/dyspraxia etc are due to the cerebellum not functioning/not developng properly.

HTH x

Am rereading the Brain Food Plan and have two questions:
Should we do RRT first? Or just get on with whatever comes to hand?

p35 exercise 1 it says 'walk up and then down' does that mean walk up three stairs with eyes closed then turn around and walk down with eyes still closed?

Sorry one more q, how do you remember to do it 3x a day? Do your children get fed up?

Just read Indigo's post above. Okay so try stairs exercise for two months.
Does anyone here get the school to do one lot of the thrice daily exercises? I'm going to see school about ds's IEP next week.

oodles

Ds1 does 1 set first thing. Then normally 1 before school and 1 before bed. Its not been an issue so far.

Its 3 steps up, eyes closed, arms by sides and down again. Then progress to 5, 7 and 10 reps and then the same exercise but backwards and so on...

Such a quick exercise to do compared to RRT too. They will struggle at first...ds1 has just started the backwards ones and is finding it difficult.

We have done RRT and am now doing TH.

Its a hard question to answer...which one would I recommend because they are to treat different issues IYSWIM?

I am very glad I did RRT but am also very glad we are now at TH...I am not sure my ds1 would have been "ready" for the TH regime if he hadnt done a course of AIT and RRT.

HTH x

Oodles - have you already started RRT? If you've started and are happy with it, I'd probably finish it.

If you haven't started then I'd probably do TH first. But like Becarooo I did RRT first, so can't say what TH would have been like if we hadn't done it first.....

I don't think you should do TH and RRT at the same time.

We do one lot of exercises before school, one after school and one before bed. They don't take long. Some days the kids complain, some days they don't.

You don't turn around to walk down the stairs, so you walk down backwards.

Thx Beca and Indigo. Have talked to dh about it this evening and signed him up to try for two months starting tomorrow, 1st March. Nothing to lose, everything to gain...

That is exactly the right attitude oodles.

Nothing you are doing will harm him - nothing invasive or unpleasant.

Here's my take on the exercises/diet issue.
With our ds we haven't had to change his diet hardly at all to fit in with TH. The only thing we have done is make sure he has a protein breakfast everyday now (before it was about 4 times a week). Also, we started the supplements before we started TH (behaviour balance last July, Magnesium & Zinc in December, TH in january) So, for us, any changes are going to be mostly to do with exercises rather than diet iyswim.
I do think the exercises alone are having a significant impact on his behaviour and his levels of empathy.
Yesterday I went into the playroom and turned off the TV announcing it was time to go up for a bath (usually the cue for a complete breakdown). Ds started his usual groaning noises "grrrrrridontwannahaveabathgrrrrrrr." but then suddenly said "Oh, actually, a bath? That's OK" took my hand and we went upstairs!!
This morning he had a moshi monster colouring in page and he asked me if I could take it to work and photo copy it for his friend cos his friend might feel sad if he didn't have one the same
All that we are doing is stairs 3 x a day and spinning on chair (should be doing 3 x but in practice probably only twice). There is nothing to be lost in having a go at this for anyone. I have told ds who has suddenly discovered an interest in football (yet another change, he's even said he wants to join a club ) that all the top footballers do exercises like this (I'm sure I've seen backwards jogging in training sessions on the news) to improve their football skills- which of course is true.

Ooodles, with the stairs exercise they don't turn around at the top but walk down backwards- yes it is hard at first, but if we can get my ds to do it (suspected pathological demand avoidance) I'm sure anyone can!

pop thats really great news..thanks for sharing. Well done to your ds!

Ds1 has discovered a liking of dance!

Having issues atm getting a regular supply of the supplements (I live in a small village) so I need to get more organised and make sure I have spares in the cupboard.

Btw, the cheapest floradix Kindervital and saludynam I have found is from amazon....£8 per 250ml bottles with free shipping.

I have worked out that with the supplements ds1 is taking atm its costing us £1.50 per day...so approx the price of broadsheet newspaper per day.

Hi,
so would love to join and do the TH from the book for 2 months to see if it helps.....my DS is 6 years, always been on the go and immature to name but a few things. Last week told it was ADHD.
So have looked what we can change in his diet. Meals seeem ok, just need to add protein to breakfast.
Realised he is getting a lot of sugar from petit filous and frubes. Doesn't eat sweets or choc. He also has cereal for breakfast and supper.
Any suggestions for lower sugar yoghurts would be helpful if anyone has any that isn't natural yoghurt -tried that and it was a big fat no.
Lower sugar ones I have looked at seem to have sweetners in.
Also can I ask about the Zinc, I have my supplements -the floradix and barleans triple potency.
But noticed the zinc is only 1mg per 10 mls and reading the book looks like he should be on a lot higher? Any suggestions or is it not that much of an issue?

Have tried to get DS to do the tests and not having much success, I dont think he has a convergance prob as far as I can tell and he didnt move or fall to one side when I did the tapping. Thats as far as I got this morning

Too much zinc can cause a copper imbalance & so lead to further problems Denellen. Have you tried blending pureed fruit into natural yoghurt? I'm keen on the Lidls thick greek yoghurt at £1.55 a big tub.

Zinc rich grub www.nutritional-supplements-health-guide.com/zinc-food-sources.html

If your child is eating enough protein, he should be getting enough zinc by default so see how you get on with the existing supplement. Core nutrients should always come from the diet, with the supplements being just a "top up", not a replacement iykwim.

Nut and seed spreads are cool for days when you can't ba doing a cooked brekkie, or want a sensible grab and run snack.

www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/recipes-breakfasts.html

Some tasty homemade nut and seed spread recipes in the link above. I buy in bulk bags of nuts when I see the special offers. Once you've tried those you can come up with your own combinations.

Also on that site is the clever idea of replacing some of the flour in your baked goods with ready brek to boost the calcium and b12 content of your muffins etc. Handy for those like DS who are dairy free.

Has anyone seen where you can buy Teff flour cheaply? Although we aren't gluten free I like ringing the changes a bit.

Crap day for ds at school It must be the week for it.

How long does it get worse for before it starts to improve?!

If it helps they often get worse just before you see a real "breakthrough" developmentally.

DS did this just before he demonstrated the first ever signs of imaginative play at Xmas. This was a massive neurological leap forward as it impacts on so many areas.

My Mum (retired SEN teacher) swears by this theory

Thanks for clarifying the exercise everyone. Ds couldn't do it at all this morning, but seemed okay with it this evening. I guess 30 mins on the trampoline, 30 mins in the field at school and an hour in the woods after school gee'd him up. Also we will check he's definitely got his eyes closed tomorrow.

Interesting point about zinc and copper Bochead. I just bought four bottles of the zinc/magnesium gunk on special offer in Holland & B. Ds eats lots of humous and peanut butter so maybe I shouldn't overdo it.

Thanks for the info re the zinc bochead and the food stuff. I was getting carried away with the reading about the results with high doses of zinc -lol.

Sorry to hijack, still reading the brain food book (almost 1/2) and at TH - DS has to do chair exercises 5 times a day, we started a few weeks back, what changes am I looking for?, have to mention that i have noticed improvement in his eye contact
Thanks

Lovelyboys - Improved eye contact definitely counts :)

The changes can be anything. Your DS is still quite young, and I'm not sure what he can and can't do......

But you should see improved speech, and might see improved control of his emotions, improved empathy.

You should see improved gross motor skills, being less clumsy and more coordinated.

Your's is the youngest DC on the thread (I think) - so I'd expect things to be slightly different for him.

Denellan - I don't really understand all this zinc stuff. RDA seems to be either 10 or 15 mg. I give my kids 10 mg. But like you said, the stuff Robin recommends doesn't contain nearly that much.

Lovelyboys, I would say an improvement in eye contact was a major improvement. That is fantastic.

Hoping for a better day for ds at school today!

Interestingly, he has mastered the stair exercises and after a week is doing them backwards pretty well. The standing on one leg, tooth cleaning continues to be tougher. I thnk because he has trouble with teeth cleaning anyway (?dyspraxia). He cant seem to stand still and has to shake his right leg whilst holding it off the floor

How much are you all minimising tv/computer/console time? Robin says half hour max gaming/computer and only one programme a day of tv. Ds tries to find the longest programme he can find e.g. Film/Football match . We do go over the recommended amount and find computer ps3 a good reward for completing homework satisfactorily I.e. without fuss.

I'm not minimising screen time

I don't remember Robin telling me to.

DS1 would probably plays on the PC for 10 mins 3 times a day. And he doesn't sit and watch TV - although it's always on in the background.

He reads a lot and has a kindle. I hope that doesn't count as screen time :)

DD doesn't like the PC but watches TV, especially when she's too tired to do anything else.

I always want to minimise screen time - and always give up after they yell at each other constantly for half an hour. :)

DS2 spends hours and hours and hours on the PC, and I really haven't got the energy to wean him off that.

DS has 30 mins on his DS every night in bed. It's the only thing that gets him to go to sleep.

He also has an hour running around playing with dog before school every day for the same reason. After last Sundays events we've gone off our local swing park for the time being, before that he had 30 mins playing on the climbing frame with the neighbours after school everyday The fresh air and excercise helps sleep too.

Am planning on getting a Kindle for him to share with his Gran for his birthday.

Hhhm all these ideas sound so good in theory don't they - the devil is always in the detail as I need my kip too