NEW Tinsley house support thread -part 2!!

[Badvoc]

Hello everyone!
Thought I should start a new thread as we were nearing 1000 posts! :)
Indigo is no longer posting as you all know, but I think it would be such a shame for the support thread to go too.
I know I find reading about all the ups and downs we all experience very helpful and it's so great to hear all the progress :)
So.
We go back to TH next month and can't wait. So interested to see of the tracking programme has worked. I think ds1s reading speed has improved and he is now reading proper chapter books!
He continues to show less anxiety, OCD behaviour and stress.
He is eating better and is generally a much happier chap.
Looking forward to hearing from you all over the next few weeks/months...X

Daftmaul- I have been thinking about epilepsy. Do you think your son's epilepsy is linked to DDS? Does he have any other health problems? Also wondered how old your DS is?

I really feel that Robin is making a difference to both my children and whilst I understand that geograhically it is difficult for some to get to TH I think his expertise and practical supportive approach are worth the inconvenience. I think he is at the cutting edge of this type of neurodevelopment and personally would not want to go to anyone else unless I really had to.

However, having said that, do speak to Robin. Maybe you could start with him and then move to one of his other clinics as things progress. He mentions something like that in one of his books ( case study about a girl in France)

It's a 7 hour round trip for us and some others to TH.
It's tiring but worth it.

Ds has eaten cauliflower today!!! This is a child who has totally refused to put veg in his mouth since he was 2. Tiny things can make you soooo happy :)

Thanks for your replies. It sounds as though - if we're going to go for it - we might as well make the journey. I wouldn't like to invest and wonder if we were missing out.

Anyway... I was also going to ask if any of you see Robin/use the programme for ASD symptoms only? I know lots of people use it for dyslexia and wondered if most of your positive experiences have been in this area?

My concerns with ds are mainly related to social communication. Has anyone seen success on this front?

My ds has aspergers traits as his diagnosis. I think the biggest improvement in terms of social communication for us is he is more open minded. For example before TH he only played Lego. He only wanted to talk about Lego. He only wanted to use the Lego website. Now he plays playmobil, Lego, with his sister's toys, enjoys sylvanian families and other toys. He is interested in talking about a wider range of things. This has improved things with friendships no end and he and dd now play together much more than before.

Oh and he has completely stopped the characteristic autistic 'flapping'

Daftmaul, sorry didn't acknowledge your response to my question about melt downs. Thanks much appreciated.

My son had dyslexia/asd/OCD
I have seen an improvement on every level.

Thanks Badvoc and Shoppingbags. That's useful to know. I spoke to one of the Tinsley House 'associates' today. He sounded great and said he trained with Robin, and he's only 5 miles away. But... he said Robin has more assessment equipment (not sure what this would be) and more experience with kids, so it still sounds like it might be worth us making the trip. I'm going to find out if I could go to Robin for initial assessment, then maybe do follow-ups with the local clinic.

We've already started on the fish oil and ds does seem to be happier as a result. Could be anything of course but he seems calmer and more smiley.

Robin has a visiograph which measures the movements the eye makes when reading.
He also uses computer programmes to measure convergence too.
He is very good with kids.
My ds1 thinks he is great.

Hi Brunette- a trip or 2 to Robin and then follow up's with his associate sounds like a good plan- though when you meet Robin you might feel differently. I know that a trip to Robin lifts my spirits and makes all this stuff easier to deal with.

We are gradually getting through the VT though DS absolutely hates it. Now getting stars for saccades as well as pirsuits and accomodation rock but still struggling with BI and BO. These results seem to be getting worse- has anyone else found his?

DS is much less controlling than he was and is better able to cope but still really worried about him. He cannot read and write and he is nearly 7.

Badvoc- how long did it take your DS to complete the VT?

Hi Bp
Sorry, I was out yesterday afternoon unexpectedly (only an ikea trip...boo)
I think it took ds1 about 5 weeks.
He complained a bit at first...it's 20 mins long initially.
He also said that his eyes were tired a few times afterwards...I took this as a good sign that his eye muscles were making new movements and moving unnaturally for him :)

Sorry, didn't answer your question!
Yes, without a doubt ds1 found base in and base out very hard.
In the end I contacted robin as i was worried that he was getting the highest scores on everything else, but struggling on bo and bi...and we agreed that he would just do base in for 6 mins per day.
And it worked :)
22 months ago ds1 was really struggling with reading and writing...my nephew in year 1 was better than him :(
His writing was like polish...no vowels at all!
His NC scores at the end of year 3 were all 1s...
Fast forward to now and he is in the way to becoming an independent reader and got his pen license last week and has won star writer of week twice :)
I simply would not have believed it back then.
It seemed impossible :(
The first indication things were getting better was his willingness to read...he picked up books of his own accord!! The next thing was that he started spelling phonetically...ok, it still wasn't correct, but you could read it! :)
Just takes time....

Hello everyone.
Well, it's the big 4-0 for me today :)
Had a surprise party yesterday which was lovely :)
Am a bit tired now though!
Sooo..dh has told me that he may have to go away with work AGAIN when we have made our appt at TH. arrgghhh...
So I contacted robin and we are having a Skype appt on thurs evening! So whoever asked about Skype appts...I will let you know how we got on after thurs...
Ds1 is not very well atm...just a cold but it's gone onto his chest and he had a really bad night so he is off school today and prob tomorrow...he has spent the whole day in the sofa under a snuggie and watching films and CBBC :(

Happy birthday Badvoc! How lovely to have a surprise party. Did you have any clue at all? Your poor ds1. Hope he s bette soon. The weather was so foul today that bein under a blanket and on the sofa sounds like the perfect place.

Mock 11+ results are in. Maths remains crap, English scraping by but NV reasoning has improved by 50% since the summer hols - he got 75%! I think the VT/tracking/HemiStim is kicking in

Hi daft.
Thank you :) I honestly didn't have a clue!!
Great news re mock 11+.
Well done your ds!

Badvoc- so pleased you had a lovely birthday.

Just wondered if anyone is adding anything else into the mix whilst doing TH? I have been looking at probiotics/gf/df /homeopathy but am really worried that I might overdo it and make things worse.

DS is now much happier going to school and actually completed his VT without major fuss this morning. We are 10 weeks in and I am not really worried about him coping now. He still can't hold a pen and writes without vowels and spaces but know that will come.... does anyone know what the pen holding/ handwriting stuff is and when it comes in?

Thanks BP.
We did ait and rrt prior to TH and are doing GF lite...I.e. have really cut down carbs. GF pasta etc. also brown rice instead of white. Has def helped ds1 but he had pretty major bowel issues :(
Ds1 has probiotics if he has to take ABs but not daily. It is something I have considered but this bowels/gut are so much better I dont feel its needed ATM.
One thing you could try if your ds is amenable is the "write from the start" programme...
I got mine from amazon. It's 2 workbooks designed to help kids with their gross and fine motor skills. Ds1 did book 1 and started book 2 but made such progress I did not continue with book 2.
It's just copying patterns, making shapes and drawing but it's very clever how it teaches all the skills needed for handwriting!
There are also the stabile range of ergonomic grip pencils that ds1 had too. They are pretty good. I know tesco have them but got mine from amazon too.

I have probably mentioned this before but Robin suggested calligraphy as a good way to work on writing skills - it uses a different part of the brain, or something (can't remember exactly but that was the gist). we haven't done anything about writing recently - just too much to do and touch typing has been the priority leading up to exams.

We are also looking into climbing as a way to strengthen upper limb and fingers. A local(ish) sports centre has a huge climbing wall and offers OT sessions with a GP referral - again haven't arranged it yet! Thought that climbing sounded more fun than paying for more OT sessions that are miles away to get to.

We are not doing anything else 'alternative' (other than TH), just school work, tracking and HemiStim programs and usual exercises.

Thanks Daft and Badvoc.

DS has had a slightly iffy tummy the last couple of days and I asked him if he was ok to go to school. He said he wanted to go in as he was decorating a pumpkin and would miss out on all the fun. This from a boy who was so stressed out about school in June and July I thought I would have to HE. He really seems to be coping. Also only slightly stressed about VT. Real progress for little possum. Even DH who is rather cynical about all this stuff admitted that TH is making a difference.

I'm having one of those " Robin is a genius" days!

Sooooo...
The snot fairy has been visiting my house recently and now the vomit fairy has arrived too :(
(Weeps)

Hi everyone...
Had our Skype appt with robin earlier...went well.
Ds1 coped very well considering we hadn't done it before...
We have the hemi p and hemi t to do each day and where's wally and word search.
Robin is as chuffed with ds1s progress as we are which is lovely :)
I think e Skype appts are fine but you need to see robin a couple of times first at the clinic IMHO.
Next appt in early December.

Thanks for that Badvoc. We are going in oct but I think I'll ask to do Skype in dec and maybe feb too depending on the weather. Does he do tests over the Skype thingie then?

No, just talks about progress/any problems etc.
Diet, sleep, social issues...
He was going to give ds1 another exercise but decided not to in the end.
The downside is he hasn't had e visiography dine again, but we are just having major problems getting down there ATM due to dh's work trips...

Badvoc, what is the difference between hemi p and hemi t?