TINSLEY HOUSE SUPPORT THREAD - PART 3!!!! :)

[Badvoc]

Well, here is the shiny new thread for all of us either doing the TH programme, doing part of it, or thinking about doing it! :)
A brief synopsis of stage 1 of the programme can be found in the books "is that my child?" Or "the brain food plan" by robin pauc;

Stage 1 of the TH therapy consists of:

1. Daily Multivitamins

• Omega
• Zinc & Magnesium

1. Healthy eating

• High protein, low sugar, no artificial sweeteners, additives etc.

1. Specific neuro development exercises done 3 times a day

• Takes about 4-5 mins

And that's it :)

Stage 2 involves computer programmes to sort out eye tracking and convergence which over 80% of children with reading/writing problems have.

• www.engagingeyes.co.uk

We are coming to the end of our time doing TH I reckon...certainly by the end of the summer I think. It has been in many ways much easier than I thought at the beginning but of course takes commitment and time.

I am so glad we "took the plunge". It has made such a difference to ds and to our lives :)

Thank you x

Badvoc, sorry to hear ds2 has been so poorly. Surely, surely, your run of illness must be finished now? Fingers crossed.
House is FAB thanks prince. Another sign how different ds is. Absolutely no moving house backlash. I was expecting irrational tears and lots of crying about the old house but nothing at all. He loves his new bedroom but is missing all his books. He needs a new bookcase so his books are in boxes til we get one. We unpacked one box and he's spent most of today rediscovering them :)

Oh Badvoc, sorry to hear about your son. I thought you'd been quite quiet. I really do hope he's on the mend.

shopping glad the move went well. It's so stressful, isn't it? I've said that after moving into this house 3 years ago, and after all the work we've done to it, I will not be moving again. DH can commute if he ever changes job!

prince how are you getting on? Back on track?

We had a lovely day yesterday. Took the bus (a massive treat for bus mad DS) and went out for lunch. All exercises done and I was feeling very smug. Then DS was sick this morning. Sigh. He's been fine since then and even stole some of DDs breakfast, which has stayed down. Maybe just a one-off vomiting blip? I'm crossing my fingers it is!

Hello everyone

Badvoc - hope you've had a better weekend and that DS is on the mend. We're all thinking of you.

Shopping - congratulations on your move! What a big exciting thing. I'm so pleased it all went smoothly and that DS wasn't upset with it all - that is a really big thing for him to take in his stride. Not surprised that exercises have been a stuggle on top of packing! Good luck with Robin tom, let us know how you get on. Will you have a shorter journey now?

Lookslikerain - hope it was a one off? We quite often have random chucks...

Prince - how are you getting on? Have things got any easier?

We've had a full on weekend and are all a bit tired and grumpy.

Badvoc - what a horrible time, I hope he's on the mend.

Hope everyone else is OK - shopping we moved house in december so I feel your pain.

I just thought I'd update quickly. I'm not entirely sure what changes we are looking for in DD at first, but have noticed a few things. She's getting dressed and eating her meals much more quickly to start with. We also had a very odd thing yesterday, which was a comedy outbreak of 'why?' questions. Which wouldn't be that much to remark upon except that she's 6 and has never ever done that before.

Also to say that I like Robin even more now. We're having a small scuffle with school (very long story and won't be that enlightening) but he wrote a letter supporting what we want to do within 24 hours.

And finally, a quick question if you don't mind. DD hates the Floradix Saludynium (sp?) - are there any easily bought alternatives?

Hi everyone,
getting better thanks. Robin had asked us to do as many sets of everything as possible, but we are just doing what we can. I am trying not to feel too guilty. We did well y'day and are on track to do it all today so will keep on this week.

Badvoc - so sorry to hear your son is so ill. I hope your weekend has been OK and that the coming week is brighter for you.

Does anyone else here take the fish oils too? I take them as well as the kids and I swear I am concentrating better at work. I think the government should give them to the nation and watch us all fly!

inthesark - that is great news! So good to see some positive changes. DS first thing was getting dressed by himself, which he had never managed before. Buttons have taken longer Also better eating too!

Prince - sounds like you are heading in the right direction. Just do what you can manage and then see if you can build it up slowly. I take all the supplements and am a little addicted the fish oil chewables - and I hate fish! I'm sure they help my concentration too. I love the idea of us all flying!

I've been lurking on this thread for a while and posted a thread ref recipes. I now have Robins books and am slowly making my way through them. Thanks for the great flapjack recipe Badvoc (and big hugs to you and your son, I hope he's feeling better soon)

My son is dyspraxic, dyslexic and ADD. Having read this thread I feel we have nothing to lose and lots to gain by trying TH. We have started with the diet and supplements this week and will add the excercises over the next week.

I decided to stagger as I was concerned that it would be too much in one go for my ds to take on board. He's quite a fussy eater , who had a reasonably healthy (but carb heavy) diet. In actual fact he's taken to the diet really well and seems less keen to undertake the excercises. I would have put money on it being the other way round.

If it all goes well doing the diet and excercises then we will book an appointment with Robin in a couple of months (still need to convince DH that this isn't just quackery).

I don't get on the internet that often, but it's been great to read about everybodies experiences, so thanks for sharing them.

ok so i'm going to start stairs exercises with DS tomorrow, cant hurt! I need some advice though from someone in the know... I did the test exercises from the book and DS didn't struggle with any of them??? he didn't fall to the right or left and neither hands went out of sync etc. So I don't know which side of the brain we need to exercise!! From reading the book and website I can see that Tourettes, OCD and ADHD are delays in the right side of the brain...So when we get to the specific exercises is he standing on the left of right leg whilst teeth cleaning? Yoyo with left or right? etc. Thanks peeps :-)

Hi mumtothree, welcome.

Sparkle, re the toothbrushing - stand on left leg and use left hand to clean teeth.

Lovely weekend. Missed lumosity on both Friday and Saturday because of double sleepovers! He did it tonight though.

Badvoc - hope all is well with you?

Hi mumtothree. Welcome and good luck. Like you, I thought we'd have much more opposition to the changes than we actually did. My DS (3yo) similarly had a reasonably healthy diet but quite carb heavy. I've found it really interesting how the whole thing works together. I was always very sceptical about people who talked about "holistic medicine" but I see it in a different way now. We're all eating better!

sparklebomz I can't really help with the exercises. My DS has different problems so I don't want to give you duff information!

Well, DS wasn't sick again over the weekend but he's certainly not quite right. Not eating much either. We didn't manage many exercises yesterday but hopefully today will be better. The sun seems to have gone here but summer was nice while it lasted!

Hi there, just a quick question about eye tracking. Can/should you do it more than once a day? Robin said once a day, but it seems from the program that you get a star every time you do it? We're going on holiday mid july for three weeks, and I was wondering if we double up on days a bit if we can squeeze it in before we go......

What do you do when you're away, we won't have easy access to a computer, can you take a break mid/between exercises?

We're only two and a bit months in and already I'm not so strict with the timetable..........I'm in awe of those who have done this for a year.....I'm trying to break my horizon into two monthly chunks ie visits to Robin.

Oh another thing, Does anyone have any idea how long tooth brushing should take? Or is it until DD can do it without wobbling? My dd2, not under Robin, has been doing it with DD1 (for fun/support) and interestingly, seems to have it nailed in about 6 weeks, she's steady as a rock now (although her foot only just hovers above the ground? the strategy she thinks works best) so I guess this is what we're aiming for? Interesting because 1. she (apparantly) has no difficulties, but still took 6 weeks (how does this compare with others?), but also the other way, she has got to grips with it much faster than dd1 who struggles......

I'm still watching and waiting.......had IEP at school yesterday, small (in line with other SEN children) progress in all areas...

Brightstars, how old are your dcs? I think little ones struggle with some of the exercises even if they are NT. dd is about as Nt as they come but couldn't do stairs or tooth brushing at all. She's 5 ( was just 4 when she tried to join in with ds).
Re holidays - I look at this programme as a long term thing so I would take a break for the 3 weeks away. I think if you can keep going with the diet as best as you can and do stairs etc on holiday that should be enough.

By the way our latest news ready for Robin tonight is that ds' teacher says his concentration has significantly improved ( although still room for more improvement). I've been amazed by his growing independence over the last two months. He now wants to get himself dressed, ,brush teeth etc without any interference from me. He used to stand like a rag doll and let me dress him head to toe. He's also coping amazingly well so far with the house. He has just taken it all in his stride without a single worry or whinge.
My news is I got a job today! After 8 years as a sahm I'm going to be teaching year 5 every morning for a term's maternity cover from September! I feel like ds is ready for me to work again and now that I don't spend every waking moment worrying about him I've got spare brain power for work. I am delighted.

Hi all.
Am still here (in body only most days!) and reading your posts.
Shopping...great news :)
BS...personally I would on,y do it once per day. It really does mess with their brains. I understand once you start the programme the desire to "get on with it" and "g it over with" but once a day is plenty IMHO.
Prince...hey, we've all been there. Tom hasn't done lumosity for 2 days due to ds2 being ill and Dhs b day.
There will be times it's hard/impossible to keep to the programme.
They Only advice I can give you is to try and make the exercises part of your day/routine. That way the dc also get used to it.
Eg: it's just before we leave for school, time for stairs/whatever.
X

Hi all - we're finally on half term and away in the country (in the rain!) - we all needed a break! Will post when we get back from our hols - we come home via Robin on Sunday, v interested to see how things are. Stairs is coming on quite well, onto tray but not sure whether we should be. Tooth brushing not so good. Not sure teeth clean or much more than a lot of hopping going on! But he's def cracked Target practice part A, looking forward to seeing if/how it's affected his scores.
Hope your little one feels better soon Badvoc, hope Shopping's apt with Robin goes well, and great news re: job. And everyone else - sending vibes of 'easy to do'! Thanks to unexpected wifi in our holiday cottage we're finding it so much easier to do......ahh holidays are such a relief aren't they! :)
PS - yes agree Sparkles, it's LH brushing/leg standing for us and we have adhd/tics

Two more months of hemi p t and opk. Sigh. We are soooo bored of it. But then Robin says he will be ready for the next exercises which I think will be luminosity? He just said there are 5 activities that take about 12 minutes. Am glad we will start that in the summer hols though because I've found it takes ds a while to get used to a new activity and it helps if we've got all day to do it.
So after a long skive we've done our exercises properly this morning and I'm determined to do it every day til August.

Badvoc, good to hear from you.

Harriet, have a great half term. Hope the weather improves wherever you are!

Shopping, good for you!

Dreary and drizzly here today. I am on my countdown for my charity walk on Saturday!

Well done shopping! I keep thinking about you - its tough when it feels tough.

Daft - what charity walk are you doing? I am very impressed and keep thinking I should do something - I need to move more!

Harriet - is this your first review with Robin?

Badvoc - how are you all? Is DS any better?

Me again! Epic post coming up.

Just after some advice on our wonderful DS who is 4.8 - he has been assessed by Robin as having adhd and dyspraxia. DS seems to go through phases where some things are more of an issue than others. These can come and go. Not strictly TH stuff, but would be interested to hear any helpful advice on any or all of these things: !

• He gets very tired and is struggling with his one full day at pre-school. On other days and at the weekends he has 1-2 hours sleep at lunch time. He sometimes wakes early, but can't seem to last through out the day without a snooze. I want to cut out lunch time sleep and get him used to the idea of coping with a full day before he starts school in September. DH thinks we should carry it on and he loves us all having a siesta at the weekends.

• He finds it difficult to express feelings in words and bashes other children at pre-school when he is upset or frustrated. He is able to relate experiences and talk about things but often doesn't want to. He makes a real thing about not wanting to answer questions or talk about his day. When something goes wrong his first reaction is to cry - this has become much more pronounced over the last couple of months. We've been talking to him about expressing feelings, talking to people and explaining what's wrong rather than bashing or crying but its not really working and its getting worse. This morning we had tears 4 times before we left for school! Any other ideas?

• DS sucks his fingers and his collars. I've totally let this slide as thought we were tackling bigger issues and he does it to tune out and relax. Teachers, our parents and friends keep mentioning it and saying that we should stop him. Do you think its ok to put it down the list for a future time?

I'm not sure if this is stuff that TH will help with. Thanks so much for reading.

Hi ruggles. I do think TH will help with all of that, yes.
But - as ever - it's a time thing :)
As for other people mentioning him sucking his fingers etc.
Ignore.
Do mention it to robin, I am sure he will put your mind at rest far more than I can.
Afaik the TH programme tackles different parts of the brain at each stage.
It may well be that the traits you most want to get rid of/reduce will be the last bit of the brain that is worked on (sorry)
Wet naps...Tom napped for 30 mins to 1 hour every day after pre school until he started reception :)

Hi and thanks for your comments, shopping and bavoc. NT (not troubled??) dd is just 6, dd1 is almost 9. Glad to hear you think holidays from full TH ok. Will def keep up diet anyway as couldn't bear the transitional whining again.........maybe will have to relent a little of icecreams though!
Bavoc - you're right, slow and steady wins the race....hope health is returning to your house....?
Ruggles - i think we push our kids to do too much too soon in this country, esp boys. If ds sucks fingers/collar to chill out, and you take that away......maybe he'll be more stressed and more likely to cry/bash? RE sleep, if it was me I would let him nap if he needs it until maybe a month before school starts. Then I would do my best to cut all daytime naps and put to bed early, and try to get total sleep time needed (across day and night naps - work out over a week?) into the nights only? Just my tuppence worth.....

So agree brightstars re: expect too much, to soon of our boys. Ruggles your DS sounds similar in many respects to my DS1. He was always so tired and I think for him a lot of it was high sensitivity and just being utterly overwhelmed with life in a busy school/preschool. He was always a totally different child at home.

Does he drop off to sleep easily at night? My DS woke early too and I could do nothing to help that but realised he also dropped off to sleep quite a long time after I said good night (anxiety? busy brain)...for a while used kids bedtime meditation cds which really helped. and when really bad would lie with him, reminding/ordering him to stay still and calm. if that's not a problem i agree, let him nap while he can and over summer cut it out, putting him to bed really early if nec. Bedtimes and sleep SO much better since TH.

DS was a melt-downer rather than a basher, and just withrdrew completely from frustrating situations at pre-school and let rip at home, but all boiled down to lack of words too, and exhaustion. In fact I still chant "use your words" fairly frequently to him now (much less than i need to do DS2, 4.5) but TH has also made huge changes to the chat - he now, since Easter hols, can tell me exactly what went on at school, how much he did, what he learned, it's been amazing. How it can possibly have helped I've no idea but the change has been huge!

My DS is 7 now so i'm sure some of this comes with age too but just wanted to reassure that this is from our experience all stuff which TH addresses. And I also have to just accept that life is exhausting for DS1 (poor little chap) and all other mum comments of 'well i hardly think one after school club is too much for a 6 year old' no longer bother me. It's too much for him, he needs to go to bed earlier and he needs more down time. For a couple of years post-school was a matter of damage limitation!!

oops on holiday - supposed to not be on mumsnet!!

ruggles Actually, I would have thought that TH could help those things (or maybe I've just decided that, in fact, Robin is superman and there's nothing he can't fix!).

Your DS sounds quite similar to mine in that he also isn't good at expressing himself with words, though like harriet's DS, mine is a meltdowner not a basher. Granted he has a speech delay but often in a frustrating situation, I know he has the words to tell me what's wrong etc, but his default position is to meltdown. I also say "use your words" a lot! While TH hasn't sorted this yet, I think it's very slowly improving and he now tries to tell DH what he did each day.

On sleep, I think some kids just need more sleep than others. DS had 2 naps a day until he was over 18 months and still has a nap most days now. I'm not going to encourage him to drop it as he sleeps worse at night when he's overtired.

Harriet my DS also lies awake for a while at bedtime. I'm interested in meditation cds. What cd did you use? I will have a look on amazon. Though you'd better not reply until you're home from holiday!

As for he sucking collars etc, I second just ignoring people. It isn't harming anyone and i doubt he'll be doing it at university! I've come to the conclusion there are a load of people out there who think that this kind of stuff is a competition and that there is a section on your cv that details when you gave up your dummy, when you were dry at night etc etc! I have visions of adult DC in an interview with interviewer saying "so, you were still sleeping with your mum at 3years old, tut tut..."

Well, DS still seems a bit off, and yesterday developed a few little blisters round his lips, so now I'm worrying he has hand, foot and mouth. He doesn't have all the symptoms from the nhs website though so not sure. He's been a moody little monster for a few days, mainly because he isn't eating much, I think.

Ruggles , your paragraph about ds being quick to cry and bash other kids could have been my ds at the same age as yours expect mine was already in reception at that age so was having to deal with full days too. It is grim.
He is now 7, the bashing stopped completely within a few months of him turning 6 ( coincidently or not this was also when we started TH). He almost never hits out now and if he does it is generally at his sister and after she has wound him up. The crying is still a problem.
I was led to believe the tears and melt downs were aspergers traits. Robin told me not on Monday. He now feels ds has no ASD traits left at all (woooooohooooo!). We still have some lack of concentration to deal with and I think Robin thinks the tears etc will go when we do luminosity.
Hang in there and take comfort that you've started TH nice and early with your ds, by the time he is my ds' age all this will be firmly in your family's past.