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 :)

Ok, thanks, shopping. I wanted to make some for tomorrow. Am hoping to introduce some food gradually without them even noticing a change. Good idea to use black bananas.

Toffee - one thing that really helped with the food was involving DS in the cooking. A few times he baulked slightly but came around when I laid it on thick about how it was 'his pate' and 'wasn't he clever to make it', 'everyone will be so impressed' etc. Good luck!

Prince- My DS developed very similar OCD traits whilst doing TH. ( Must give me the same number of kisses as I give him, must have baked beans on fish fingers but not toast etc...) Robin was very relaxed about them and the treatment has, I believe, both brought them on and got rid of them. I see it all as part of the process. It sounds to me that your DS is suffering from a milder form of DDS, and my suggestion would be to do TH with him. Brushing would help, so would RRT but TH is better. I went to TH because of DS but when he had his first follow up I got Robin to look at DD. Like your DS she had/has no obvious academic problems, she got 3c's and 2A's in her SAT's at the end of year 2 despite being an end of July birthday and her behaviour at school was very good. However, after reading Robin's book I recognised that she has ADD and when Robin saw her he confirmed her ADD and also noted mild dyslexic and dyspraxic traits. I am very pleased that I am doing TH with her. She would have been ok without it but with it she will do much better, she is happier, more confident and has had a very good year academically.

That's a good idea, Ruggles, thank you.

Thanks beautiful, I think I feel very similarly to you with your DD. DS will be fine and is doing fine, but ever since we started TH with DD I have had a little voice telling me it would help DS too.

I have e mailed robin and will see what he says.

Thanks :)

Oh ruggles, with the meet up, I am not free this Sunday, but don't make any plans around me. I am not the best at these things so may bow out.

Possum - that's really interesting about your DD, she sounds very similar to mine and we are just starting to think that ADD might be part of the mix for her. What were the main flags for you? With DD here, it's her utter inability to follow a set of instructions from start to finish if she's not interested in them.

Prince - I think your instincts are right, and it's a good time to start now before things (might) get entrenched.

Quick question. We've just started Hemi P with DD, and she's fine with doing it, but she's also suddenly prone to bursting into tears about absolutely anything at all - like she's three rather than six. Is this likely to be a result of the Hemi P or is she just tired?

I just spoke with robin. We are to do stairs, diet and supplements for three weeks and then speak again.

Feel a bit better :)

Prince - that's brilliant. I am so glad you feel better. I always find Robin very reassuring as I totally trust his judgement and like the way he says it as it is. Fingers crossed for you all.

Prince- Glad you are feeling better and very pleased you are doing stairs and supplements with DS. Let us know how it goes.

Metran- DD had so many ADD symptoms. At 9 months she started with a childminder who was worried about her " absences" after her first day. She constantly interrupts, has to be told to do things many many times, says random things. e.g.. Having a conversation about something and she will suddenly say something like " what age do turtles live til " Children at school call her a weirdo and she looks around whilst she should be concentrating. She can be quite isolated at school . On the up side she is sweet and kind and 2 years ahead with her reading and literacy.

Regarding hemi p. We too had emotional outbursts from DD with Wally. Strangely not with DS ( he has had emotional reactions to all the other exercises but never Wally) If your child has ADD they will react to it. It works on that part of the brain. It is a good sign I think. Hard, but a good. Hang in there!

My daring son said last night that a bad feeling had moved in and that it is hard to get out as there are security guards around it. Pretty much broke my heart, but we have something to work with now. Getting rid of that feeling. Which he thinks the stairs will do and frankly even if it is only placebo effect I don't care it gives him some control back.

DD is just being marvellous. I walked around the supermarket with her the other day. I didn't have to hold her hand. She didn't run off, touch things she shouldn't etc. She just walked. With me. It was a real moment :)

Prince - that really does sound like OCD . This free guide for young children from OCD UK might be helpful. It was the first guide I turned to when my DS1 began having OCD symptoms. It suggests that your child draws and names his 'OCD bully'. It is a good idea to talk with your son about how [insert his chosen name] bullies and lies to him. The main thing is for your son to try not to allow himself to be bullied by it. I really hope the exercises give him back a sense of control.

I'm glad that your DD is doing so well.

I spent a lot of time on trains yesterday, so I was able to read most of 'The Brain Food Plan'. I am already introducing some of the food to the boys, but I think I will have to do it gradually so they don't rebel. Is that what other people did? So, I have given them protein breakfasts and good lunches, but I have allowed ice cream and DS2's favourite 'Frubes'. However, I have also been stricter about not allowing certain things, eg. DS1 wanted to buy Fruit Shoot and I refused to let him. He was surprisingly compliant. I think he knows I mean it.

Possum, thanks for the info, that's really helpful (and reassuring). DD seems not just to be volatile right now but also to have regressed in terms of her attention, so it's good to hear. How long has your DD been doing TH now?

Prince sorry to hear that DS is feeling that way, and I really hope that teh stairs and supplements start to work for him.

Just wanted to say Hi Toffeewhirl and good luck. Sounds like you're doing really well getting them to comply with protein brekkies and good lunches. Def think a gradual introduction is a good idea. I found that a few basic rules: breakfast is now cooked, we don't want e-numbers or sugar, was enough. We still have the odd ice cream (less odd when abroad!) but having a few rules means they knew I mean business too and as time goes by they become more willing to be flexible on their usual expectations and I become stronger at being strict and giving them more varied, daring (healthy) food. DS1 ate sea bass and cooked peppers the other day! Bizarrely it's DS2 who is not 'on' TH but who follows the rules as they're basically good for us all, is the one who still daily bemoans the absence of cereal.

Prince - I'm so sorry for your DS. It's awful when these things come on suddenly and strongly and I really feel for you both. Good luck with starting TH with him too.

Ruggles re: meet up - I too am away this w/e - I really would love to meet up if we can find another time though.

Toffee whirl, I agree with Harrietv that gradual but firm is the way forward. I ditched E numbers pretty much straight away ( they do have haribo ands stuff occasionally if it comes in party bags) and added more protein but we still eat a fair amount of home made cake. I just swapped cup cakes with tonnes of icing for flapjack, banana cake and similar. How did your boys take to the new breakfast?
Prince, I really hope you see some quick progress and relief for your lovely boy. Fab news re dd tho.

Badvoc, not sure if you are popping in and out but just wanted to say I'm thinking about you all :(

Hello all. I wanted to thank you for this thread and the others. We went to see Robin yesterday and have started stairs and engaging eyes today. Finally we have the explanation why my otherwise bright boy is having such a hard time at school. We were, I feel, dismissed by the Dyslexia Research trust - apparently his convergence was good, with no other vision problems. He badly failed 3/4 of Robin's fusional ranges tests and seems to have a retained reflex which means his peripheral vision is still super-sensitive! No wonder reading and classroom activities are hard.

I will (for the sake of other lurkers) come back and update with progress (hopefully). Thanks again x

That's great news cerealflakes. Hopefully you will start to see some great progress soon.

Hi Cerealflakes and welcome! Look forward to hearing how you and your DS get on! The difference in my son's reading (we were also told before convergence/tracking issues were very unlikely) have been huge and he wasn't a bad reader to start with....he's just taken off now and still only half way through EE. Good luck! x

Hello cerealflakes, look forward to hearing how you get on. We're less than three months in with DD, and have seen big changes already!

Have just ordered all the stuff for Week 1 of the TH eating plan. I tried the boys with porridge this morning, but they hated it and gave up after a couple of mouthfuls. They will eat ReadyBrek, so I have ordered that instead. Am still being much tougher about refusing to allow them certain foods. Without my knowledge, DS1 bought himself a Zero Coke from the corner shop yesterday, which at least meant he was trying to compromise by avoiding caffeine and sugar. However, I pointed out that it had aspartame in it and explained why that might be bad for him. He argued back, but I noticed that he didn't finish the can .

Have ordered straws and new water bottles to encourage drinking water. I'm going to try Robin Pauc's suggestion and serve water with straws, ice and sliced fruit.

I'm not sure which Floradix vitamin formula to buy. Any advice? I'm not sure whether to go for one with B vitamins and iron or to just go with the general one.

DS1 saw an OT about his handwriting and possible sensory issues this week. We'll receive the report in three weeks' time and have been given exercises for him to do in the meantime. The OT mentioned poor proprioception - not sure if Robin's programme helps with this .

Badvoc - like shopping, I am thinking of you and hope that you are as ok as you can be in the circumstances.

Badvoc, still thinking about you all. How is your mum?

Toffee whirl, bless ds1 with the coke, what a good boy. It's impressive he is thinking about these things for himself. He clearly feels positive about making the changes.
By proprioception does she mean kind of like coordination? If so TH helps massively. Ds had all sorts of dyspraxic type symptoms a year ago. Every single one has gone ( although he does still run a bit like Phoebe in Friends so maybe not every symptom!).
We had our Skype appointment with Robin this afternoon. Finally the hemis are finished and we are starting lumosity tomorrow! Over the moon. Robin thinks ds is doing really well and I'm looking forward to seeing if his cognitative skills are in line with where I would guess they are. I'm pretty sure he's a bright boy but will be interesting to see if the programme picks this up too.

Yes, shopping, proprioception is to do with co-ordination. It's about having an awareness of where your body is in space. That's good to know that TH can help. Actually, it's amazing that your DS's dyspraxic symptoms have gone since you started the programme. I hope lumosity is successful too.

I made flapjacks this afternoon. I think they are badvoc's recipe from another thread. They were absolutely delicious and the boys wolfed them down. I think they were both surprised and encouraged to find that these were allowed on the new diet. They did have a fair bit of sugar in them, to be honest, but at least they had loads of oats and I managed to sneak in some stewed apricots too.

My MIL has been grumbling to DH about this 'funny diet' I have put her grandchildren on. She is cross because she can't spoil them with sweets and cakes anymore. I have explained that it is to help them, but she doesn't get it at all. Ah well.

Hi Toffeewhirl - have exactly the same issues with Gparents - can't get head around the fact that saying no sweeties, fizzy drinks, endless biccies etc isn't actually child abuse but GOOD for them! It's not depriving them especially when i realise they don't actually want these things half the time unless they're offered them!
My DS enjoys porridge a lot and is in the Brain Food plan but when I went to see Robin he said eggs/bacon/cheese on toast is the aim (protein cooked brekkie, there's less protein in oatmeal) and if he's still hungry afterwards then a bowl is ok. Just thought I'd mention in case porridge was a battle you didn't need to win!
My DS adores banana pancakes for breakfast which is 1 mashed banana mixed with 2 eggs, all mashed up and then fried into little palm sized pancakes. Might be worth a try if they have sweet tooth! x