Transcription
Welcome. Here we are in the beautiful Valentine Auditorium on the campus of the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential. Normally, this room is filled with parents from all over the world who come here to ask their questions, to learn about their brain-injured child, to learn more about how to evaluate their child, how to understand their child, but most of all, how to use that knowledge to help their child get better.
Well, today the auditorium is empty, and that's because we're here today to answer your questions. So let's get started. Let me begin by saying that implied in many of these questions, but not stated, is the question: How do I deal with this alarming, or distressing, or even frightening symptom that I see in my child? And I'd like to say the most important thing that we have to do to do a better job with brain-injured children is to go beyond looking at the symptom. As frightening as the symptom may be, as distressing as it may be, as disruptive as it may be, we have to ask the question: What's causing that symptom? What is causing that child to do that? If we can do that, if we can step one step further to say, "What's the cause?" we can start looking for real solutions.
In the world of brain-injured children, a chronic, chronic problem going back a hundred years, probably longer, is to be distracted by those symptoms, is to try to treat each of those symptoms. And this, this can sometimes lead to practices with brain-injured children that are not only ineffective, but sometimes even harmful or suppressive to the brain.
Well, let's look at your questions. First, I, we have a question from Natasa, and she is in Croatia. She says, "I'm a mother of a seven-month-old baby with Down syndrome, and as I understand, after completing the 'What to Do About Your Brain Injured Child' course, parents evaluate the child themselves and develop a program. At what point can the child be evaluated by the staff of the institutes? Is that evaluation manageable in Europe or just in Philadelphia?"
Well, this is a very basic and very commonly asked question, and you're quite right. You will learn in the "What to Do About Your Brain Injured Child" course that we give here in Philadelphia throughout the year, and we also give it in Europe. You're quite right, we also give it in Asia. Parents come to attend that course. They learn how to evaluate their child. They learn how to develop a well-balanced program for physical growth, intellectual growth, and physiological growth. But at some point, when parents finish that course, they often want to return to the institutes and have their child evaluated, have their child diagnosed, have their child receive a full program designed by the staff. And that can be done in Europe, in the institutes there. That can be done here in Philadelphia. That can be done in Japan. Those are the places right now where we have the facilities and we have the staff to do that.
This is from Diane in England, and she says, "What's the first step in beginning the program?"
Well, there are several ways to answer that. The first step is to gain some knowledge. If you haven't read the book, "What to Do About Your Brain Injured Child," we would certainly begin there. There is also an online course called "The Pathway to Wellness," and there's a great deal of information there to help you to get started. But once you, perhaps, let's assume you've done all those things, where would we begin? We always advise our parents to begin with nutrition, with basic physiology. And the reason for that is simple. If you want to start a good physical program with your child, if you want to start a good intellectual program with your child, if you want to improve your child socially, all of those things are worthwhile goals. But to achieve those goals, you need a healthy, well-fed, well-rested child, and you need to be healthy, well-fed, and well-rested yourself.
So, we always ask parents to begin there. Go into your kitchen, get rid of anything in those cupboards that you know shouldn't be there. And we all have things in our kitchens that shouldn't be there, I think everyone knows. The most nutritious foods are fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. So, put those things into your child's diet in a great variety. If they're not right now, there's so many things we could say about nutrition, but we would say start there. You want to make sure that your child is drinking pure water, not juice all day long. You want to make sure your child is getting a good night's sleep. You want to make sure that he has the energy and the enthusiasm when he gets up in the morning to do all the great things that you may want to do with him. So, begin with nutrition.
There are many fine books out there on the subject of nutrition, and "The Pathway to Wellness" has a whole section on nutrition to help you get started. But that's actually the place we would begin. Now, if you've already done that, if your child is on a great regime, if he's very healthy, where, what would we start next? Well, we would ask a simple question. If we're designing a program for a brain-injured child, we ask the question: What is this child's biggest problem in life? And if your child's biggest problem in life is mobility, then you're going to begin by designing a mobility program that's appropriate for your child, using "What to Do About Your Brain Injured Child" book, using "The Pathway to Wellness," which will give you a lot of advice on a mobility program. That's where we begin.
If your child's biggest problem is intellectual, then maybe you're going to begin with all the good things that you can do to improve your child's intellectual growth, and we have many books in that area as well to help you get started. So, we would always focus first on what's the biggest problem. But I have to say to you, once we ask that question and we build a program for that, our next question would be: What is this child's greatest strength? Because you never want to neglect the child's greatest strength. You don't want to put all of your energy into mobility and neglect intellectual things because you say, "Well, I know my kid is smart." You definitely have to address his greatest strength. That's the best strategy. Make a plan for both.
Well, the next three mothers really ask very similar questions. The first is Marina, and she has two boys, both diagnosed with developmental delay and speech delay, big concentration problems. We have Angela, she has a child who is having trouble speaking and can't maintain his focus. And we have Uljana, and her daughter, although she's doing well and very well in some areas, her biggest problem, the thing mother's worried most worried about, is focus. So, all three of these mothers are really asking a question about attention, interest, and enthusiasm, focus.
Kids who have these problems as their biggest problem in life, generally, when we evaluate these children, we find that they have problems in the integrative areas of the brain. And these problems, while they're small compared to a child who may be blind or deaf or paralyzed, these problems can create a very difficult life for a child because he can't fit in, he can't do the things his brothers and sisters are doing. And these mothers realize that their children are quite intelligent. So, this isn't really a kid with an intellectual problem, although they look to most of the world as if they're kids with intellectual problems.
So, where would we begin for these kids? Often, one of these mothers asks, "You know, it's being proposed that she medicate her child to calm him down, to sedate him, to make him quieter than he is." And that's a common recommendation. What would we recommend? Where would we start with these kids?
Well, I have to say again, we would start one place. We would start would be in the kitchen. It is our experience that this group of children, children who have trouble with focus and attention and interest, that these kids are particularly sensitive to certain foods. We would eliminate dairy completely, in all forms, from the diets of these children, and we would eliminate wheat. These two things, you know, it's the protein in the dairy products and the protein in the wheat. This particular protein from milk or from wheat literally affects the areas of the brain that are responsible for integration and speech, and that's a big problem for these kids. So, the first thing I would recommend, although it may sound like an unusual idea, is to eliminate dairy products, eliminate wheat completely. You may find that in a matter of six to eight weeks, you can already see a difference in focus, concentration, and interest. So, that's where I would begin.
I would also recommend, of course, a physical program for these children and an intellectual program, quite a high level one. But our experience with these children is we must address their physiology, otherwise you get into a lot of ineffective or even harmful symptomatic treatment when we try to suppress them using amphetamines like Ritalin, or other medication. We're just trying to mask the problem instead of deal with it in dealing with it head-on.
Well, here's a question from Lori. She has a 14-year-old son, and he's been labeled with PDD, developmental delay. And she says, "He's very smart, he understands everything, but his speech is at a two-year-old level. Mom says he's trapped in his body. His father and I have treated him his entire life, but not much success in speech and in drooling. What can we do to get improvement in speech? He wants to talk to us, and sometimes the words are either too slow, or he's trying to figure out the easiest way to explain what he means so that we can all understand him."
Well, this is a very poignant story, and one that we've heard many, many, many times. The great thing for this family is they understand that their boy is highly intelligent. Sometimes, when a child has trouble speaking, we make the mistake of thinking he has nothing to say. Mom and Dad know he's very smart. So, again, for this youngster, perhaps, perhaps it will help him to, if he's having dairy products, if he's on wheat products, taking him off wheat and dairy, that would be a very good place to start.
But I would also say that when a child is having speech problems that are as large as the ones he has, we would always want to address respiration. We would always want to make sure, is this child breathing as well as he needs to breathe? Because you need to have very good respiration to talk. So, youngsters like this, we would be looking at a good physical program of walking and running to make sure their respiration was really as good as it should be, to make sure they were growing a big chest, big reservoir for oxygen to the brain. So, we would certainly put attention there for him. Diet, of course, as I've already said, we'd put attention there for this youngster.
I would also recommend facilitated communication. We have used it here at the Institute since 1993. It's absolutely a wonderful bridging action that helps our kids be able to communicate fully and completely and very quickly. For this young man, he probably could learn to facilitate in a matter of days or weeks, and then he would be able to communicate fully the things he needs, the things he wants, his concerns, his considerations that you need to open up that channel of communication. It's critical to him, otherwise he lives in isolation.
Now, some people say, "Oh yes, but teaching a kid to use a letter board to communicate, that's not real speech." Well, of course, it's not speech at all, it's writing. But writing is a legitimate form of communication. You and I use writing, and it's perfectly wonderful to have a brain-injured child able to use a simple letter board to communicate via writing while we are simultaneously addressing those areas that we need to address to get speech. Because I'm sure this young man, like all human beings who can't talk, is desperate to talk. And of course, we want to do everything we can to make sure that he can. But in the meantime, facilitated communication will give him the bridge that he needs. So, we would highly recommend that for him.
Well, here's a mother who's obviously done some homework. She knows from reading our books that we strongly recommend putting a child with mobility problems, a child who can't move at all or who's moving very poorly, we strongly recommend that these kids be given lots of opportunity in the prone position, on their bellies, on a clean, smooth floor. So, she already knows that. But she's asking, "Why is that position so important?" And it is a good question.
When you place a brain-injured child who cannot move or cannot move well on his back, all of the natural movement of the arms and the legs cannot propel him forward. He's like a turtle upside down. So, when we place him on his belly, he can start to make the thousand experiments that he needs to make to figure out, "How can I move myself forward?" So, that is the natural position of all creatures. It is an unnatural position for a creature to be placed on their back. Also, for a brain-injured child, it's a much safer position, because brain-injured children often, especially kids with mobility problems, they may regurgitate, they may drool, and being in the prone position means that gravity is naturally going to take those fluids away from them, rather than the danger of them aspirating those fluids.
Well, here's another question about the floor. And this is a mom who is working hard to put her child on the floor. But she finds since he's never been on the floor in his life, when she puts him there, sometimes he cries. And she's asking, "What should she do about that?"
And for, especially in the early days of getting your child accustomed to the idea that he could be on his belly, he could be on the floor, he could move himself, he's not used to that. He's perhaps he's habituated to sitting in a chair, or perhaps he's habituated to being on his back. So, obviously, you're changing a habit, and that's always difficult for any human being. But the trick is to do this in a high-frequency way and low duration. So, put him on the floor, get down there with him on the floor, maybe several feet away, coach him, talk to him, be part of that environment with him, and then pick him up, go do perhaps some intellectual thing with him, come back, do it again. So, rather than big long stretches on the floor, he has many little opportunities through the day, and each of those opportunities, he can make one discovery about how do I move forward. He can get a little more successful, and that's so important.
Well, here's a mother who says, "You know, my child can move, he rolls and sits for long periods, and sometimes scoots around on his bottom. But is that normal?" And we have to say, no, it is not normal. That's not a normal pattern of movement for a child. Babies crawl first on their bellies, then they get up on their hands and knees and creep, and then, of course, they pull themselves up and they begin to walk. Those are the pathway for a child in normal mobility. If a child is rolling or scooting on their butt or just sitting for long periods, that's not normal. So, you want to do everything to have your child crawl on his belly, creep, and then at the appropriate time for your child, begin to walk.
Well, here's a mother who says, "I understand that it would be good for my child's respiration and for my child's speech to walk and run. So, I want to begin having a program of walking and running. What should I do?"
Well, before you take your child out for that walk or that run, make sure you've set your child up for success. You've chosen the time of day when your child is well-rested and well-fed, and generally that's the morning time. So, that's a great time to go out. Also, you want to make sure your child has emptied his bladder, that he doesn't have any physiological needs, because you can bet the minute you walk out that door, your child's going to be saying, "I have to go to the bathroom," and then everything is disrupted. So, cover the bases. Make sure your child is physiologically taken care of and is properly dressed for whatever the temperature may be or the weather may be.
It's very helpful if you choose the same time in the day, and wherever you're going to walk or run, it's the same place. You know, when your child comes into a new environment, if you're going to a park to run the first time you go there, he's going to be interested in every little thing, and that's natural. If you run in the exact same place every day, there'll come a moment where he'll say, "Okay, I know this space. I don't have to stop and look at every leaf or every rock or every tree. I'm here to run. Let's run." But if you change the place every day, then every day he's going to be looking at every rock and every leaf and every tree. So, choose the same area to walk or run, choose the same time of day, wear the same clothing. Then he knows, "I'm in my running clothes. It's running time. We're going running." And when you run, make a specific goal. So, he knows, "We're going to run to the oak tree, and then we're going to touch the oak tree, and we're going to come back again." That's very helpful. Kids love structure, and they love things to be predictable. So, give him the structure and give him that prediction that he needs.
Well, here's a mother who's asking, "Should I hold my child's hand when he's walking?" And I think that's often a question for a mother of a young, a very young child, and also a mother of a brain-injured child who, although he may be older, may be a little bit shaky on his feet. We would always prefer to see our her kids functioning independently, but in a safe environment. So, if you're going to go out walking with your child, and your child is not very balanced on his feet, choose a very flat, even surface, not a lot of cracks in the macadam, not a lot of rocks, a very good environment for that. But then, let your child walk without being touched. Because to the degree you hold his hand, or even put your hand on his shoulder, or he puts his hand on you, he's really using your central nervous system to balance rather than his own brain. And the whole purpose for the walk is for him to experience how to move through space independently. That's the whole purpose. So, anything your child can do, whether it's crawling, creeping, walking, or running, we'd like to see him doing that completely independently.
Well, I can't believe it, but we've come to the end of the time that we have with you today. I hope that if you have a question, you will send it to us, because we intend to come back and answer as many questions as we can. And I hope that any mother or father who has a her kid will go to our website, find, find things that will help you with your child. Whether it's getting the "What to Do" book, you can go to many libraries, have the "What to Do" book. So, go to a library first. That book has been in a hardback edition in publication for 40 years, so there are many, many, many of those books available. You can also go up to Amazon and find the book in many different levels. So, if you don't have a lot of money, you could find a very inexpensive copy of the book. But once you have that book, go up and take a look at "The Pathway to Wellness" online. You'll find that there's a whole section of "The Pathway to Wellness" online about nutrition, about mobility, about intellectual growth, and we really hope that that can help you get your child on a really good path to getting better. Okay.