The Little Things....

Anyone else see story problems like this?  My boys do!  One of the right brain weaknesses is "story problems".  Ugh....I despise story problems.  I would rather clean toilets than try to figure out a story problem, yet this is one of the things that we are supposed to be helping our boys with.  Ha, Ha!  I guess all of my past math teachers are getting their revenge. 

The wonderful part of our Brain Balance journey is how much we are all learning.  Not just the boys, but Chris, myself and grandma.  We are also sharing what we learn with the boys teachers.  I feel the more that we all learn the better able to help the boys all of us will be.  Every single day I have an ah-ha moment.  I love it! 

Now to brag! 

R.D. was invited to his best friends birthday party a couple of weeks ago....as a mom, I worried.  How do you send your 11 year old to a birthday party where he can't eat or drink anything?  First, you talk with the parents of the other child.  You find out what is going to be happening over the 3 hours that your child will be there.  Next, you let the other parent know that your child can't eat any of what they are serving.  But, that you will be glad to send food with your child.  Hang up phone and talk with your kid.  We explained to R.D. what was going to happen at the party and the food that would be served that he couldn't eat.  We gave R.D. his food choices....what would be similar to what everyone else was going to be eating. Pack lunch box.  Included in our lunch box was a bison patty with seasoning (ready for grilling), a bag of grandpa's potato chips, apple and the glorious gluten, soy and dairy free chocolate bar. 

An empty lunch box was brought home, as well as a kid who had a blast with his best friend.  He wasn't ashamed of his food and his friends were super accepting of it.  Some of you may be asking yourself, "How does she know he didn't sneak food he wasn't supposed to have?"   First, R.D. told me he didn't.  I believe him.  Second, if he had snuck something he wasn't supposed to....we would have noticed.  Behavior changes,stomach ache, and other noticeable things would have occurred.  That's the beauty of the diet we follow....if you stray from it, you notice it. 

Now to brag on Nathan!  The other day at Brain Balance while R.D. was doing his session, Nathan and I headed to the car to do homework.  As soon as we got in the car, Nathan had to go to the bathroom....bad!  I told him to run back in and go.  He jumped out of the car and then did something that almost made me cry.....he got to the back of the car and stopped.  He then looked both ways before running across the parking lot.  I know it sounds silly to most, but both boys usually just run out completely unaware of what is going on.  He didn't get hit by a car...he stopped and looked.  Hallelujah! 

I also just noticed last night that the boys seem more calm at night.  Usually, when their medicine wears off at night, we get all the pent up craziness. 

I know there are lots of things that have changed, and I have yet to notice.  It's like when you live with someone who loses a lot of weight, but you don't really notice until you leave for a week or so and then come back and see them.  When you live and spend so much time together, things change and you don't even notice.  I can't wait to fill out the same questionaires at the end, that I filled out in the beginning.  I am anxious to have certain achievements brought to my attention that I am overlooking. 

I would encourage anyone struggling with a child with ADHD, Asperger's, Autism, Dyslexia, or a number of other developmental delays to visit a Brain Balance Center.  However, don't think that this is just a simple "cut sugar out" of their diets plan....it's not.  It's work, HARD work!  It's a commitment.  You have to do what they tell you and stick to the plan.  So far, I have NO regrets!  I have HOPE for the future of my boys.  I feel that I have knowledge that is priceless.  I have two boys who have increasing self-esteems, the chance to get off medicine, and a belief that they can do something that is hard and succeed.  I have two boys who I LOVE with all my HEART!

Just Keep Learning, Just Keep Learning....

All I can hear in my head is Dory from "Finding Nemo", but instead of "just keep swimming".... I hear, "just keep learning"!

Last night I went to a 2 hour presentation from Dr. Scire.  He is one of the owners of some of the Brain Balance Centers in Georgia.  He also works very closely with Dr. Melillo (creator of Brain Balance).  Our local center had encouraged us to attend, because they had been learning so much from Dr. Scire.  I get up at 3:50 a.m.......staying out past 9:00 is HUGE for me.  But, I knew I had to be there.  I am so HAPPY that I was.  I learned so much more and heard some very humorous stories of others journeys. Trust me....when you are doing exercises 5 times a day, strict diet, 30 minute screen time, sessions at Brain Balance, homework, cooking, work and just regular life...you need some humor in your life.

As I sat through the presentation, I was beginning to question if R.D. really was right brain delayed.  He fell into so many of the left brain delay traits that I was nervous.  Had they gotten it right?  After the presentation I found the director and expressed my concerns.  They said that what I was suspecting was partially true....R.D. has what they call a "bilateral delay".  I had heard this term mentioned before in a progress report, but I didn't really ask what it meant.  They told me that in his initial assessment, they had studied his results closely to determine the right brain delay.  Apparently, they had also talked with Dr. Scire about R.D. specifically.  Here is the deal....since the right brain develops faster from 0-3 years and then kind of goes into hibernation while the left brain develops for the next few years, they need to stimulate the right brain first and get it up to speed and then they will move to R.D.'s left brain.  This is exciting for me.  Things that I saw that were left brain, but that weren't changing yet, are going to!  I know they are.

How do I know?  Because we see changes daily in our boys.  It will seem very small and trivial to most of you, but if you have a child with ADD or ADHD...you probably understand what I am about to describe.  R.D. is 11 years old.  He has never been able to hang a towel up on a hook or towel rack.  Simple to most, but unattainable for R.D.  He just couldn't get his brain to connect the dots and make it happen.  This week....it happened!  We weren't telling him to, honestly we gave that battle up a long time ago.  We just noticed that his towel is now hung on the hook after his shower.  He does it and doesn't even know he is doing it.  Just the way it is supposed to be.

Nathan has just started this week to "get" math better.  All of the sudden he can figure out math problems in his head.  He understands some of the concepts better.  It blew me away.  I asked him the other night as we did his homework in the car, outside of the Brain Balance center..."How did you get so smart in math?"  He looked at me, pointed to the Brain Balance sign and said, "Duh mom, it's because of Brain Balance and I heard one of their commercials on the radio this morning." Who says radio doesn't work...(shameless plug).  They know the program is working and that is why they are working so hard.  The diet has become "what we do".  They get it.

So we will "just keep learning, just keep learning".....