AbouT ME

My story

As like many others working in the field of developmental readiness for learning, my journey started with my own child, my eldest son.

 

As a baby, he was quite demanding and clingy and took many years to sleep through the night. 

When he started playgroup and then french “maternelle”, he experienced very significant separation anxiety and really struggled with the expectations – colouring within the lines without going over the edges, accurate memorization of songs, ability to recognise rhyming words and even difficulty repeating all the syllables in his own name. His drawing was immature and his early reading skills were not typically developing. He experienced horrendous car sickness to the extent that we had to ensure that we lived within walking distance of school. Clothes had to be loose fitting and all labels cut off waistbands, due to sensitivity in the lumbar area.

 

We tried to reassure ourselves that some of his issues with slow language development were due to his bilingualism, but we could clearly see that many of our friends’ bilingual children were not struggling as he was.

 

He was a popular, friendly and a very empathetic child who enjoyed imaginary play and sport (all right brain strengths), but as he got older, his difficulties in school became more and more apparent as the gap widened between him and his peers and his confidence was plummeting. He had great difficulty learning to tell the time, struggled with sustained attention, and progress with reading and spelling, in spite of great effort and persistence, was painfully slow.

 

Having taken an Honors degree in primary education, I was shocked at my own inability to help my child learn to read and turned to my teacher friends who were also at a loss. During my four years in teacher training, we had only touched on the subject of dyslexia, when we were required to write a single essay on whether it really existed, or if it was an excuse for middle class parents who couldn’t accept that their child was not performing well in school. My son was finally assessed at the age of 9 but the ‘dyslexia’ label wasn’t very helpful.

 

I started educating myself, reading book after book on dyslexia and attending conferences and courses. I learned about the importance of structure, multi-sensory input and a cumulative approach with ample opportunities for overlearning.

 

However, it was only when I randomly stumbled upon Sally Goddard’s book, Reflexes, Learning and Behaviour – A Window Into the Child’s Mind, and I read this, that I started to understand the underlying physical factors present not only in dyslexia, but in a whole host of learning differences, Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) : challenges with automatic balance,  immature motor skills and auditory and visual processing difficulties. I read for the first time about unintegrated primitive reflexes and underdevelopment of postural reactions, regarding their impact on educational success and on the emotional status of the child.

 

My son underwent an evaluation and progressed with a reflex stimulation/inhibition programme consisting of specific physical stereotyped movements practised daily to stimulate integration of primitive reflexes and develop postural reactions to improve balance, posture and coordination, and the ocular motor skills needed to support reading and writing. He became a more balanced child, physically and emotionally and where he had been good at sport he really started to excel, which gave him great confidence.

In his late teens, he embarked on Tomatis Listening therapy, and still maintains that this was a very positive experience enhancing his auditory focus and attention.

 

Fast forward to today… I am very happy to report that my son succeeded in school and university and has set up his own extremely successful sports massage business, working with sports professionals enhancing their movement and potential in Spain, where he now lives (and his Spanish is pretty good!).

My journey with my son was not easy, with very little support or information available at that time 20 years ago. I made it my mission in life to do my utmost to help other children with a wide range of challenges. I have undertaken as much training as possible in a range of learning differences, reflex integration and auditory stimulation programmes, so as to be able to provide children with holistic and non-invasive approaches to address underlying physical factors and to offer quality learning support for dyslexic learners. Helping all children with or without diagnostic ‘labels’ release their full potential – this is what I do at the Motorway Kids!

On-going training

I am passionate to continue to learn about alternative and innovative, proven methods and programmes to help children develop their full potential for life and learning.

 

I have undertaken many Rhythmic Movement Training courses. This is a great therapy founded on the work of a Swedish movement training specialist, Kristen Linde who developed movements based on her observations of the natural movement patterns of infants. The movements used establish, strengthen or retrain the foundations of posture, develop the vestibular system, sensory processing and integrate reflexes, thereby maturing the central nervous system, and positively impacting learning, motor skills, emotional regulation and behavior. Some of the exercises are passive and are therefore well suited to children who struggle to access more active approaches which involve very slow movement patterns for reflex integration.

 

  • Level 1 RMT training for Attention, Organization, and Comprehension
  • Level 2 RMT training for Emotions, Memory and Behaviour
  • Level 3 RMT training for Reading and Writing
  • RMT training for Face the Fear (FPR & Moro)
  • RMT training for Making connections (Neural Development and Organisation)

In order to enhance my understanding of the brain and areas affected through specific movements and sensory stimulation, I undertook training with Darren Barnes Heath in a series of Neuro seminars (45 hours).

  • Seminar 1 Stimulating Development of the Sensory System
  • Seminar 2 Stimulating Development of the Cerebellum and Vestibular System
  • Seminar 3 Developing the Autonomic Nervous System, Interoception and Social Engagement.

Most recently I participated in a very innovative and fun, bilateral integration training with the Ronnie Gardiner method. This method combines rhythm, music, synchronized movement and language to enhance cognitive and motor skills.

  • Foundation course
  • Ground course

CONTACT

Have any questions? I am always open to talk about your children and how I can help you.