Jon and I had to complete a three day seminar on Child Brain Development called How to Help Your Child with Special Needs with Matthew and Carol Newell at the Family Hope Center. Since we had already completed the five day course at IAHP in 2006 and had been on their program for three and half years we felt we knew quite a bit. I thought we might be bored during the seminar, but that was not the case. The FHC has many programs that are the same or similar to IAHP but they have updated those programs and have added so many more which makes it a much better program overall. One of the biggest changes to their program is the addition of the Emotional/Social component to their Integrative and Developmental Progression Chart and the fact that this area of the Limbic Brain (Frontal Lobe) can be stimulated by olfactory pathway (smell) among various other ways. Overall we feel their Developmental Chart is more thorough and detailed to help Kevin get well.
A couple other new therapies to us are the Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber and Craniosacral Fascial Therapy for the brain. Craniosacral fascial therapy increases the flow of nourishing cerebrospinal fluid to the central nervous system. Trauma to the craniosacral fascial system is a primary factor for children with brain injuries. Trauma can create pressure and strain on the brain and cranial nerves which can restrict the flow of cerebrospinal fluid.
During the seminar they also were very clear to state that the brain needs a day off to help itself heal. YEAH! One of the things that I personally learned was that I am allowed to take time for myself and that it is important to do so. I know, sad but true. I think I vaguely remember Jon, family, and friends telling me this.
No matter if it’s IAHP or the FHC, their treatment makes sense. Anyone that would take the time to sit through their lectures could not deny it. It is so frustrating to me that many professionals still don’t get it, because until they do, it seems it will continue to be a struggle for parents to find the answers to help their hurt kids get well.
Another difference is that the FHC seems to be a bit more aggressive in trying to get insurance companies to understand that the traditional treatments that they cover are not ultimately going to get these kids well…the treatments offered by FHC will, with the added benefit of no medications or wheelchairs, etc costs.
We met a lot of great parents from around the world at FHC. We were one of three families attending FHC from IAHP. I give a lot of credit to the parents that come for help with their “a little bit hurt” kids; i.e. ADD, ADHD, Autism, Learning Disabilities because until you learn about the brain and the developmental progression you can find a lot of ways to help kids that are struggling in school from reading to behavior.
But probably the biggest difference we noticed in the FHC compared to IAHP was that at IAHP, they feel their way is the only way, and when we pushed or questioned a bit too much their response was basically “it’s our way or the highway”. At FHC they don’t claim to have all the answers, but they are constantly branching out and learning new ways to help our hurt kids. In fact, Matthew & Carol had two hurt kids (now well) and they feel that if they knew then (when helping their hurt kids) what they know now they could have gotten their kids well in three years as opposed to nine years. Another welcome difference is that the FHC understands that we are the parents that we are ultimately in charge of our child. We can decide as a family how intense we want our program to be.
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