You have your diagnosis. Now what?
Your child has received a diagnosis of ADHD, autism, dyslexia or another learning difficulty. It’s official. So, what do you do now?
As a worried parent, you’ve spent a long time working your way to this point. You’ve had to first go through the emotional turmoil of noticing and accepting that your child might be different to other children. It might be their inability to sit still in class, or to fully focus on a book without being distracted by any noise in the room. It might be their frustration and anger at being unable to grasp the basics of reading at the same speed as their classmates. Or their lack of coordination in sports.
Then you had to speak to doctors and psychiatrists and paediatricians. Getting support might have been a battle in itself. It’s been a long path – but you have your diagnosis. So, what do you do now?
Stop. Take time to breath.
Firstly. Stop for a moment and take a breath. This has been a long, hard road and it takes a toll on your emotions and stress levels. Years of frustration are now over but you still have to manage the mixture of feelings that you have right now. Relief, because this diagnosis should mean your child will receive more support in school. But also, confusion. What happens now?
Do some research.
You’ve probably already read a lot of information about your child’s learning difficulties as you tried to pinpoint what made them different. Now you can start to narrow down all that reading and identify strategies you can put in place to help your child.
Sadly, once you have received a diagnosis for your child, you are often then left with no further information. The amount of support provided varies between local authorities and schools. And parents often don’t know where to turn.
Will your child grow out of it? Will their learning experience start to improve? What will your schoolteacher do differently? What strategies can you put in place at home?
The key thing to remember is that having a diagnosis does not mean that your child is now ‘a lost cause’. It means you now have the starting point you need to be able to take positive action.
The first step for medical professionals is often to place your child on medication. This does not mean that it’s the only option though. As, as you have already discovered, standard school teachings methods are not appropriate for your child on their own. That doesn’t mean your child will not progress through school. It means we need to consider a different approach, one that works for your child’s specific needs.
Neurodevelopmental assessments
Whichever ‘label’ your child has been given – ADHD, ADD, dyslexia, dyspraxia and so on – we class each of these as a neurodevelopmental issue. This means that there may be milestone delays your child has – and by identifying them we can put a strategy in place that will help improve them.
The first step is to undertake a neurodevelopmental assessment. This involves retained reflexes, gross and fine motor skill assessment, by asking your child to perform some simple, non-invasive exercises. We will also ask you for a detailed medical and nutritional history, all the way back to pregnancy. By understanding every aspect of your child’s development, we can identify areas where significant developmental milestones may have been missed and format a plan to support the brain in developing new neural connections.
The three-step neuro developmental programme
Following our assessment, your child may be entered on to our three-step neuro developmental programme. This combines nutrition, movement and sound training for a holistic approach to improve learning difficulties.
The programme itself is divided into simple steps that can be done at home and online, with weekly overviews and updates from our expert, Florence Gardam. A qualified nutritional therapist, sound training practitioner, Raviv and certified NLP practitioner, Florence specialises in supporting children with learning difficulties to uncover their own potential for learning. Her aim is to help you as parents understand your child and discover simple strategies that can improve their behaviour, sensory issues, attention, focus and reading issues – thereby enabling them to have the very best opportunities to thrive during their time in education.
The right professionals for learning difficulties and your diagnosis
Florence has developed the three-step neuro developmental programme based on years of neurodevelopmental science and research into brain plasticity. She has supported hundreds of families in discovering that their child can make improvements and progress, no matter what their ‘label’.
When you come to us, our aim is to take away that confusion and feeling of overwhelm and help you to identify the right pathway.
So, you have your diagnosis. Now, together, we create a plan that helps your child to uncover their potential.
To find out more about the three-step neurodevelopmental programme and to find the support you need, call us today on 0208 123 7065.
