Now I know this is going to sound like I've lost my mind, but this is also started about the time we stopped having our babies sleep on their front and put them on their backs. It was an effort to reduce SIDS, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
But according to Betsy Stoeber, the director of the Brain Balance Achievement Center in Summit, NJ, this is the beginning of the root cause of so many of our educational/dysfunctional issues today. You are surely aware that we have two brain hemispheres -- left and right -- and normal human development is needed on both sides of the brain. When we let our left side dominate, it is like flooring the gas pedal on a car. And the right side sort of acts like a brake. And, according to Stoeber, the reasons for many of these issues is that there has not been enough connections, or synapses, between the two brain sides.
Getting back to the infant's sleeping position, when the child wakes up on their front, they need to push their heads up to look around and see what is happening. On their backs, they already look around. There is no need to raise the neck, thus no synapse. And thus the normal right brain sensory motor training is eliminated while the left brain cognitive skill training happens.
I know for myself that my two sons are very different. One was raised in New York City and constantly was exposed to parks, zoos and museums on nearly a daily basis while the other one grew up in the suburbs and these visits tended to be rare, with most stimulation coming from the local yard and neighborhood children. The city boy had a brilliant academic career while the suburban boy was far more athletic.
Brain Balance Achievement Centers (http://www.brainbalancecenters.com) was founded by Dr. Robert Melillo, who in the early 1990’s began seeing a marked increase in children with learning and behavioral issues visiting his practice. Parents were concerned and desperate to help their children.
Dr. Melillo’s research and extensive clinical experience led him to understand disorders like ADHD, Dyslexia, processing disorders, and autism spectrum disorders as manifestations of an underlying problem in the brain called Functional Disconnection Syndrome.
In other words, he felt that these problems were symptoms, rather than disorders in their own right. He contended that this imbalance in brain development was the common thread between all these learning and behavioral issues.
He knew, based on the science of neuroplasticity, that if he designed a program that could effectively stimulate the weaker hemisphere of the brain, it could, in fact, grow and develop new and stronger neural connections. In turn, this would remediate the many symptoms associated with these learning and developmental disorders. Dr. Melillo did just that. He developed a cutting-edge approach by integrating three key pillars of brain development: sensory motor stimulation, cognitive stimulation and nutrition.
Children are tested at any of the more than 50 centers spread throughout the United States (see map below) and programs are developed individually for each child. A typical program consists of three sessions per week, using 30 minutes each to work on each hemisphere. These sessions normally last between 12 and 24 weeks.
Locations of the Brain Balance Achievement Centers
I decided to Google this concept. there are many who say the concept is rubbish. But there are also others who say "whatever works." I have yet to find any research independent of Dr. Melillo'a. I certainly would feel more comfortable with a university study using Melillo's treatments. Yet with the explosive growth of these centers, it is obvious that there is a demand for this type of treatment.
Is it a con job, or an incredible hope? I don't know. I asked a number of questions. Stober says that some of the issues can be genetic, especially with parents who used drugs during pregnancy. She also says there isn't much that can be done with physical brain damage. And that not all children reach a point where they are cured (many medical sources say some of these disorders can't be cured). And so, I suppose time will tell about this theory.
But to me, the issue is the diagnosis. Any child who needs special education must get a diagnosis from a health care professional before they can get help. But there is no diagnostic category for Functional Disconnection Syndrome. Without it, insurance or schools cannot pay and thus these centers are funded with full payments from the patients. In many cases, desperate parents can afford the fees which tend to average about $3,500 for a 12-week program. But certainly poorer parents can't afford it.
I am, by nature, an optimist. This theory makes sense is many ways. But it is so simple. I have no clue if it works for everyone. But it is obvious it works for some. And therein lies the hope.
I am, by nature, an optimist. This theory makes sense is many ways. But it is so simple. I have no clue if it works for everyone. But it is obvious it works for some. And therein lies the hope.
