Non-Drug Solution for ADHD – Meet Ryan
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Nearly 5 years ago, an adorable 4 year old, Ryan, came to Learn 2 Focus. His parent’s search to find a drug free option to treat his severe hyperactivity and attention challenges landed him in our office as a last attempt to control his dis-tractability. Ryan’s pediatrician and neurologist had nothing else to offer other than medication and the family wasn’t ready to trial that yet.
Ryan was exceptionally agile and well coordinated. He was friendly and engaging, however the “H” in ADHD had him literally bouncing off the walls and spinning on his head. During the initial Interactive Metronome screening, it was no surprise to see that the basic movements were easy for him to complete. However, he had a very high early to late ratio of hits (98/2) which mirrored his lack of focus and impulsive tendencies. During the evaluation it was noted that Ryan exhibited visual stimming and significant sensory related behaviors. He was screened for residual primitive reflexes and found to have 4 out of 5 primary positive reflexes present.
Ryan’s parents enrolled him in our Interactive Metronome program, 3 days per week. Reflex work was put on hold as his sensory deficits did not allow him to tolerate much hand over hand assistance. During the first 3 weeks of IM, Ryan’s symptoms escalated. This is not uncommon during neurological reorganization. Mom and Dad were awesome and stuck to the plan, and at the end of 3 weeks Ryan experienced a significant reduction of hyperactivity and a new ability to attend to IM tasks for longer periods of time. Ryan’s early/late ratio was steadily improving and his sensory overload began to calm. We began to briefly address primitive reflexes and mom followed up with 20 minutes of specific home exercises to address the deficits.
By the 4th month, Ryan was like a different kid with regard to attention, focus, and hyperactivity. Unfortunately he was stuck and making slow progress integrating the primitive reflexes despite his parent’s daily efforts. We decided to add The Listening Program Level One, using an advanced listening schedule. I told them to make TLP a daily routine, just like brushing teeth. Mom reported positive changes during the first week of using TLP, and by week 3 and 4 which addressed sensory integration, Ryan was making measurable gains. His visual stimming was virtually absent except when he was very tired.
We decided that Ryan could cut back on his IM sessions to twice a week, and the following month when he was nearly finished with his advanced 10 week TLP protocol, Ryan entered K-5. He was the only child who could read and one of 3 who could write legibly.
Later that year, Ryan tested and was accepted into 1st grade at one of Oahu’s prominent private schools. Although that was several years ago, Ryan continues to come for IM during the summer as a “tune-up” and uses TLP routinely just like he is brushing his teeth. Ryan is now in 4th grade and at the top of his class. He describes his training as, “IM is the glue that makes everything else stick”.
We are so proud of Ryan and are pleased to have been part of his journey to success.
