Assessment #2!

Today it was so awesome to see how much Kate has progressed in just 3 months.  When you see the results just stop and think what it really means.  In some areas that part of her brain has developed 3 years, in just 3 months!!!  That is just amazing to me. 

I know I already posted the primitives but I will put them here again.  The interesting thing is that it shows, since she still has the primitive reflexes, that parts of her brain have not developed past an infant.  All of these reflexes should be gone by age 1, so the parts of the brain that govern these reflexes are still at that age.  So the most important thing for us to focus on is getting these primitive reflexes to integrate.  We want them GONE so she can really take off and not be held back by them anymore!!

The scale goes from 1(weak) to 4(strongest)  (0=GONE)

Rooting- started at a 4, now a 1:   I can tell a difference with this one!  She is less sensitive when I stroke her cheeks.  AND she has been swallowing small capsule supplements for the last few days, YAY!

Moro- started at a 2, now a 2:   We really want this to release, because it is the startle reflex.  It will help her to be more relaxed more of the time.

Grasp-  started at a 1, now a 1:  She is getting a stronger grip for sure, just not releasing the reflex yet.

ASTNR- started at a 2, now a 1

TLR- started at a 4, now a 2:   This is a big decrease!  Her neck muscles have gotten so much stronger and she can hold herself in a ball easier than at the beginning.

STNR- started at a 4, now a 1:  also shows the strength of the neck muscles and ability to hold her body still

Landau- started at a 2, now a 2:  no change, but she is getting a stronger core so it shouldn't be long

Spinal Galant- started at a 4, now a 3:  when this releases her body will be less sensitive to clothing, we are already seeing a change, that she can tolerate different clothes and textures a little, but when this reflex releases the textures won't bother her anymore.  Right now, she is just tolerating some different textures, but her body is still very aware that they don't feel very good.

I will just put the areas that she went up levels:

The most interesting of the assessment was the visagraph test.  She wasn't able to complete this test in the first assessment because it is timed and she wasn't a fast enough reader.  So, this time, she read a story and the computer tracked her eye movements while reading.  She understood 90% of the story and she read at a 1st grade, 5th month level. The amazing part was that the computer showed how her eyes moved as she read.  It is hard to explain, but basically showed that she doesn't read smoothly from word to word from left to right.  She is reading the words well, but her eyes are moving back and forth from left to right and then left again to part of a word she already read.  Does that make sense??  It was a little heartbreaking to think that I used to get frustrated with her because it was so hard for her to read.  Now, it is easy to see why she was having such a hard time.  Her eyes are not working together and they are not developed enough to move smoothly from one word to the next.  It really hit me that so many kids who have a hard time reading would benefit from this simple test.  And it would help parents and teachers so much to know how their eyes are or are not working.  Anyway, it was a real eye opener for me, and I have never really pushed reading for her.

Eye movements-OPK (ability to perform slow and fast eye movements) From level 6 to level 7

Pupillometry- sensitivity to light- from age 6 to age 8- so she is almost at age level for this!!  Her brain developed two years in this area!!

Auditory Processing- processing of sound- From age 10 to age 9- which is good! She is hypersensitive to sound, so she can hear us whispering from the other room!!  Hopefully we can get away with it a little better now :)  And she won't be so sensitive to all of the noises in crowded places and get overstimulated.

Fine motor-  From age 3 to age 6!!!  This is huge!  She progressed 3 years in just 3 months.  I am blown away by this.  So, I can see that it is easier for her to use twist ties and rubber bands.  She is able to write easier and has a stronger grip on markers and pencils.

PRNG- maturity of balance and equilibrium- from level 9 to level 13-  She is able to spin in circles now and not get dizzy.  We jumped around in circles on the trampolines and she was having a blast.  We never had to stop because she got sick, just because we were tired.

CORE
Supine- from age 4 to age 8, 4 years growth!!!
Prone- from age 6 to age 8
Lateral-  from age 4 to age 7
Brachiation(holding her body up above the monkey bar) from age 4 to age 11!!
Sit ups- from age 4 to age 5
Push ups- stayed the same at age 4, she is getting stronger but push ups are still hard for her although we work on them every day!
These core exercises are really important because they all are strengthening the right side of the brain.  So, to see so much growth means that her right side is getting stronger.

Gait and Aerobics-balance and using both sides of the brain at the same time- from age 4 to age 7!


This progress was fun to see on paper.  There are still some areas that are staying the same and they will focus on those this session.  We hope the primitives will fade away soon so that those parts of the brain can grow and develop to age level.  It is amazing to me that different parts of her brain can be at such different ages.  Some parts are at an infant level, some are at an 11 year old level, some an 8 year old, some a 5 year old.
 
So, for right now, even though we are seeing changes in Kate, some things will stay the same until we have the primitives gone and then the body and brain can develop and then we will see even more changes in the things Kate is able to do.  It is quite a process to witness.  But it is a process, first this, then that.  Tammy keeps saying "We are setting the foundation and the development will follow."  We will continue to see development throughout the next year, and beyond....