Non-Verbal Learning Disability
David, 7 - In Nursery
and Kindergarten, teachers began to notice David was frustrated with
class projects. He gave up when coloring and on all projects requiring
fine motor skills. His inability to achieve in the classroom led to
frustration and emotional outbursts. We often got calls at home about
David’s behavior and he was regularly sent to the principals office.
After a professional evaluation, David was recommended for professional
services. For over a year, David worked with an Occupational Therapist,
an Eye Therapist as well as a Play (Behavioral) Therapist. By first
grade, some improvement was made, but he was still unable to read, write,
spell, perform simple fine motor tasks or perform crossing-the-mid-line
functions i.e. walking down stairs alternating feet, catch/throw ball,
reversals in writing. He was not keeping up with his classmates and
he was the oldest in his class! After a Neuropsychological evaluation,
we knew that some of his “wires were crossed,” but the only suggestion
was more therapy which required more time, more money and lots of repetition
on skills that didn’t seem to improve. The other alternative was drugs.
We were against drugs. A year of slow therapy and thousands of dollars
later found us drained and frustrated. Then we hear about Brain Integration
Technique (BIT).
We took David, then age 7, to Dr. Permutt. After the first two visits,
there was a noticeable change. David walked down the stairs with one
foot following the other and he began to read with ease. Where as before
he would only look at the pictures and could barely read a page in a
book, after only two or three BIT sessions, he finished the first level
of “Hooked on Phonics,” and read 23 “books!” When he finished the integration
program, David was reading and writing with fluency and his fine motor
skills are improving daily. He now writes without reversals and with
even spacing. At the beginning of the year he got zeros on spelling
tests, then after working with Dr. Permutt, he began to get 100s on
his spelling test, but only performed them orally. Now he gets 100’s
on his written spelling tests. His behavior has improved markedly and
he definitely enjoys school more. He is now up to grade level and is
looking forward to second grade.
We are truly grateful for having discovered the Brain Integration as
executed by such a caring and dedicated practitioner as Dr. Permutt.
