THE HANDLE® APPROACH: UNIQUE TREATMENT FOR CHILDREN AND ADULTS WITH A WIDE ARRAY OF NEUROLOGICAL CHALLENGES THAT IMPAIR MEMORY, LEARNING, MOVEMENT, EMOTIONS, AND BEHAVIORS.

Holistic

Approach to

Neuro

Development and

Learning

Efficiency

YOU CAN’T TREAT A LABEL

To truly affect a change, we have to address the underlying causes

of the behaviours.

Behaviours are Communication

HANDLE®

Holistic

Approach to

Neuro-

Development &

Learning

Efficiency

HANDLE: HOLISTIC including but not limited to • physiological make-up• social/familial climate, life-style, heredity• toxicity (including stress-induced neurotoxicity)• knowledge from other disciplines• all aspects of our internal and external environments

Including frequently overlooked environmental factors

(forms of energy) which many individuals with neurological

irregularities sense differently Clothing on themselves and/or on othersOdorsLightingSoundsBody-in-Space SensationsSensitivity to “offenders” we cannot anticipate on others, in new environments.

INCLUDING VULNERABILITY → NEED TO CONTROL

Ears that are very sensitive to sound cannot allow others to play music, to chew loudly, to turn on a fan, etc.

Brains that store visual images in set positions and rely on these maps to organize their worlds cannot tolerate objects being moved. Individuals who mediate their movements by self-talk cannot allow conversation to impinge while they are doing almost anything because their “line is busy.”

INCLUDING SELF PROTECTION:A PRIMARY ATTENTIONAL PRIORITY

We all protect ourselves

in the areas of our greatest

vulnerability.

If possible, we set up

situations or “control”

them to accomplish this.

Behaviors are communication!

HANDLE: Approach• Provides a set of guiding principles (not specific exercises or techniques)

• Views behaviors as communication without attempting to mask or control them before understanding their message (Flare-ups not Melt-downs)

• Conveys a nonjudgmental basis to understand individual differences in human behaviour.

• Addresses each client regardless of age or presumed abilities

GENTLE ENHANCEMENT® IS THE KEY

CHANGES OF STATE

• Change in muscle tone• Loss of visual focus• Change in facial color• Change in breathing patterns• Worsening of an activity once it

is becoming integrated• Complaints of nausea,

dizziness, disorientation or other somatic concerns

• Reddening of the ear

Stop the activity at the first sign of stress.

HANDLE: Approach

HANDLE: NEURODEVELOPMENTNeuroplasticity and synaptogenesis are life-long processes through which the brain continues to develop and change in response to environmental factors.

INDEPENDENT RESEARCH CONDUCTED BY DR. DAVID LEWIS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF NUCLEAR

MEDICINE HAS SHOWN THAT HANDLE PROGRAMS HAVE A SIGNIFICANT POSITIVE

INFLUENCE ON IMPROVED CEREBELLAR FUNCTIONS AND OTHER BRAIN FUNCTIONS AS

WELL.

THE JOURNAL OF NEUROIMAGING, JULY 2006 IMAGING CEREBRAL ACTIVITY IN RECOVERY FROM

CHRONIC TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY

The HANDLE® Approach

Relaxed Sucking in Infancy: more than nutrition and bonding!

• Oral-motor precision • Bowel & bladder control• Reduced sensitivity to light• Growth hormone production• Interhemispheric integration• Reduced sensitivity to sounds• Binocular functions Crazy Straw

HANDLE RECOGNIZES THE ROLE OF PROPER NUTRITION IN NEURO DEVELOPMENT.

Nutrition is the process by which we assimilate food and make use of it.

• Organizes mental processing• Influences biochemistry• Helps mould the structure of the brain• Fatter neural fibers process more rapidly than

thinner neural fibers.

Many factors, including chewing and peristalsis, tension and relaxation, influence nutrition.

“ALL LEARNING TAKES PLACE IN THE BRAIN; IT IS THE BODY THAT ACTS AS A RECEPTOR FOR INFORMATION AND THEN BECOMES THE VEHICLE THROUGH WHICH KNOWLEDGE IS EXPRESSED. IN THIS RESPECT, MOVEMENT LIES AT THE HEART OF LEARNING. LEARNING, LANGUAGE AND BEHAVIOR ARE ALL LINKED IN SOME WAY TO THE FUNCTION OF THE MOTOR SYSTEM AND CONTROL OF MOVEMENT.”

SALLY GODDARD, AUTHOR OF REFLEXES, LEARNING AND BEHAVIOUR: A WINDOW INTO THE CHILD'S MIND

HANDLE: LEARNING

• People of all ages possess the potential and desire to learn and the possibilities are unlimited.

• HANDLE addresses all forms of learning (academic, social, language, motor, behavioural) at all ages.

• HANDLE employs mental rehearsal therapeutically, and thus may influence family members or a group.

HANDLE: EFFICIENCY

• HANDLE understands that stressed systems don’t get stronger.

• Efficient systems expend the least amount of energy (utilizing the fewest resources) with minimum stress to achieve the desired result.

• HANDLE realizes that Gentle Enhancement® is the key to efficient functioning.

THE HANDLE® APPROACH

Employs non judgemental observational assessment and in-depth interviews to:- look at how someone takes in and processes information- determine which neurodevelopmental pathways are immature, damaged, or not connecting to other pathways- develop a Neurodevelopmental Profile instead of determining a score and providing a label

From the profile, understanding emerges of the root causes of the presenting concerns.

From this basis, an individualised program is designed to enhance function.

BEHAVIOURS ARE COMMUNICATION

We need to analyze behaviors to determine what is driving the person to engage in them…

rather than viewing the behaviours as negative symptoms to be masked or

controlled.

We each protect ourselves in the areas of our greatest vulnerability, so ask what’s being

conveyed.

HOW? Learn the language!

Difficulty reading

COULD IT BE?

Impulsive

Constantly Squirming

Diminished sense of Consequences

Clumsy

Lack ofDifferentiation?

Weak Interhemispheric

Integration?

LowMuscleTone?

TactileSensitivity?

Difficulty

Reading

WeakBinocularity Functions?

For further queries or discussion as to how HANDLE may be of benefit to you or a loved one please contact

Kim Storey

Focus In Mind

O’Neill Room,

Pickering Memorial Hall,

Pickering,

YO18 1AA

Tel: 07817054596 Email: kimfocusinmind@gmail.com