So we moved over the summer and I had forgotten all about Brain Balance until I received a friendly reminder that I had promised an update. She's now in high school and I feel all those achievements I mentioned before are still there. Her athleticism is great as shown in her dance class and PE class. She's not behaving strangely, except for one day. She was hit in the head by a basketball and for the rest of the day she did some awkward social behavior. It was weird. I mentioned before I felt her ADHD was due to all of her head injuries when she was younger.
Her grades go A, B, C, D in order they are taken at school. If she takes math first period, she makes and A, if she takes it last period, she makes a D. I had another mom tell me that I should increase her medications because her daughter had the same problem and it was due to her medications running out too early. After I told her I don't give my daughter medication, neither one of us had any more theories. She just doesn't have the ability to stay focus without moving. I loved it when she went to year round school and would get the 3 week breaks. She never got burned out. Now we go to a terrific school where we can pick and choose whatever classes we want in the order we want, so I am able to put her core classes first and her electives last in the day.
She still has the problem with organization of her materials and time. But she recognizes the problem and pays her sister to organize her room and tries to work more with the calendar for her assignments. So I find it nice to see her trying to resolve her own weaknesses instead of us correcting them. Also, I do not help her as much with her school work as I did previously.
I absolutely love her ability to stand up for the underdog and to empathize with others. I also love her loyalty and endurance. She had band camp this summer 40 hours a week in 100 degree weather for 3 weeks and did well. Don't worry, they made the kids drink water every 15 minutes whether they were thirsty or not and sent them inside if they mentioned any ill effects of the sun.
So my overall view of Brain Balance is...they promised me a banana split and gave me an ice cream cone. Would I have paid $6500 for it? Maybe not. But am I glad for the things that were accomplished? Yes. I think my biggest disappointment was when they asked to have her retested on the parts she did not score well on for the exit testing, but they didn't do that for the beginning testing. What makes me the most grateful is that I no longer cringe every time she opens her mouth. So she's not academically gifted, but she is a well adjusted young lady with goals in life that I feel confident she will achieve.
It should also be noted that she never finished her vitamins and we stopped doing all the exercises. We are just too busy during the school year. Also she doesn't like taking the vitamins, so she chooses not to remember those. I never noticed a difference in her when we re-challenged her on the foods or when she stopped taking the vitamins, so I didn't feel it was important. I should have seen something within 30 days if it was going to have an effect on her.
Let me know if I left anything out that you want to know!
Thanks for reading!
Thank you for your honest review and taking the time to blog your results. This really did help us in making a decision. We have spent so much money on private OT and other programs with minimal results. We decided against brain balance. Thanks again!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this blog. It will help us in the decision-making process. Such a hard choice when so many claim that Brain Balance works miracles, and so many others claim it's a scam.
ReplyDeleteWe tried everything. Brain balance was a last resort. It has made enough of a difference I have no regrets sending my 16 yr old. He's got ADHD, SPD, global delays, depression, anxiety. He no longer melts down for 3/4 hours, takes better notes and better grades in school, he's able to self regulate better, and he is able to be more social. We don't do the at home exercises, diet, or vitamens. No time for that mess. We had a fabulous experience doing the program.
ReplyDeleteI do not understand. If you want your child to have every option out there, and the fabulous experience doing the program, why on earth would you not have time for what you call "that mess". I would do everything in my power to help my child. Not doing the whole program because you say you have no time for that mess is mind blowing to me. If your child see's that YOU are not doing your part, then why would he!? Now you have shown him that you do not have to do all that is offered. Moreover, you will never know how much more progress he would have made. I do not care how busy a person is, your child comes first. Not doing the full program shows him he does not have to do all that can be done. How would you like it if when you are an old lady, and someone has to help you and they say, NO TIME FOR THAT MESS!?
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DeleteSkshock-That's awesome! I'm sorry I didn't see your post earlier. I'll use just having a baby at that time as my excuse. I have known people to get great results from Brain Balance and others to get none. I'm so glad you are one of those who got great results. I fall somewhere in the middle. I completely understand the no time factor. It took everything we had just to do the 10 minutes of home exercises. While she was in her sessions I was wrestling with my 3 yo at the time. One of the reasons I started this blog was to hold me accountable to doing the program just the way they prescribed, but the time struggle is real. The 3 yr old (3rd child) was so demanding and took so much of my time that we finally had to do it at night after we put her to bed.
DeleteMy wife and I took our 16 yr old son to be evaluated by brain balance. He was diagnosed with ADHD over 11years ago. After the evaluation we didn't find out anything we didn't already know already. We have had him to about every specialist under the sun. What we found out was they wanted $20,000 for 12 months service with really no guarantees of anything. We asked to be able to possibly speak with some teachers of students who went through the program to see if they noticed any improvements with the kids and were told we could read testimonials, problem is the testimonials are from the same people. All of them praising Brain Balance and how great they are. 1st red flag. No negative reviews at all. 2nd red flag. They control all the reviews of web sites they are affiliated with and can delete the negative ones. They prey on people desperate to find help for their child and they have the sales pitch down. We live close to Columbia Mo where there closest office to us is and was told a family from Overland Park Kansas drove all the way to Columbia for there child to go through the program. We looked and found out they had an office in Overland Park already. Why would they drive 3 hrs to come to this one. Like the old saying goes If it sounds to good to be true, its probably not. Buyer beware. I honestly think a person would have just as good results with one on one tutoring with a tutor with a special education background. For what its worth.
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ReplyDeleteFrom your experience with brain balance with an older child.. Do you have any opinion on starting it with a just turned 5 year old with language delays, distractibility, meltdowns, perfectionism, and rigidity? Obviously I realize you don't have an expert opinion just trying to navigate potential options for my son whose behavior seems to be increasing in school rather than getting better. Do you feel you might wait a little while longer to start or maybe earlier the better possibly? Obviously.. My main concern is the price as it is very expensive for our family to afford.
ReplyDeleteMy personal opinion is to wait. Many children are prematurely diagnosed with things just because they mature at different times. My 5 year old, who would probably ace a Mensa test, has nothing wrong with her but could probably be described the same as your 5 year old with the exception of language delays. For my second child who had language delays we had a speech therapist tell us it was our fault for not making her speak. She was right. We always knew what she wanted so we never thought to make her say the words. For my current 5 year old it has been consistent discipline. First on the list was get rid of the whining. One whine and there was no screen time for the rest of the day - no exceptions. It worked in 2 days and has continued to work. Next up, meltdowns or throwing fits. Punishment is 15 minutes in her room alone no matter what the situation or how right she was to get upset. It's been 3 days and we are down to one a day compared to all day long. The key for her was the no exception rule. I have 4 kids and have not been able to raise any of them the same. Each child is unique, but it is good to talk to lots of parents and get their advice. I have always found that the advice that works is when I don't feel like rolling my eyes at them and something just clicks.
DeleteAlso, talk to parents with multiple boys, you may find he's normal and it's the school that is causing the problems. If teachers are complaining it is always good to find a sitter and observe the class so you can see first hand what is going on. If he behaves then my first assumption would be that the teachers changed how they treat him due to your presence. I would definitely not do Brain Balance if it is difficult to afford. You can do much of what I posted on your own at home or the park. Remember, the countries with the best education systems in the world don't start the kids with sit down classes until they are 7 years old. Best of luck!
Just so everyone knows, when you see the "comment has been removed" it is because they were duplicates. I have no idea why it was posting everyone's comments twice. As for a how is my daughter doing update: She went to a psychologist and the team there diagnosed her with ADD, anxiety disorder and Dysthymic disorder after testing her and observing her for a few hours. Like me, they initially could not tell if her issues were due to head injuries or ADD. She has trouble passing every math class she takes due to making silly mistakes on test because she does not focus and pay attention to details. If the tests were based on comprehension she would be making A's. We have tried other supplements and diets, but nothing works. We have an appointment to meet with a psychiatrist to get her on medication that will help the ADD but not make the anxiety worse. The psychologist feel the Dysthymic disorder is caused by the anxiety disorder and if they are able to fix the anxiety the depression will go away on its own.
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to document your experiences! I've been trying to figure out what would be best for our daughter, and have been reading Melillo's book Disconnected Kids. Alot of what he says seems to make sense, but then it's easy to find skeptics claiming his science is bunk. And I don't know enough science to know who to believe!
ReplyDeleteI really like that the book seems to be written so parents can help their kids at home, but was wondering if it would be worth the time investment. Sounds like it's worth a try though! And I thought for anyone interested in BrainBalance who has difficulty affording it, checking out his books from the library might be a cheap alternative. It was a lengthy assessment, and details of the exercises and nutrition program.
There's so much to learn in figuring out how our kids tick, it can be overwhelming at time! Thanks again for sharing your journey!