While I was at Brain Balance today I had them explain what going up one level meant and how they categorized Gait/Aerobic.  Going up one level means that they have matured in that area by one year.  So if a 13 year old had the proprioception of a 5 year old and they went up a level, they now have the proprioception of a 6 year old.  Gait/Aerobic is measured by the chart below. (I felt it necessary to remove the chart because the lady at Brain Balance told me she did not know at the time she should not have allowed me to take a picture of it.) My daughter is jumping rope, so I don't see her going much higher as she is already near the top of the chart. (The chart shows a level 15 student being able to do 40 jump rope jumps unassisted, level 1 student can only do 10 jumps on a trampoline with help and a cross crawl pattern 10x with no misses.)

     I spoke with a mom who has an ADHD son with some other issues who has been attending Brain Balance for 17 sessions.  They are about half way through and she has noticed some small changes and realized there were even more that she did not recognize until talking to me.  One now absent characteristic she now enjoys is that he no longer drones on when speaking.  She said she was told by Brain Balance that you normally continue to see improvements for three more weeks after you are finished with your sessions.  The only dietary change they have had to make is eliminate eggs and milk, but they will be reintroducing them next week to see if there is any noticeable changes for the worse.  I asked her how'd she notice and she said she had no idea.  This is the second ADHD child that I have seen taken off of milk.  The mom said it was a result of the data that came back from the lab.

    

     The other mom with the child who has a learning disability spoke more on her progress.  This is her second time with Brain Balance and in the last six months she has improved by three grade levels.  Learning disabilities are categorized as left brain deficient and are said to take longer to correct than right brain deficiencies such as ADHD, asperger's and autism.   She is hoping by the end of this session that she will be up to grade level.  She also says her daughter is much more coordinated. After doing this for two times for her daughter she is going to try to help her ADHD son on her own without paying Brain Balance to do it for her.

     So today I learned why it seems parents of dyslexic children or those with other learning disabilities are not as thrilled with Brain Balance as parents of right brain imbalanced children.  I am also glad I am writing this blog as it makes me think about the effect of Brain Balance on my daughter or else I may not notice a significant change like the first mom.  I also am surprised with how rapid of a growth my daughter is having in her physical abilities.  Two weeks ago she could not do a single push up.  Today she did six in a row in perfect form without stopping.  Of course I am not paying $6,000 for her to shoot baskets and do push ups, the real test is tomorrow when she takes her end of year writing and language arts exam.

     I went to Brain Balance today to get the names from the binder.  I was only able to get seven names as most of the testimonies were not signed with a last name.  While I was there I was able to speak to a fellow former North Carolinian who was more than happy to give me her opinion of Brain Balance.  Because I failed to ask her permission to publish her story, I will call her "T".  Next interview I will try to remember to ask for permission.
   
     T says she should be the poster mom for Brain Balance because she loves them so much.  She agreed the price was a lot and that is why she did not sign up right away.  She has two children with autism and was thinking there was a link between their nutrition and autism.  She could not get any doctor to test them for food intolerance because they said those tests are not valid.  After T questioned a lot of different people (the internet failed her just as it had me) she decided she would enroll one child to see how it went before enrolling the other.  Two weeks later she enrolled the other child because the change was that quick.

    Brain Balance warned T that what she was experiencing was the honeymoon phase and she would not continue to see the changes as rapidly as she did the first week.  Her family has been going to Brain Balance for about two months and I saw one of her sons in the lobby.  He seemed like a normal young child to me. T says she feels the foods they have eliminated have helped tremendously.  Gluten was a food they had expected, but they were surprised to find out that her child also did not tolerate chicken.  T is continuing to see improvements in her children, but she agrees that the pace of their improvement has slowed.  She was also told that the child with the more severe autism will need another set of sessions later.

    The immediate changes in her son T observed during his first week of Brain Balance started when he walked out of the office.  He was walking in a straight line, where before he would zig-zag everywhere he walked.  Then at home she asked him to make his bed and he went and made his bed.  She only had to ask once, where she usually has to ask 20 or more times.  His social interactions had improved too.

   So I have one very positive review.  I have seven names to contact to get their opinions.  I would like to know opinions of those who experienced Brain Balance years ago and if they feel it made a long term difference.  Thank you for reading my post and please continue to share it with others if you feel they may know someone who has experienced Brain Balance.

Thank you!  And thanks to T for talking with me about the program.