This blog has been provided and was first published by Mary Jessica Hammes and babygooroo.com

It might not be easy for you to read all of Sally Goddard Blythe’s “What Babies and Children Really Need.” It turns out that what they really need is not what many mothers can provide, simply because they live in a society that, well, does not value those needs.

Here’s the gist of the book, summed up a little halfway through it, just after Blythe states that mothers should spend at least the first year (and preferably the first two years) at home, and work part-time until the child is in school: “Although this view flies in the face of political correctness and what many people would like to hear, the purpose of this book is to write about what children need, not what adults would like to do.”

Of course, staying at home as long as you can in those early years is just one of the suggestions made by Blythe, a British author who is director of the Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology in the UK. In fact, she has a litany of children’s’ needs near the end of the book, and some of them would require some extensive societal, and sometimes political, shifts (not just in the UK). The list is extensive; here is just a sample:

• * Enable women to take a career break during the years of “maximum fertility and brain maturity” (that would be the early 20s to early 30s). “A society which really cares for its children makes it possible for a mother and child to be together for at least the first 2-3 years,” she writes.

• * Tell people about the advantages of breastfeeding. “Celebrate breasts not primarily as sexual objects but also as nature’s gift to every child.”

• * Welcome children at city centers, meal times, public entertainment; make room for them in the adult world. She suggest taking a cue from Mediterranean culture, where “children do not dominate adult time, but they are an important part of it.

• * Encourage parents to have a “secure and positive climate of discipline.” (This goes back to a fascinating section which looks at three different kinds of parenting styles—rigid authoritarian control, which uses punishment; authoritative control, which uses discussion; and permissive control, which has no clear guidelines. The first and third styles, she says, “are generally the least effective.”)

• * Make parents know how necessary they are in children’s lives. Blythe devotes a section on “Why Children Need Fathers.” And, she writes: “We need to acknowledge as a society that in the first year(s) of life, babies need their mothers. Government needs to take a greater share in the financial responsibility of making it possible for parents to choose to stay at home.” (She suggests that in the UK, the tax burden be reduced for fathers for the first two years, encouraging dads to support their children and moms to return to work in the third year.)

There are other enlightening tidbits throughout the book, such as the importance of reading aloud to your child; the “3 Ms” of preschool education, which are mother, movement and music; and the importance of play in a child’s life.

I particularly liked the way she addressed how motherhood suffers generally from a sense of support and worth. She writes about how she dreaded social events when her children were young, knowing the inevitable response when she was asked about her career.

“I soon came to expect the glazed look of fading interest that would pass across the questioner’s face when I replied, ‘I have three small children,’” she writes. “It was as if I had just issued them with a certificate which confirmed my intellectual level was the same age as that of my youngest child…there is something fundamentally wrong with a society which regards motherhood as a temporary mental aberration which will only be restored to normalcy when she returns to the world beyond children.”

I was very pleased to interview Blythe.

You write how “the purpose of this book is to write about what children need, not what adults would like to do.” An example in this book is the section on breastfeeding. Most American pregnancy guides say that breastfeeding is best, but they emphasize the mother’s choice for whatever reason, including convenience, and include information on formula. Your book only has positive information about breastfeeding, and mentions bottle-feeding only when describing its disadvantages (although you do say, “A mother should never feel guilty or inadequate” in regards to feeding). Can you talk about that rather fearless approach?

Blythe: Yes.  The aim of the book was to promote an understanding of factors which affect children’s development.  The fact that bottle-feeding is readily available as a safe alternative is not in dispute.  What I wanted to do was educate future generations of parents into understanding what breastfeeding provides that bottle-feeding does not, so that they can make an informed choice about which type of feeding they use.

Increasingly in the UK, we are seeing a new generation of young parents who have had little or no experience of full-time parenting themselves, who do not know what the benefits of breastfeeding are, and for some, for whom breastfeeding is regarded as an unnatural choice.  One example of this was only a few weeks ago, when I asked a woman who was 8 months pregnant if she had decided how she wanted to feed her baby when it was born.  She replied, “I am going to bottle-feed.  Ugh, I couldn’t do the other, I think it is disgusting, it is unnatural.” This is despite government advice to pregnant women that “breast is best.”

I wanted women to have a better understanding of the physical benefits to both mother and child.

You also talk about how it’s healthier for younger women to become mothers, but that society makes it very difficult financially (and of course these days, becoming a young mother rather than pursuing a career carries its own stigma). Do you feel that this sentiment may raise the ire of some feminists, who have worked so hard to ensure young women can pursue careers without the pressure of having children? Do you think it’s possible for mothers to “have it all” when it comes to both child-rearing and career-pursuing (or even fair to tell people they can do that successfully)?

Blythe: I am sure that many of the points raised will invite the ire of some feminists. Once again the book was not written to praise or criticize different life style choices, and I am sure that nature did not have feminism in mind when human reproduction evolved.  While there are many older women who have healthy pregnancies and children, the evidence shows that the older women are when they start a family, the higher the risks of subsequent problems.  Ideally, nature designed women to have maximum fertility with minimum risk to mother and child in the early twenties.  The fact that this is now at odds with how modern technological societies have shaped themselves has in my view, brought new problems for parents, children and society as a whole.

My main area of work is with children experiencing specific learning disabilities (dyslexia, developmental coordination disorder, attention deficit disorder, under-achievement etc.).  In a survey we are currently carrying out of early developmental factors amongst this group, in a sample of nearly 80-plus children, at least 10 were conceived by older mothers as a result of IVF.  While we cannot say that IVF was the cause of their later difficulties, more than 10 percent is a high ratio within a given population.  When women delay their fertility for social reasons believing that IVF is available as an alternative in the future, they are not usually told, or do not heed that these techniques bring high risk pregnancies, greater likelihood of intervention at birth, and problems in the perinatal period with an increased risk of related sequelae.

Some things you recommend—staying close to the baby after birth, baby-wearing, sleeping close to baby, extended breastfeeding, not letting a baby “cry it out”—are the hallmarks of what some people call “attachment parenting.” Do you view this book as advocating attachment parenting?

Blythe: Attachment parenting is not a term I am familiar with and is an example of a parenting method, as opposed to being a natural parent who is responsive to the needs of their child.

The book is not intended to promote any single style of parenting, recognizing that what works for one child in a family will not necessarily work for another.  What I tried to do was to look at a baby’s physical and developmental needs at different stages in development and explain why physical contact and interaction and social engagement with a primary source of love are so important for a child’s well being.

One major point you make is that young babies need their mothers in the first few months of their life, and you suggest some taxation approaches that might make this possible in the UK. But it’s clear that at the moment, many mothers (especially here in the U.S.) must return to work after only a few weeks after the birth. Do you think that getting society to acknowledge the fact that babies need their mothers for several years is a hard task? Can we look to Sweden for a good example (even though the “welfare state” you mention in the book has its own problems)?

Blythe: Yes, this is becoming an increasingly difficult task.  In the UK, we have reached a stage where the government actively promotes earlier and earlier availability and placement of children in nursery care (this reduces the burden on the state for paying for benefits) as well as a statutory curriculum for the under fives (Early Years Foundation Stage).  Many of the so called “targets” a child is expected to reach before starting formal education at rising 5 years of age fail to take physical development into account or to acknowledge some of the research which has indicated that children who are placed in full-time nursery care before the age of two years benefit on cognitive measures but show higher levels of stress and emotional problems.  In the recent words of one respected academic, Sir Christopher Ball, “we are the only species of animal (mammal), which deliberately separates its young from its mother for social reasons, before it is mature enough to take care of itself.”

Sweden and the Nordic nations in general have much better child care policies and provision than we do in the UK but as you rightly say, the welfare state can also bring its own problems with it.

My first choice of title for the book was “First Love—Valuing Motherhood in Modern Society”, but this was changed by the publisher for a more popular title.  I still think that the original title better described the aim of the book—to re-instate motherhood as a valuable stage in a woman’s life—rather than it being seen as a second class alternative or adjunct to a career.  If society could only remodel itself to enable women to take time out in their early twenties to accomplish the early stages of motherhood, there need not be a contest between being a parent or having a career.  This is not to judge the many women who must return to work for financial reasons or to prejudice those who have not met the man they would like to be the father of their children in their early twenties. Rather to say, that we need flexibility to enable women to take a break and to be able to return to the world of work a few years later.  “Having it all,” as you describe it, may not be possible all at once, but it might be possible in stages. Perhaps a better title for the book would have been, “What parents need to know.”

In my view:  Published in “Nursery World” 18.6.09

http://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/913607/Opinion-view—Reading-shared/

By Sally Goddard Blythe, freelance consultant in neuro-developmental education and director of the pioneering Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology in Chester

The recent poll commissioned to mark National Family Week showing that just under half of all children are missing out on a traditional bedtime story is a travesty of our times.

Reading to your child involves more than simply telling a story. Long before children learn to read they learn to love the music of language, the tonal, rhythmic and dynamic aspects of speech, which are exaggerated when read out loud. Listening to stories, often repeated many times, helps develop memory, including a memory for the phonological components of the written word. As children listen to stories, they also learn to match sounds to pictures and word shapes. This prepares the brain for the formal aspects of learning to read.

Desire to read begins with a love of stories – the colour and familiarity of characters, excited anticipation, the shape of the story line, and the pictures that the story creates in the mind’s eye - the stirrings of imagination. Story time is also important because it involves one-to-one time between parent and child when both share in the same activity. Sharing the same experiences have been shown to increase the level of a powerful hormone involved in securing attachment and strengthening close social bonds. Being read to also increases a child’s vocabulary and reading comprehension, which has benefits in childhood through to old age.

In my practice and in schools around the country I regularly come across parents who have never read to their child. Although we live in difficult times, it is important to remember that some of the most essential ingredients for a happy childhood are free – fresh air, space, friends, family, reliability and time spent together. Just 10 minutes a day spent reading to your child will help them not only at school in the years to come but may also give them a long, happy and active life. Surely, this is what we all want for our children.

Interview originally published at:

www.abettereducationblogspot. May 2009

Balance is about much more than the ability to stand on leg or walk across a tight rope. It is the first of the sensory systems to mature and in an essential player in how the brain interprets information from the other senses. How a child sees, hears and feels the world around him is all intimately connected to the functioning of balance. This is because balance is the only one of the sensory systems that does not have a special sensation of its own. We only become consciously aware of balance when faced with a particular challenge or when something goes wrong; motion sickness, dizziness, disorientation, visual disturbances and ringing in the ears are all examples of symptoms of disturbed balance. In other words, feelings associated with balance are hidden from view and “speak” through the other senses.

Balance provides the platform for the development of coordination, stable eye movements and visual perception – or how a child “sees” the world. These abilities are crucial to all aspects of learning, from being able to control the body at sports to being able to sit still, track a moving object at speed such as catching a ball, or more slowly to control the eye movements needed to follow along a line of print when reading. “Without balance we could not stand, walk nor run. We couldn’t see images in sharp detail as we move, or navigate without visual landmarks, or perhaps even think clearly” 1

Both physical security and emotional security begin with a child knowing his position in space. Ray Barsch wrote about this in the 1960’s when he described the young child as being a “terranaut” or, explorer of space on terra firma. He said that one of the first skills a young child must master is control of upright balance and posture, establishing a sense of “internal stability”. When the internal milieu is secure the external senses of vision, hearing and touch are free to process information from the external environment. If balance is insecure “thinking” parts of the brain remain over-involved in simply trying to control balance.

Balance is also important for emotional stability in order to feel secure, perceive the outside world as it is and to be in control of oneself. Disturbances of balance result in physical and psychological feelings of anxiety with no obvious external cause. Just as the balance mechanism itself is hidden from view, so the origins of anxiety, avoidance and depression can also have a hidden cause.

It seems that we focus almost exclusively on the cognitive and academic parts of our children, but in doing so we cause problems in that very arena and others as well. How can balance improve cognitive and academic achievement?

Children learn with their bodies before they learn with their minds. In my view, a healthy mind is the product of the brain and the body working together in perfect harmony. Brain and body learn to work together through physical experience. Movement is the primary medium through which this process takes place.

Movement is a child’s first language. Children express themselves through a combination of movement, gesture and alteration of posture long before they learn to speak. Everyone knows that children spontaneously jump for joy, crouch back in fear or stretch forward in expectancy. These simple gestures, which become more eloquent with time and practice, form the basis of non-verbal communication, which is estimated to contribute up to 90% of effective communication later on. They also help to train the pathways involved in control of the visual system (for reading), eye-hand coordination (writing) and postural control needed for sitting still and maintaining attention. This physical A,B,C – Attention, Balance and Coordination – is but the beginning of physical readiness for formal education.2

What kinds of programs or features can parents look for when choosing a school (from pre-school to high school) that shows evidence of balance?

Willingness to look at children’s physical development in terms of balance, eye movements, listening skills and coordination and if necessary provide relevant support if required. These tend to be schools that provide a wide range of activities to develop the “whole” child.

Children who are poorly coordinated will not necessarily embrace or respond well to physical education that is directly aimed at improving performance on the sports field because this is the very area in which the child feels inadequate. However, balance and coordination can be improved in a variety of different ways, through guided physical play with the very young child, developmental movement programmes in schools such as the INPP programme or through music and dance. One of the problems with the current education system (in the UK) is there tends to be an assumption that “one size fits all”, instead of looking at the developmental needs and abilities of the child and starting intervention from the point in development where the child is now.

Kids seem to like doing many of the exercises that promote balance. It not only gives them time to move, but it involves stories and pretending, like Bertie the Beetle swimming on his back or the Standing Statue. They don’t seem to realize the cognitive and physical benefits they are getting from doing it. How is balance therapy presented to students?

One imaginative teacher at a school in the north of England described the programme as “learning to move and moving to learn” explaining that movement helps to train the brain. In a short DVD produced by the Youth Sports Trust in Britain, children describe how “movement has helped me with my music by enabling me to spread my fingers out further on the saxophone”, “movement has helped me with writing as my fingers don’t get so tired and I can write for longer without stopping”. With older students (teenagers) they are told that it will make them look taller, improve their sporting prowess and help them in examinations.

All schools have commented that children’s concentration is improved in the lessons following the exercises, children’s behaviour towards one another is more considerate – they don’t bump into each other all the time, or get into fights in the playground as often - and “there is a dignity to these children that was not there before.”3

What kind of children benefit the most from this type of therapy?

Research to date4 indicates that the children who benefit most are those who show evidence of more than one primitive reflex still being active and who are also under-achieving at school.

Can you explain what you mean by primitive reflexes that are still active?

As the infant brain develops during the first year of life connections to higher centres in the brain become stronger and increasingly take over the functions of primitive reflexes. As this occurs, early survival patterns are inhibited or controlled to allow more mature patterns of response to develop in their place. Some children fail to gain this control fully in the first year of life and continue to grow up with traces of the primitive reflexes, which interfere with their development. These children continue to experience difficulty with control of movement affecting coordination, balance, fine motor skills, motor development and associated aspects of learning such as reading, writing and physical education. Retained primitive reflexes can also affect a child’s sensory perceptions, causing hypersensitivity in some areas and hyposensitivity in others.

How can schools or organizations provide training for their staff to implement such programs for movement and balance?

Teachers attend a one day training course led by an approved INPP trainer. Details of approved trainers in different countries can be obtained by contacting mail@inpp.org.uk

How can parents help their children? How can they identify the reflex abnormalities and remedy them?

Parents can observe signs and symptoms of immature reflexes in their child by reading any of the relevant literature. If they suspect that aberrant reflexes are a problem for their child I would recommend contacting a qualified practitioner for advice and not attempting to “treat” reflexes by themselves.

With younger children, simply providing an environment with plenty of opportunity for free physical play, “tummy time” while awake in the first 9 months of life, opportunity to crawl and creep, rough and tumble, song and games, can help to minimise the risk of reflex related problems developing. Additionally, engaging in conversation with your baby and reading to your child every day, do more to set the scene for reading than any amount of stimulation provided by expensive toys or electronic media. The good news is that some of the most important ingredients for a healthy childhood are free and a baby delights in the fact that engaged parents are its first teachers.

In general, are pediatricians aware of your work and do they specifically address these issues with therapies?

Yes and No:

Medically it is accepted that if primitive reflexes persist beyond the first 6 months of life they are sign of immaturity in the functioning of the central nervous system and indicative of underlying pathology. If primitive reflexes are fully retained, the child will usually be referred on for further investigations, diagnosis and if relevant to other medically trained therapists such as Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists etc.

However, if only traces of primitive reflexes remain, the child’s symptoms may not be severe enough to warrant medical investigation. This is what we describe as being a “grey area” where medicine has neither investigated nor identified pathology, and there seems to be a degree of “plasticity” in terms of helping the system to mature. These are the children we see at INPP – children who would otherwise “slip through the net” of professional services which should have identified any underlying problems. These are children who “good enough” to by-pass medical investigations but whose difficulties often go undetected.

What brought you to this kind of work?

A combination of factors: My original area of undergraduate study was History and Fine Arts. Part of the Fine Arts course concentrated on how the artist sees the world and how individual visual-perceptions can be different. I found this fascinating. My father was a classical musician and I had grown up with music being an essential part of life and learning but only started to understand how these things came together when I had my own children.

When I met Peter Blythe, the pieces of the jigsaw started to come together – two Psychology degrees later and I haven’t stopped since!

For more on the work of Sally Goddard Blythe and the Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology, go to www.inpp.org.uk

1 McCredie, S, 2007. Balance. In Search of the Lost Sense. Little, Brown and Company. New York.

2 Goddard Blythe SA. 2009. Attention, Balance and Coordination – the A,B,C of Learning Success. Wiley-Blackwell. Chichester.

3 Silvester E, 2004. Personal communication based on the use of the INPP Programme for Schools at St Margaret Mary RC School in Carlisle.

To read this interview in full, posted on the 20th May 2009, go to website: www.abettereducation.blogspot.com

This book explores the physical basis for learning. It explains the importance of early reflexes, their functions in early development and their effects on learning and behaviour if retained in later childhood.  The author also investigates the possible effects that these early reflexes have on other aspects of development such as posture, balance, motor skills and susceptibility to stress and anxiety in later life.

Attention, Balance and Coordination also includes:

• A review of relevant literature in the field
• A review of the origins of the modern vestibular-cerebellar theory
• The Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology’s Developmental Screening Questionnaire together with an explanation of its use and interpretation
• The effects of neuro-developmental immaturity in adolescents and young adults by Dr Lawrence Beuret
• The relationship between vestibular dysfunction and anxiety
• A chapter by Dr Peter Blythe chronicling the history of the development of the INPP Method from its inception in 1969 to the present day.

“Attention, Balance and Coordination is the most up-to-date handbook for professionals involved in education and child development, providing a new understanding of the source of specific educational and behavioural problems.This book is a competent, comprehensive and innovative contribution to the problem of learning disabilities and associated behavioral disorders.  The author attempts  to clarify   this  complex and multidimensional  issue by  pinpointing  the core of the pathology  -  ignored  until thirty  years ago -  which is a specific immaturity of the nervous system, consisting in  the failure of the higher integrative centers of the brain to control the “lower” but not less complex  mechanisms of postural reflexes  and sensory-motor response systems located in the   spine, cerebellum and the sub-cortical areas.  This basically new approach is skillfully presented and  high-lightened from different aspects:  A well-documented historical description of the research which has led to the discovery of the said source   of the disability. A systematic interdisciplinary analysis the neurological, auditory, visual, somato-sensory, motor, skeletal and   hormonal factors involved in the dynamics of the   dysfunction.  A pragmatic  presentation of assessment methods   yielding a reliable  diagnosis  of  the  individual handicap and last but not least a detailed description of the  rehabilitation procedures leading to the restoration of normality [In  this context  the  author stresses the  fact that the disability is reversible ,  but its cure may require the formation of a new specialist,  the "neuro-educator".] By virtue of   the extensive and fundamental treatment of the topic,  this is book   is a rich source of innovative information not only to the scientist  engaged in basic research, but mainly to the practitioner  in the fields of developmental neurology and pediatrics,    clinical  psychology and special education.”         

Prof. Reuven Kohen-Raz, Ph.D. (Emeritus) Former Head, Dep. of Special Education, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel)

The recent report published by the Child Poverty Action group sadly comes as no surprise following on the heels of the UNICEF and Good Childhood Enquiry reports. While these reports rightly highlight failings in Britain,they do not seem to be able to effect positive change. 

As long as successive governments continue to pursue policies which  view children from the perspective of the selfish adult rather than the biological and developmental needs of the child, I fear that the  state of childhood for many (not all) in this country will continue to be a dismal one.

Child well being begins before conception with the health and social stability of both parents.  Events in pregnancy, the manner of birth, feeding choices, opportunity for free physical play and conversation in the first 2 years of life all have a significant influence on a child’s social and emotional  development.

Physical interaction with the environment and social engagement with parents on a daily basis are as important to a child’s social  development as nutrition is for physical growth and well being, but increasingly in the UK we live in society where stressed parents struggle to hold family finances together and “virtual” relationships replace real  relationships for several hours of the day.  Little wonder that children feel socially and emotionally  isolated  and are increasingly inept at reading social cues.

Research suggests that regular and prolonged exposure to electronic media  affects children’s brain waves, attention, ability to separate fantasy from reality and even levels of neurotransmitters - chemical  substances through which the nervous system communicates - as well as affecting the quality of real relationships.  While the electronic media can entertain and provide a basic medium of communication, it lacks all nuances of non-verbal language. Up to 90% of effective communication is based on non-verbal signals.

While child protection seems to be woefully inadequate at one extreme, at the other, a culture which prevents teachers from having sufficient powers to discipline children effectively, makes heroes of celebrities  rather than those who have contributed to society through service and which discourages healthy competition in the pursuit of  difficult goals, also does children a disservice.  Children need secure boundaries to feel safe;  they need to learn through experience that bad behaviour has negative consequences if they are to have the motivation to change.  This is just one way in which the weak and timid in society can feel safe and the strong and adventurous learn how to temper and regulate their behaviour. Children need examples of extraordinary  achievement and service in order to believe that maybe, one day they can achieve the same, and contribute something useful to society.

The needs of children and adults are not the same.  Children need stable adults to lead them into the world and they need a society that welcomes them and takes them  up into their culture and which teaches by example.

Parents are essential ingredients in this process and if we want to start effecting change in the experience of childhood in this country, we can begin by valuing the role of parenting above material well being.

Whether we like it or not, a happy childhood  begins with parents and ends as members of the state, not the other way round.

This conference is a multi-disciplinary conference bringing together world experts in the field of neuro-developmental assessment and rehabilitation. It provides a rare opportunity to hear speakers cover a wide range of topics, theories and methods for the assessment and treatment of neuro-developmental dysfunctions including: prevention, biochemical analysis and treatment, emotional and behavioural outcomes, effective programmes for use in schools, treatment for adolescents and adults, programmes for autistic spectrum disorders and the use of neuro-feedback.

Delegate numbers are limited so that all delegates have an opportunity to hear all speakers and take part in discussions.  The programme for the conference can  be found by visiting www.inpp.org.uk/europeanconference. There are a small number of places still available for this event.  For information/registration contact 01244 311414.

Professor Doctor YAIR SCHIFTAN

Professor of Special Needs Academy of the University of Warsaw, Poland

Professor of Special Education of the University of  Zagreb, Croatia

Inventor of the vibro- acoustic Therapy MUSICA MEDICA.

President of Academia MUSICA MEDICA in Switzerland

Helen L. Irlen, MA, LMFT
Founder & Executive Director: Irlen Institute International Headquarters

 Helen L. Irlen is an internationally recognized educator, researcher, therapist, scholar, and expert in the area of visual-perceptual problems. She is a graduate of Cornell University. Ms. Irlen has been in the field of education for the past 30 years. Her background includes 15 years as a School Psychologist, 30 years as a Child and Family Therapist, Educational Therapist, founder and Director of the Adult Learning Disabilities Program and Assistant Professor of Adult Learning Disabilities at California State University/Long Beach, instructor in psychology at Cornell University, and research assistant at Cornell.

She has been recognized for her dedication to working with children and adults and is listed in Who’s Who in California, Who’s Who in Asia and the Pacific Nations, International Woman of the Year (1999-2000), International Who’s Who of Professionals, Kingston’s National Registry of Who’s Who, and the Dictionary of International Biography.

Over 20 years ago, research directed by Helen Irlen under a federal research grant studied methods of helping children and adults with reading and learning disabilities. One important discovery was that a subgroup of individuals showed a marked improvement in their reading ability when reading material was covered by colored acetate sheets. For the next five years, Ms. Irlen worked on refining her discovery, developing diagnostic testing instruments, and patenting a set of colored filters.

Peter Blythe, Ph.D.

Peter Blythe is the Director of the Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology in Chester, England. The Institute sponsors the yearly International Conference of Neuro-Developmental Delay In Children With Specific Learning Difficulties. This event brings together scientists in many different fields of expertise. It is now in its thirteenth year.

The Institute has affiliatees in many different countries which use the specific techniques of reflex stimulation/inhibition developed at the Institute. While children are seen and counselled at INPP Peter Blythe and Sally Goddard train teachers at monthly workshops how to spot neuro-developmental delay in students who have difficulties learning and teach tech techniques which can be used in the classroom to ensure that all children have the neurological readiness to function successfully.

In his early professional life, Peter Blythe was divided into working as a therapist with adults manifesting all the symptoms of neuroses, and working with children of near average, average or above average intelligence who underachieve educationally. For a number of years  he was a senior lecturer in psychology at a College of Education. In addition to having published many papers in the field of physiological psychology, Peter Blythe is the author of Hypnotism: Its Power and Practise. The highly popular Stress Disease: The Growing Plague, and the book which he now calls outdated, An Organic Basis for Neuroses and Educational Difficulties. He and Sally Goddard cooperated in the video Learning Problems and Neuro-developmental Delay which has been widely distributed internationally.

Sally Goddard Blythe, MSc.FRSA 

Sally Goddard Blythe is the Director of the Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology in Chester and the author of a number of acclaimed books on child development, including Reflexes, Learning and Behavior, The Well Balanced Child and What Babies and Children Really Need.

When she joined INPP in 1987, her first research interest was into the effect that the Fear Paralysis Reflex - a very early intra-utero reflex - had on later motor, academic and emotional development. (1989, The Fear Paralysis Reflex and its Interaction with the Primitive Reflexes. INPP Monograph series.) This eventually led to her presenting a paper at the 3rd European Conference on Neuro-developmental Delay in Children with Specific Learning Difficulties in March 1991, entitled Elective Mutism: The Unchosen Silence. (INPP Monograph).

Her latest book Attention, Balance and Coordination is due to be published in April 2009.  Her time is largely taken up with working with children with a variety of Specific Learning Difficulties - dyslexia, reading problems, writing difficulties, ADD dyscalculia and dyspraxia. Every two months she gives a “One Day Course for Teachers” which helps special needs teachers to detect those children who may have an underlying neuro-developmental delay playing a major role in their learning difficulties. She then presents a developmental motor programme which can be used as a class activity rather than having to work with each child individually. Each year she leads the One Year Four Module training course to post graduate students. This presents the theory developed by INPP, a full screening methodology for detecting underlying neuro-developmental factors, the diagnostic assessment and the unique INPP Stimulation/Inhibition programme which has been proven to be successful in a double-blind, cross-over study.

Mikhail Lazarev

Listen again to Sally as a guest contributor on this programme by following the link below:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00h8qc3/Moral_Maze_04_02_2009/

Graham Stringer MP’s view (14.1.09) that dyslexia is a myth supported by a dyslexia industry, illustrates the confusion that surrounds  poor literacy achievement in the UK and the inaccurate use of diagnostic labels for specific learning difficulties.

It is certainly true that a percentage of children fail to read and write as a result of poor or inappropriate teaching methods, and that the teaching of phonics is an esential part of teaching children to read.

However, there are a number of other reasons why an otherwise intelligent child might fail to achieve reading, writing and spelling levels commensurate with chronological age.

In a series of small scale independent studies carried out across the UK between 2001 and 2005, it was found that the balance and coordination abilities of 38% of 7 - 8 year olds and 45% of 4 - 5 year olds were immature.  Problems with balance, posture and coordination can affect the development of the eye movements necessary for reading and writing (Child Care in Practice. Vol 11/4 pp 415-432, 2005).  Not all of these children have dyslexia, but the lack of oculo-motor control can interfere with the acquisition of literacy skills.  These studies found a corellation between immature physical abilities and lower educational performance.

Children diagnosed with dyslexia can have a mixture of phonological deficit with or without additional visual processing and motor-perceptual problems.  These children, need a combination of therapy aimed at improving the underlying deficit and specialist teaching to support the weaker skills. It is unlikely that a single method of teaching as suggested by Graham Stringer would eliminate the clinically identifiable features of true dyslexia.

• 16th December 2008, article by Laura Clarke in the “Daily Mail”, Couch potato babies strapped into their seats.
• The winter 2008 edition of “New View” magazine contains an article by Sally Goddard Blythe Why movement is an essential ingredient of every child’s development.  www.newview.org.uk
• January 8th 2009 article due to be published in “Nursery World” magazine
• January 18th 2009 Physical interaction and social engagement - essential ingredients for later learning success is due to be published in IQJ
• February 2009.  Attention, Balance and Coordination - the A,B,C of Learning Success  due to be published by Wiley-Blackwell.