We have children who come to Brain Fit with such labels such as ADD/ADHD, Anxiety, Sensory Processing Disorder, Autism, Developmental Delay, the list goes on!
Now, I fully understand how labels can be helpful to have- especially for a school-aged child. Without labels, it can be very hard to receive any kind of support services through a school district. Or- if you're lucky, the school may give your child support but it won't be long-lasting or is inconsistent. I get it. Remember- I have a child that is labeled autistic, and that label has been helpful since he was two years old to help him receive the support and services in (and out) of school that he needs in order to help him be successful.
The reason why I'm writing about labels now though is because I was thinking about them the other day. The labels I mean. I was thinking about them and how they relate to how we look at kids that come through our door.
And do you want to know what I realized? Well- I guess I already knew this but just hadn't really thought about it. What I realized is that although we ask about labels during our intake process, they aren't a focal point for us.
Yes, knowing the label can be helpful in understanding what kinds of struggles the child might have in/out of school. And yes, the label can be helpful for guiding families in what kind of support they might want to ask for at school. But ultimately? We aren't too concerned about the label that the child has.
It's not that we don't care of course. It's just that we are looking at the child in a deeper, different way. We are looking at brain organization and how that is affecting the child. So it doesn't matter what the label is for us- not really. It doesn't really matter because we are looking at that child on an individual basis and moving them along from where they are. At the brain/body level. We're looking at those unintegrated Primitive Reflexes and how they are affecting the child.
We could have two children with exactly the same label come to us and see two completely different profiles when we look at them from the Brain Fit stand-point. And vise versa- two children with similar Brain Fit profiles and completely different labels.
So you see, although labels can be helpful in many ways, and can give us some information initially, ultimately- we still work with the child based on what we see. We use the information we receive from their body. Their body knows- it just might need a reminder. We meet them where they are and move them forward- regardless of their "label".
Like I said, labels can definitely be helpful for certain aspects of helping a struggling child. And, I totally understand why they are necessary in order to get support for children.
But here at Brain Fit Academy, we're looking at the child a little differently and those labels don't carry as much weight. They don't need to.
What matters is that we see progress.
What matters is that we see positive changes.
What matters is that kids feel better in their brain/bodies when they come through our program- no matter what their "label" says.
