Brain Injury/Damage IS Changeable!
Brain injury has many causes and comes in all levels of severity. It can occur during the pregnancy due to genetics; the use of alcohol and/or drugs including over-the-counter, prescription or street; the use of tobacco, and/or illness or health problems of the mother. A long or difficult delivery such as the cord around the baby’s neck, forceps or vacuum delivery can cause oxygen deprivation, which kills brain cells.
Brain injury can happen during early infancy from illness, high fever, accident, trauma or abuse/neglect. However, regardless of the cause, the severity or when it occurred, all brain injury has one thing in common… brain injury prevents the child from reaching his/her potential. Brain injury does not lower or take away from the potential; it just prevents you from accessing, demonstrating or using the full potential you have.
The potential is there, you just don’t have access to it. You know you can move your arm, say a word, or perform a function; but, due to a brain injury your body won’t cooperate… the potential is there just not the ability.
Even though potential cannot be properly measured, when someone suffers from a brain injury their potential is always significantly higher than they are able to show or communicate. Can Learn Christian Academy is proud of the results achieved by the courageous children and their families we work with.
Our programs offer exciting results regardless of age or degree of disability. In fact, the programs used at the Can Learn Christian Academy often get good results even when other programs fail.
The Neurodevelopment Method
According to the information processing theory, there are two components necessary for learning. One is the brains ability to Receive, Process, Store and Utilize information taken in by the sensory system. The second is the frequency, intensity and duration of the input. Depending on how efficiently the sensory system received, processed, stored is a direct reflection on how efficiently the brain can utilize that information. If there are any problems with the information coming in to our brain, it will stop or decrease our ability to learn.
Stimulation
Our brains learn from Frequency, Intensity and Duration. Frequency is providing many, many exposures or ‘input’ to concepts. Most curricula give a few exposures or ‘inputs’ to information rather than many, many. Input IS NOT testing. Once you ask the question…can you, show me, how, when, where, why, pick the correct one, you are testing the child for information. When a child learns anything new they gladly tell you, repeatedly! Intensity is the magnitude of force or energy per saturation of the input. It’s the how big, bright, fast or exciting of the input. Duration is the length of time of the input. Research shows the brain is only able to hold its attention/focus for 20-30 minutes; so our lessons are short and repeated throughout the day.
Maturity
The SMART/Neurodevelopment theory aims to mature sensory pathways of vision auditory and tactile/kinesthetic and we ‘measure’ the maturation through the motor pathways of fine and gross motor and language skills. It works like this; you receive stimulus or input through the sensory pathways. The brain processes the information and then you have motor responses or output through the motor pathways.
Due to readiness skills deficits, the input into some children is not clear and/or consistent and there appear to be ‘gaps’ in learning. Therefore, the output is the same and the same ‘gaps’ appear. These children cannot perform at their natural intelligence, even though they are trying as hard as they can.
Acceleration
Now, here is where we take education to a cellular level. A brain cell is called a neuron and we all have 10 billion+ neurons. Neurons are unique in that they communicate with each other. Neurons are messengers. Each neuron has an axon that transmits an electrical/chemical charge. The electrical charge, once it has developed sufficient potency, jumps the synaptic cleft/gap by way of chemicals called neurotransmitters. Then the electrical charge is received by the dendrites of a second neuron. Our hope as educators is to help the messages to travel quickly and efficiently. We want to accelerate both the speed and efficiency of the neurons messages!
That happens in two ways, first by increasing the paths by which the message can travel and second by increasing the speed at which the message travels. Novel stimulation causes the neurons to grow branches called dendrites and connect to other cells. Each dendrite can connect between 2 and 200,000 other dendrites. Now that's a lot of options for the brain to take when sending a message!
Myelin is a fatty layer tissue that sheathes the axon of each neuron. This sheath around the axon acts like a conduit in an electrical system, ensuring that messages sent by axons move quickly and are not lost in route. Picture a regular extension cord versus the thick, heavy-duty orange extension cord. The thicker the insulation on the cord, the higher the rating and capability it has. The thicker the myelin on the axon, the faster the message can be transmitted. Many layers allow for efficient conduction of the electrical impulse down the axon. The more positive stimulation the brain receives; the more myelin is produced.
Readiness
To explain readiness, it is important to understand the functions of two areas of the brain. The first is the lowest level of the brain known as the Brain Stem. The Brain Stem consists of the Pons, Medulla, Mid-Brain and Cerebellum, which controls the coordination of all unconscious motor activity. It is the area in charge of automatic function and is the foundation for readiness skills. Examples are:
* the eyes moving smoothly together across a page
* A sense of balance that allows a child to sit upright in a chair
* Ability to differentiate between similar sounds
It is crucial that these skills are automatic or unconscious when we are learning. If they are not automatic, then the Cortex must think about each step needed to complete a 'request''. Like walking; if the person hasn't established a cross-pattern, automatic, walk then the brain must think about each muscle and movement to simply walk. You ever hear the phrase "Can't walk and chew gum?" the person really can't!
This is important, because if the skills are done consciously, then the Cortex can be involved. The Cortex can only do one thing at a time. If the Brain Stem is doing its work automatically, then the Cortex can concentrate to make the eyes move smoothly across a page of print and the student may appear to read. But, the ROLE of the Cortex in reading is to do the comprehension. If the Cortex is involved or 'taken up' with the eye movements, then it is no longer available for the comprehension because it can only do one job. The result or results are things educators see every day when teaching children. Children who:
* Only seem to be able to follow one step in a list of directions
* Seem to have learned a skill in isolation, but cannot transfer it
* Can read a text but cannot remember what they just read
With the S.M.A.R.T. program we aim to have the foundation skills in place, so the BRAIN STEM can do its automatic function and the CORTEX is free to do its job!
Training
Finally, we come to training. In the S.M.A.R.T. program children do many activities which TRAIN or encourage the brain to use both hemispheres at the same time. Despite the split, the two hemispheres of the brain communicate with each other through a thick tract of white nerve fibers call the Corpus Callosum. It connects the two hemispheres and transfers important information from one side to the other.
We want to train the two hemispheres to communicate because using both sides of the brain is very important when learning how to read and when expressing feelings and thoughts...
* Right hemisphere controls feelings and thoughts
* Left hemisphere controls language
* We use both sides when we talk about how we feel
Training is also using all of these principles together; Stimulation, Maturity, Acceleration and Readiness to Train the brain. We do this through a series of specific activities, which integrate into existing curriculum, to make the brains and bodies of your children ready so they can learn!
Each of the above areas is extremely important to the ability to learn easily. I often find that it is the combination of inefficiencies that make each person’s learning problems unique, and this is the reason ‘packaged programs’ don’t work well for the majority of people.
For more information contact us at: 509-362-3418 www.canlearnacademy.org canlearnacademy@gmail.com
Return to home page
Brain injury has many causes and comes in all levels of severity. It can occur during the pregnancy due to genetics; the use of alcohol and/or drugs including over-the-counter, prescription or street; the use of tobacco, and/or illness or health problems of the mother. A long or difficult delivery such as the cord around the baby’s neck, forceps or vacuum delivery can cause oxygen deprivation, which kills brain cells.
Brain injury can happen during early infancy from illness, high fever, accident, trauma or abuse/neglect. However, regardless of the cause, the severity or when it occurred, all brain injury has one thing in common… brain injury prevents the child from reaching his/her potential. Brain injury does not lower or take away from the potential; it just prevents you from accessing, demonstrating or using the full potential you have.
The potential is there, you just don’t have access to it. You know you can move your arm, say a word, or perform a function; but, due to a brain injury your body won’t cooperate… the potential is there just not the ability.
Even though potential cannot be properly measured, when someone suffers from a brain injury their potential is always significantly higher than they are able to show or communicate. Can Learn Christian Academy is proud of the results achieved by the courageous children and their families we work with.
Our programs offer exciting results regardless of age or degree of disability. In fact, the programs used at the Can Learn Christian Academy often get good results even when other programs fail.
The Neurodevelopment Method
According to the information processing theory, there are two components necessary for learning. One is the brains ability to Receive, Process, Store and Utilize information taken in by the sensory system. The second is the frequency, intensity and duration of the input. Depending on how efficiently the sensory system received, processed, stored is a direct reflection on how efficiently the brain can utilize that information. If there are any problems with the information coming in to our brain, it will stop or decrease our ability to learn.
Stimulation
Our brains learn from Frequency, Intensity and Duration. Frequency is providing many, many exposures or ‘input’ to concepts. Most curricula give a few exposures or ‘inputs’ to information rather than many, many. Input IS NOT testing. Once you ask the question…can you, show me, how, when, where, why, pick the correct one, you are testing the child for information. When a child learns anything new they gladly tell you, repeatedly! Intensity is the magnitude of force or energy per saturation of the input. It’s the how big, bright, fast or exciting of the input. Duration is the length of time of the input. Research shows the brain is only able to hold its attention/focus for 20-30 minutes; so our lessons are short and repeated throughout the day.
Maturity
The SMART/Neurodevelopment theory aims to mature sensory pathways of vision auditory and tactile/kinesthetic and we ‘measure’ the maturation through the motor pathways of fine and gross motor and language skills. It works like this; you receive stimulus or input through the sensory pathways. The brain processes the information and then you have motor responses or output through the motor pathways.
Due to readiness skills deficits, the input into some children is not clear and/or consistent and there appear to be ‘gaps’ in learning. Therefore, the output is the same and the same ‘gaps’ appear. These children cannot perform at their natural intelligence, even though they are trying as hard as they can.
Acceleration
Now, here is where we take education to a cellular level. A brain cell is called a neuron and we all have 10 billion+ neurons. Neurons are unique in that they communicate with each other. Neurons are messengers. Each neuron has an axon that transmits an electrical/chemical charge. The electrical charge, once it has developed sufficient potency, jumps the synaptic cleft/gap by way of chemicals called neurotransmitters. Then the electrical charge is received by the dendrites of a second neuron. Our hope as educators is to help the messages to travel quickly and efficiently. We want to accelerate both the speed and efficiency of the neurons messages!
That happens in two ways, first by increasing the paths by which the message can travel and second by increasing the speed at which the message travels. Novel stimulation causes the neurons to grow branches called dendrites and connect to other cells. Each dendrite can connect between 2 and 200,000 other dendrites. Now that's a lot of options for the brain to take when sending a message!
Myelin is a fatty layer tissue that sheathes the axon of each neuron. This sheath around the axon acts like a conduit in an electrical system, ensuring that messages sent by axons move quickly and are not lost in route. Picture a regular extension cord versus the thick, heavy-duty orange extension cord. The thicker the insulation on the cord, the higher the rating and capability it has. The thicker the myelin on the axon, the faster the message can be transmitted. Many layers allow for efficient conduction of the electrical impulse down the axon. The more positive stimulation the brain receives; the more myelin is produced.
Readiness
To explain readiness, it is important to understand the functions of two areas of the brain. The first is the lowest level of the brain known as the Brain Stem. The Brain Stem consists of the Pons, Medulla, Mid-Brain and Cerebellum, which controls the coordination of all unconscious motor activity. It is the area in charge of automatic function and is the foundation for readiness skills. Examples are:
* the eyes moving smoothly together across a page
* A sense of balance that allows a child to sit upright in a chair
* Ability to differentiate between similar sounds
It is crucial that these skills are automatic or unconscious when we are learning. If they are not automatic, then the Cortex must think about each step needed to complete a 'request''. Like walking; if the person hasn't established a cross-pattern, automatic, walk then the brain must think about each muscle and movement to simply walk. You ever hear the phrase "Can't walk and chew gum?" the person really can't!
This is important, because if the skills are done consciously, then the Cortex can be involved. The Cortex can only do one thing at a time. If the Brain Stem is doing its work automatically, then the Cortex can concentrate to make the eyes move smoothly across a page of print and the student may appear to read. But, the ROLE of the Cortex in reading is to do the comprehension. If the Cortex is involved or 'taken up' with the eye movements, then it is no longer available for the comprehension because it can only do one job. The result or results are things educators see every day when teaching children. Children who:
* Only seem to be able to follow one step in a list of directions
* Seem to have learned a skill in isolation, but cannot transfer it
* Can read a text but cannot remember what they just read
With the S.M.A.R.T. program we aim to have the foundation skills in place, so the BRAIN STEM can do its automatic function and the CORTEX is free to do its job!
Training
Finally, we come to training. In the S.M.A.R.T. program children do many activities which TRAIN or encourage the brain to use both hemispheres at the same time. Despite the split, the two hemispheres of the brain communicate with each other through a thick tract of white nerve fibers call the Corpus Callosum. It connects the two hemispheres and transfers important information from one side to the other.
We want to train the two hemispheres to communicate because using both sides of the brain is very important when learning how to read and when expressing feelings and thoughts...
* Right hemisphere controls feelings and thoughts
* Left hemisphere controls language
* We use both sides when we talk about how we feel
Training is also using all of these principles together; Stimulation, Maturity, Acceleration and Readiness to Train the brain. We do this through a series of specific activities, which integrate into existing curriculum, to make the brains and bodies of your children ready so they can learn!
Each of the above areas is extremely important to the ability to learn easily. I often find that it is the combination of inefficiencies that make each person’s learning problems unique, and this is the reason ‘packaged programs’ don’t work well for the majority of people.
For more information contact us at: 509-362-3418 www.canlearnacademy.org canlearnacademy@gmail.com
Return to home page
