Lifting his feet, he rocks back to front, right to left, and in circles. The child sits on the floor, knees up, leaning back on his arms. Sample Brain Gym Exercisesĭo the “Rocker” to activate the brain for focus, centering, and laterality. What is the ideal state for learning, playing, and interacting? One of whole brain integration in which we access all three dimensions. It is also essential for fluid, whole body movements and the ability to move and think at the same time. This dimension is fundamental for reading, writing, and communicating. Laterality: the ability to coordinate the two sides of the brain.Students who are easily flooded with feelings are unbalanced in this dimension. This dimension is related to organization, grounding, feeling safe, and responding clearly without heavy emotional overlay while appropriately feeling and expressing emotions. Centering: the ability to coordinate the top and bottom parts of the brain.This dimension is related to participation, to the ability to act on the details of a situation while at the same time remaining conscious of the overall context – – the “big picture.” People who lack balanced focus have difficulty with attention and comprehension. Focus: the ability to coordinate the back and front parts of the brain.In the Brain Gym model, three dimensions of intelligence correspond to the integrated functioning of the three parts of the brain: (See her book, I Am the Child, for inspirational success stories.) How Does Brain Gym Help with Learning? Brain Gym exercises are easily adaptable for children with limited movement capability. Performance comes naturally when one’s body is relaxed and one’s posture supports access to all parts of the brain.Ĭecilia Freeman, M.Ed., Brain Gym Consultant and Instructor, uses Edu-K and Brain Gym to benefit those challenged with autism, cerebral palsy, ADD, ADHD, PDD-NOS, Angelman’s Syndrome, speech impairment, blindness and deafness. Brain Gym stimulates the nervous system equally in all brain parts, minimizes one-sided, negative brain reactions, builds new pathways to both hemispheres, and eliminates stress.

Edu-K comprises techniques from the fields of motor development, Applied Kinesiology, developmental optometry, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, acupuncture, yoga, martial arts, language development, psychology, and brain research.ĭennison developed a set of 26 specific movements, called Brain Gym, to promote integrated visual, auditory and kinesthetic functioning. Edu-K is the fruit of 20 years of experimentation and research by Californian Paul Dennison, PhD. When these physical skills are not automatic, attending to the demands of higher level cognitive processing is difficult.Īddressing this issue of readying the body to learn is a movement system called Educational Kinesiology (Edu-K). To learn effectively, typical children and those with special needs must be able to sit still, listen, focus on letters and figures, and track from left to right with their eyes. Freeman, MEd., Certified Brain Gym Consultants What Is Brain Gym?īrain Gym can help with autism, cerebral palsy, ADD/ADHD, PDD-NOS, Angelman’s Syndrome, speech impairment, blindness, deafness, learning disabilities and more. Ron Minson, MD, a pioneer and leading expert in the use of engineered music for improving mental performance and treating a variety of brain based disorders.By Mary Rentschler, MEd., and Cecilia K. We also use iLs exercises developed by an expert team at the Sensory Therapies and Research Center under the direction of the legendary therapist, researcher and author Lucy Jane Miller, PhD, OTR.įor engineered listening, we use the Integrated Listening System, developed over a period of 20 years by the illustrious neuropsychiatrist, Dr. The program is designed to help children as a natural treatment for ADHD, high functioning autistic kids as a treatment for autism, or as a general improvement for kids that struggle to learn and need a learning skills boost.įor sensory integration, Maxi Mind incorporates the pioneering work of Frank Belgau, Ed.D., developer of Balametrics and the Learning Breakthrough Program. The specific brain training techniques we employ are developed, tested and endorsed by leading experts in their respective fields and used successfully by thousands of therapists in dozens of countries. The Maxi Mind Brain Training System TM is built on three primary modalities of stimulating the brain – each without drugs, without academia, but with… fun: Sensory integration exercise, engineered listening, and computerized focus training using biofeedback.

Brain gym for autism