Who is Neuro Developmental and Sound Therapy designed to help?

The INPP Reflex Integration Programme/Neuro-Developmental Therapy is appropriate for children aged 7 years and above. 

Johansen IAS/Sound Therapy is suitable for adults and children from as young as age 3 and up.

Sound Therapy is also available for adults.  

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What are the kinds of difficulties/challenges these programmes can help?

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Many children with the difficulties noted above have neuro-motor immaturity and auditory processing difficulties which are the specific areas addressed by Map & Compass.

 

What is Neuro-Motor Immaturity? And how does Reflex-integration work?

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Neuro-Motor Immaturity (NMI), sometimes also called Neuro-Developmental Delay (NDD) is the continued presence of a cluster of primitive reflexes, above the age of one year, and the absence or underdevelopment of postural reflexes above the age of three and a half years. Each one of us is born with a set of primitive reflexes (sometimes known as 'survival reflexes'), which should be inhibited or controlled by a higher part of the brain during the first years of life.

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If these are not inhibited at the correct time, they remain active in the body, and may get in the way of subsequent motor control, eye functioning, eye-hand co-ordination, and perceptual skills. Frustration, hyperactivity, anxiety, and hypersensitivity may be further symptoms, as the child finds it difficult to perform daily tasks to his true level of potential.  For some children, their outward appearance and behaviour may seem "normal" and and they may "perform" well in school settings, so problems may not be picked up by teachers.  It is only once the reflexes are addressed that it becomes clear what hindrances the child has been facing, and daily tasks and processes become more fluent while frustration and anxieties lessen . 

 

The good news is that it is not a "guessing game."  The assessment will clearly indicate dysfunction if it is present, and then this is checked and measured throughout the programme until the reflexes have been integrated.  In the same way that a healthy baby goes through a natural process of their baby reflexes doing the job that they were designed to do and then completely finishing their job before they are integrated, once the neuro-developmental exercises help your child all the way through the process of integration, these reflexes that had "over-stayed their welcome" will not return because they have completed the work developmentally in the child. 

 

One of the key differences in the INPP programme as opposed to other reflex integration programmes is the developmental level where we begin.  We look at the earliest developmental stage when something caused a reflex to not integrate properly and start from that point...AND, we don't leave that point until the integration work is complete.  In this way it creates a strong developmental foundation.  Once the nervous system begins to operate out of that optimum foundation, it has the potential to unlock ease and various aspects of positive functioning for the individual. 

 

What causes NMI?

 

It is unlikely that any single factor can be identified as the cause. It is more likely to be a combination of factors which have led to the persistence of primitive reflexes beyond the normal age of inhibition. Hereditary factors can play a part in abnormal reflexes, as do factors influencing pregnancy, the birth process, and infancy.

 

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​Will it work? and Why does it work?

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While there are no absolute guarantees of success, the programmes that Map & Compass offer are evidenced (read some RESEARCH here) to set a neurological/physiological foundation in place to enable your child the opportunity for their nervous system to work according to its design.  Once these processes are in place, you may begin to see the results in some of the areas listed above.  If neuro-motor immaturity (NMI) is evaluated and a cluster of primitive reflexes are present, the integration of those reflexes will, to put it simply, begin a process enabling the body-brain connection to work more smoothly.

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Often, it's the presenting symptoms that are the easiest part to see and explain, but the cause can be harder to find and understand. The cause will not always be something that Neuro-developmental or Sound Therapy can help, although I will endeavour to refer you to specialists who may be able to address issues outside of my expertise.   We now know that all information entering and leaving the brain is processed in what is known as the cerebellar-vestibular system. If this system is not working efficiently due to developmental delay/neuro-motor immaturity, then it can cause or aggravate any of the difficulties listed above. 

 

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Do you diagnose?

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Map and Compass does not diagnose specific disorders. We are focussed on addressing the underlying causes, not the presenting symptoms.  We may be able to help point you in the right direction if we feel that the assessment indicates that it would be advisable to see a specific kind of clinician/specialist/GP etc. Each child that goes through a full diagnostic assessment has the opportunity to book a thorough clinical/educational report detailing the results of the assessment that can be used to show teachers, GPs, other specialists etc in order to help explain the challenges your child is facing, the advised course of remediation, and any suggested referrals.