(J. N., Mississauga, Ontario)

Medical Diagnosis: Hydrocephalus; Cri-du-Chat; Developmental Delay
Age at first A.N.D. Assessment: 6 years
Number of years on A.N.D program: 2 ½ years
Parents Original Goals: Speech, Writing, Reading, Understanding, Walk & Run better

Voice of the patient’s mother:

“I do the exercises with my child every day. It’s different from giving my child to someone else to do a program. We get much more out of it by working together. The A.N.D. program has brought our family closer together. We bonded together.

Our daughter has developed speech. She only made noises before. We can have a conversation with her now. We can understand what she wants, what she says. There is much more work to do, especially in the way she speaks.

We have to make it much clearer. Sometimes when she says something, if we don’t understand then she will repeat it several times. If we still don’t understand then she will use different words and say it another way. I am confident we will continue to improve her speaking. We have already come so far.

Her understanding has improved. She understands what we are saying. At the beginning, this was not clear; we never knew what she understood. She has become interested in learning to read, and does recognize some simple words. She has also begun to memorize words from her picture book, and she has even memorized short sentences, up to four words, that we have read to her. She is starting to sound out words.

She has begun to write letters. She can even write her name. She knows her entire alphabet in English and we are now working on numbers. She can count up to 20 but still needs to improve her understanding of addition and subtraction. She can count how many brothers and sisters she has, but can’t add the number of sisters and brothers together. This too will come; I am sure of it.

She has become more independent. For instance, she went by herself from the therapy room to the reception room. She didn’t even hesitate. At school, she has an EA and she used to go off to a separate class with other kids like her. We don’t do this any more. She stays with the children in her public school class. She even stays on her own (without the E.A.) with the other kids twice a week in the mornings. This is a big jump for her.

Outside of school, she is not with special needs kids.

She has more confidence in her own ability, she warms to other children and they like to help her, but she needs help less and less. She is respectful of other children and the environment, for instance, she will pick up garbage from the floor and put it where it belongs. She goes to parties with her friends. She has no complaints. If she wants something and we give her the choice to pick one of several things, that’s what she will do, just pick one thing.

She walks much better now and can run quite fast. We still have to improve her gait and make it smoother.

She is definitely more present, you can see this when you look at her. She is in our world now. This is all from the A.N.D. program.”

(D.C., Mississauga, Ontario)

Medical Diagnosis: PDD; Aspergers Disorder
Age at first A.N.D. Assessment: 10 years
Number of years on A.N.D program: 2 years
Parents Original Goals: To develop reading, writing and matematical ability. To improve ability to learn more effectively in a mainstream classroom. Secondary goals focus on improving peer social interaction, reduce stress and anxiety thereby decreasing frustration and inappropriate outbursts.

Voice of patient's mother:

"My son is doing noticeably well at school. Since starting the AND program in May 2004 my son has experienced many successes. His motivation and focus on school work amazes me. His short term memory has greatly improved. He is getting perfect scores on his weekly spelling tests. His improvement in spelling has also shown itself in his reading and writing ability. His fine motor skills have also improved. The print is smaller, more controlled and no reversals. In math, he has learned multiplication, strengthened addition, subtraction and telling time skills. His physical development and endurance has also improved. He learned to ride a two wheeler last summer and has taken a more active part in gym class sports. He would usually watch the other kids play but now he will join the game. His social and emotional development has improved as well. Socially, my son has participated in the school concert, singing with his classmates. He also participates in a weekly social group at school. This group helps with his developmental need to make friends and interact appropriately. Emotionally, his day to day coping skills are better. He still gets frustrated and angry but his reasoning skills are better and his ability to change the behaviour is better as well."

(F. A., Barrie, Ontario)

Medical Diagnosis: Autism Spectrum Disorder
Age at first Assessment: 4 ½ years
Number of Years on A.N.D program: 1 ½ years

Parents Original Goals: Full recovery from ASD; to be toilet trained; to get help with his diet and supplement program; to enable him to make eye contact when spoken to; to help with his emotional erratic behaviour; to improve the quality and duration of his sleep; to help integrate his sensory dysfunction.

Voice of patient’s mother:

“My son was not developing typical language skills. There were a number of problems: he was not making eye contact, not playing with other children, not sleeping properly, was emotionally erratic and had obvious sensory dysfunctions. He did a lot of self “stimming” with his hands and also would repeat words and phrases over and over.

At the about the time of our son’s first follow-up (after 4 months of AND program), he began to ask questions unprompted, such as, “what do you mean?”, “what are you doing Mommy?”, and say phrases, such as, “hi daddy”, “mommy, I want some juice”. His comprehension substantially improved.

By the time the 2nd follow-up came around (8 months after his initial evaluation), he had improved even more. He had better comprehension of verbal commands. His expression and communication had improved more. He was beginning to interact with his peers and showing affection for our pets, family and friends. In addition, he was engaging in more imaginative play. His reading and comprehension were also better.

After the third follow-up (12 months after the initial evaluation), our child continues to improve and is better able to express his thoughts and feelings. His socialization is much better and he is communicating and playing with his peers at school. He is also able to sit and attend for longer periods of time. He participates better in school and, in circle time, he sings and claps with the group. He still has his ups and downs but he is now much more in our world.”

(G.N., Barrie, Ontario)

"... It changed my perspective and my frustration with my son. I used to be after my son to stop doing the things he was doing. After being told why he was behaving as he was, his actions didn't bother me anymore…..”

(H.S., Toronto, Ontario

“…We attended an evening in which the specialist spoke of the symptoms of sensory dysfunction. As he spoke, my husband and I recognized our daughter: The watching of ceiling fans, banging doors, liking to play in the bathroom, shaking her head, rubbing her eyes, and so on. Suddenly, they were no longer 'cute little things' that she did, but symptoms of something else that we had never been made aware of …..”