December 2004

The neuro‑developmental sequence: What did your child miss?

This article is reprinted with permission of Oklahaven Children's Chiropractic Center (c)2004 from IN‑LINE newsletter, Spring issue written by Dr. Bobby Doscher and Oklahaven Staff.

At Oklahaven we have observed an important correlation between the neurological ages of children and their chronological ages. Over the course of time a baby meets his milestones: crawling on the tummy, sitting, creeping on hands and knees, standing, walking, running, hopping, skipping, playing and fine motor coordination. His senses (hearing, seeing, taste, touch and smell) mature into perceptual ability, social skills, language and problem solving. These developmental milestones represent his biological age and correspond with a time frame from his birth or chronological age. When the two ages match, it indicates a healthy, well‑organized child. When there is a lack of maturation in the normal growth pattern, the child's performance is delayed as well. The parent who lives with this ever‑widening disorganization suffers the mind‑bending, heart‑breaking consequences of his wild six‑year‑old trapped at two‑year‑old neurological behavior!

We observe that neural disorganization manifests into a disorganized child. When these two important age scales show a discrepancy we see the litany of diagnostic labels begin. When a child exhibits more than five symptoms, he becomes labeled with a disorder. The names are many: mild dyslexia, OCD, ADD, ADHD, PDD, bipolarism, C.H.A.R.G.E., Down's, Apert's, Cerebral Palsy, Asberger's (mild autism) to profound autism.

Over the years we have observed with chiropractic care a child returns to health as each delayed or missed milestone is restored. The result is a more organized child emerging with age‑appropriate behaviors.

What is Neuro‑developmental Organization?

There are basic movement patterns that organize our body to move forward. The body is organized first to be bilateral at the 18‑month‑old level and then to be lateralized by six years. These patterns lead to a sophisticated cross pattern that builds hemispheric dominance.

*** At birth, an infant has truncal movement and head control.

*** Homologous pattern is truncal movement that fans outward to the extremities ‑‑ both arms and legs move together, the upper and then lower body, to perform the identical patterns, like a frog.

*** Homolateral movement is the arm and the leg on the same side moving together. Then the body switches and the other side moves. The pattern looks like a camel's gait. These patterns do not cross over the midline of the body.

*** Crawling on the tummy leads to creeping on hands and knees in a cross pattern. The right hand moves with the left leg and vice versa. Hopping like a rabbit (homologous) is a primitive creeping pattern. Cross pattern like a salamander is the normal creeping pattern of that stage. Walking is done in cross pattern in fully organized humans... check your child's patterns.

These movements organize the two sides of the body. Both of these skills, crawling and creeping, develop human visual convergence ‑‑ the ability of our two eyes to overlap and see with depth perception and our two ears to hear and localize the same sound at the same moment.

These early mobility patterns integrate our senses, spatial and righting reflexes to develop ever‑increasing sensory motor performance that leads to mobility, speech, reading, understanding, written language, problem solving, and social skills. An infant needing its mother cries out, a primitive form of problem solving.

When this early neuro‑developmental organization is disrupted, skipped or not performed properly the child then begins to have difficulty exploring his world. Over time, his world narrows and he cannot accept change or challenge.

A child With neuro‑developmental organization

A one year old is up and walking. He cries, withdraws and blinks to a vital threat. He can pick out one voice from other sounds and focus on it. He can hear a full range of sounds, understand simple directions and say a few words. He can recognize people and feels light sensation.

By 18 months he can use both hands together with a pincer grip simultaneously to pick up his pants from his ankles to his waist. He can grab two small items with both hands at the same time.

At two years he begins to jump on both feet. He is integrating his coordination and strength to harness both sides of his body to do something at the same time. He is now a fully bilateral human being.

All this time he is beginning to use one hand more than the other in fine motor coordination: feeding himself, pulling things apart, opening doors, etc.

By three years he will be able to hold a jar with one hand while the other unscrews the lid. He begins to dress himself.

By age six he will have established one side of his body to be dominant over the other: eye, ear, hand, foot. His decision is determined partly by heredity and partly by environment. He can read, write, make judgments, be independent outside of his home, hop and skip.

If he is neurologically disorganized or shows mixed dominance his performance will be less than ideal. We have observed how this neural development is adversely affected when the body is subluxated.

The chiropractic premise is that stress, trauma and toxicity cause subluxation.

Today, we are seeing more subluxations manifesting in the base of the skull and the upper cervical spine radiating down as far as the fourth cervical.

Lack of appropriate movement in the sacrum and coccyx compound the issues.

We are seeing an increased number of children with scrambled dominance.

With chiropractic adjustments their "neural glitches" are removed. Spinal realignment ignites their bodies' recuperative powers to improve normal growth patterns. The children's bodies will then retrace their neurological steps and their dominance begins to restore itself. We see language, understanding, reasoning, behavior and physical coordination improve as well as outright paralysis disappear.

After the first adjustment the learning disabled child experiences immediate physiological balancing:

*** The body relaxes

*** The bowels work better ( He goes to sleep more easily and rests more soundly

*** His appetite increases for more healthful food

*** Bowel and urinary accidents happen less frequently

*** He feels better overall. After two weeks of adjustments

*** Eyes no longer jerk across midline

*** Can move eyes evenly from side to side, up and down and diagonally

*** His tracking skills are stronger

*** He is more aware and socially courageous

*** Speaks to adults more easily

*** Plays more calmly with peers, needs less supervision

*** He is getting better scores in spelling tests

*** Has less outbursts in the classroom.

After one month:

*** Retention of schoolwork is becoming easier

*** More organized with his lessons, homework and desk

*** Memory is faster and more consistent

*** Talks more, uses a wider vocabulary and longer sentences.

After two months:

*** He is less distracted and more focused in the classroom

*** He keeps his hands to himself and follows directions more easily

*** He begins to screen out extraneous sounds

*** Can read for longer periods with better decoding skills

*** His social life is more fun

*** He has more self control

*** Follows game strategies without being led through them step by step.

After three months:

*** Eyes track into his nose more evenly for better convergence

*** He can focus through a kaleidoscope with the right eye for the first time

*** His writing is clearer with less reversals

*** He can copy from the board at school making fewer errors

*** He can anticipate the moves in group sports, is more coordinated and a better team player.

Regular chiropractic care is supported by an intense neuro‑developmental home program and dietary changes to fresh whole foods. Coaching and supportive therapy for social and intellectual performance closes the gaps in the developmental sequence. We salute our families of Oklahaven's Parent Support Group who have made this journey. They know their children are spiritual beings and have supported one another, now they want to tell their stories to help other children.

Oklahaven is a 501(c)(3) non‑profit in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; serving children from all over the world for 42 years. The Center has never received state, federal or Untied Way funding, but relies on the generosity of the public and its annual "Have a Heart" Valentine fundraiser in order to share the power of chiropractic through the children. The Center's Parent Support Group empowers parents to the chiropractic way of life for their children. For more information, visit www.chiropractic4kids.com.)