Testimonials"Breaking through Learning Barriers", Download Hutt News Article, PDF 300KB Estelle's Testimonial  I have an 8 year old boy who we have been concerned about since birth. After a rapid delivery he stopped breathing and twice had to be resuscitated resulting in a APGAR score of 9 and then 6 at 5 mins. We have been watching him closely and he seemed to be able to do most things like our other children except talk. A visit to the GP at around three years of age didn’t avail anything so we pressed on but when I enrolled him at school I told them ‘something is wrong’. The school tried everything they could to help him progress and after a year or so they had exhausted all avenues. We were waiting for an appointment with a pediatrician when I heard about Sound Therapy and was recommended to see Carol. I phoned her and got an appointment for the next week! Rhys was very skeptical of having to ‘see’ yet another person but on the first visit all his fears just disappeared with her warm greeting. We have really appreciated her calm and assuring attitude and she has had a vision for Rhys that has proved to be correct.  Along with the Listening Program and exercises that Carol has given us to address specific issues I have given him nutritional supplements, vision training and swimming lessons at her recommendation. We also have a meeting at the beginning of each term with his teachers the Speld teacher and my husband and I and a plan is set in conjunction with Carol’s recommendations. This has proved to be very beneficial with everyone working together. There have been many times when I could have ‘thrown in the towel’ but Carol has encouraged us to hang in there and we are very glad we did now. When she felt Rhys was ‘ready’ she suggested that we do the Fastforword program. We began on 2nd February, 2010, and have started to see some amazing results after only 5 weeks. It is music to my ears to hear him ask if he can ‘read’ me his book and the smile of satisfaction on his face is priceless. We still have a way to go but I feel the fog has cleared and he had the desire to succeed and I am sure we will achieve that together. I feel the program is consolidating all the ground work we have done with the Listening Program and exercises and it is just amazing to see my boy starting to read and enjoying it. I cannot speak highly enough of Carol and the work she does and would recommend the pathway we have come to anybody who is experiencing difficulty with their child at school. Estelle Babs' Testimonial I knew early on that something was not quite right with my son. As a trained and experienced Early Childhood Teacher, I felt I could take on any challenge… and he certainly was. His speech was inarticulate; he stumbled a lot, and seemed fearful of people coming too close to him. After some pushing, we made it to the waiting list for Speech Therapy, and I finally got an appointment with the developmental pediatrician at the public hospital… it was months away, but the potential for answers loomed. We saw a speech therapist, and she did an assessment to see which therapy group he would fit in to. The results? He showed signs of delay, some small signs of advanced language, and signs of a disorder. He would have to go on the waiting list for individual treatment. When he was 3 ½, we met his teacher, Carol. Carol was calm, gentle and accepting of my son. She listened to me when I explained some of his peculiarities, and she accepted them. One afternoon I sobbed as I confessed to her that I did not understand what was going on for him. “Well”, said Carol, “He is showing signs of Vestibular Damage”. I asked her to write that down, and Googled it. Sure enough, all the signs were there! We signed on with Carol to get a full assessment, and we started the simple exercises. We were all excited about the possibility, and a little skeptical… how could simple exercises make a differences? Well! Within a week we noticed a big change… for the better. Suddenly, he was calmer. The world seemed less frightening for him, and others could begin to make sense of the sounds he was uttering. Two weeks after we started, we finally saw the pediatrician. The pediatrician ran him through a few things that I had reported he couldn’t do… (walking on a line, closing his eyes and touching his nose) he did them wonderfully. I was both delighted that ILT had made such an impact so quickly, and a little foolish (what must the pediatrician think of me?). The pediatrician wanted to run some more tests, however that would be some months away. Eventually we ‘came up’ on the speech language waiting list. He had seen Carol three times, and had been doing the exercises about two months. The Speech therapist re-assessed him. The results? Still some delay, no signs of disorder. My response.. well I’m not surprised, we have identified, and addressed the disorder… Yipee! It was wonderful to get this independent assessment to show the benefits of Carol’s ILT work. We continued with the ILT. My son started to make more friends, as he was able to communicate more clearly to his peers. He started to take on more challenging work at school. He began to trust that other adults could, and would, listen to, and understand him. As the time approached for the tests with the pediatrician, I cancelled those appointments. ILT was continuing to have wonderful results. I did not feel I needed to waste their and our time running tests, when Carol and ILT had provided me with substantiated answers, and a drug free, achievable remedy. I have read many books on the subject, and have decided to undergo the training of HANDLE, a complimentary method to ILT. This is an effective, wholistic approach to maximize learning, and returning joy to life. I whole heartedly and unreservedly recommend it to anyone. Babs-Merel de Visser B.Ed Dip.T. (ECE) Registered Teacher (NZ) Karen's Testimonial I have had two children go through the Integrated Learning Therapy method and am very pleased with the results. My youngest child was five when we initially put him on the programme. He was having great difficulty learning his numbers and letters. They just didn’t seem to be sinking in even though he was repeatedly presented with them. This was causing us quite a bit of concern as his older brother is mildly dyslexic and we were extremely worried that Fraser would be much, much worse. There were other issues as well which I thought were just part of his make up, but which I now know can be corrected. For instance, his balance was terrible, I constantly had to repeat myself and he still wouldn’t do as I asked, he wet his bed nearly every night, he regularly fell out of bed, his co-ordination was extremely poor and he refused take part in any ball games. He also woke every night with bad dreams, sometimes two or three times in the night. Carol, from ILT, identified several issues and recommended a number of exercises which changed over time. Within two weeks Fraser was balancing and walking along a low wall without falling off. Gradually we have seen an improvement in all of the areas mentioned above. Fraser “hears” what I say now and acts on it, he no longer falls out of bed, and he asked to play in a soccer team and is doing extremely well. He still wets the bed but maybe only once a week. He also falls asleep quickly and stays asleep all night. His reading has come on in leaps and bounds and his number recognition and maths has improved greatly. We have seen his confidence and self esteem increase enormously. Alex, my eldest, was 8 and recently diagnosed as dyslexic. He was forever hitting his hands and feet, like he didn’t understand where they were in relation to other objects. He had huge difficulties getting to sleep every night, and often had nightmares. He was confused about left and right, and his writing was very untidy. He was also constantly moving which was particularly frustrating when I was trying to read him a story. Again, Carol identified a number of issues and recommended several different exercises. Alex no longer hits his hands and feet, he is asleep within 20 minutes and no longer has nightmares. He can identify which is left or right. His writing has also become neater. All of this improved gradually over a six month period but has continued to improve even though we no longer need to do the exercises. Although sometimes it was really hard work motivating the children to do their exercises, the benefits have been well worth the effort. Among all the improvements listed above I now also have a calmer household. Frustration meant the boys were loud and aggressive, causing me to frequently raise my voice and often lose my temper. As with all families, we still have these instances, but far less frequently. It’s a much nicer household to be in now. Initially our main concern was whether Fraser would ever be able to read and write, and the difficulties and self esteem problems that would arise from this. We also wanted to reduce the difficulties caused by dyslexia for Alex. In both children we have seen huge leaps in their confidence and self esteem. They seem prepared to tackle anything and are happy and motivated children. We are very pleased with the results of the Integrated Learning Therapy and would recommend any parent who has identified some of the above issues to investigate this option. Karen Lower Hutt Peter and Annemieke's Testimonial Our son has always been an active child eager to ‘do parts of the playground that were above his age’. When our son was about 3,5 years old he seemed to have lost his balance and we saw some hyper-activity and repeated behavior (compared to his peers) which we couldn’t logically declare. We were introduced to the ILT program by a friend of us who told us that her daughter was on the program. After the assessment Carol pointed out that our son had some developmental delays in particular areas such as speech, tactility, motor planning etc for a child of his age-group. Furthermore she clarified why our son was showing some repeated behavior, as it was often his brain that ‘asked’ for some stimulus to develop. In the first weeks (3-4 weeks) after the assessment and the start of the exercises we saw some good improvements in his speech and pain levels (he actually started to tell us that it hurt when he bumped his head accidentally under the table, in the months before he really didn’t care). Furthermore we saw improvement in his muscle tone, as Carol would say, as he was starting to sit up more straight, instead of slouching in a chair or couch. The great thing was that even people who did not know the fact that Norbert was doing the program were telling us how his behavior had changed (less ‘hyper’) and how his concentration had improved. We found after being in the program for some months his behavior in general was improving, less tantrums, improvement in listening, re-finding his balance. What we got out of it is just a more or less normal boy of 4 (now), who is doing the boy-ish things, but who is able to understand the meaning of ‘enough is enough’ much much better. What he got out of it is less frustration caused by the fact that he would like to do things, but which he wasn’t able to do. We had discussed other approaches but were not willing to put him on heavy medication and therefore tried to find alternative ways of helping him. We took action as we saw he was struggling with developing himself, which we couldn’t address or help him with. Our son is now in the last stage of the program we see more and more improvements in the field of focusing, concentration and fine motor skills. We really got the feeling that he is getting much out of the program, just where it’s designed for. Therefore we decided, together with Carol, to extend his program and we have him introduced to the Listening Program now as well (which he is really enjoying and proud of to have). Peter and Annemieke, Johnsonville Pam's Testimonial My son has benefited tremendously from the Integrated Learning Programme. His teacher at school and soccer coach and our friends and family have all commented on his progress. His teacher reports that he has begun to make several new friends and that he is coping well in group situations. He is even starting to share at news time in class. These are all new skills for him. There has been a marked improvement in his handwriting and he is beginning to read more independently. His soccer coach is amazed by his improved game skills as are the other soccer parents. We ourselves can hardly believe he is the same child who was very "hang back " and shy at chasing and following the ball. He is not a star player but he is certainly an important and contributing player on the team now. He has always enjoyed soccer but now he enjoys it even more. He now volunteers to answer the phone and when my friends hear his voice they think it must be his older brother. He now has so much more confidence. He is willing to converse with our friends and answer questions with a lot more detail. Before ILT he was very shy and did not like speaking any more than necessary. Bedwetting is also beginning to diminish. This is a real confidence booster for him as he is nine years old now. He is a very willing worker with all his ILT home assignments. He realises that they are helping him and he wants to do them. Of course he wants to complete the programme and have more time to play but he does not complain and he remembers that it is time to do ILT without being told or nagged. We have noticed a lot more detail in his speech and a lot more clarity. He seems to want to talk and describe his day now whereas before we had to beg him to talk to us in any detail. I think it took about a month of work in ILT before we realised noticeable changes in him. After that month the changes were great. He seemed more grown-up and more like his age mates. Instead of letting others do all the talking he began to initiate conversation and add his own comments without being asked. I became convinced that he needed ILT rather than SPELD or more remedial reading programmes. I learned a lot about the normal development of the brain and its functions as a result of my first ILP meetings with practioner, Carol Laubscher. I saw that my son did not have the basic foundations that he needed for academic success and these foundations were to be built by the special programme which ILT offers. This became clear to me after the pre-assessment and first post-assessment sessions. I am glad that I did not sink hundreds of dollars into other programmes but that I used the ILP first. I am glad that I was unable to find a SPELD tutor in our area and then enrolled him in ILT instead. It was accidental but it was the best move I could have made. It was important that he get some help. He was two years behind in reading and a year behind in maths. He did not know how to make friends easily and his speech was hard to understand and not very extensive. He was awkward and slow to respond to requests and questions and although he was physically strong he was not well co-ordinated and would often run into things and spill things. He had a hard time following directions. All these areas have improved now. He is a different child with a lot more confidence and a lot happier. He is still behind in school but his road to full recovery from is position of debilitating delay in development will take time. He has made great strides and has gained the confidence to keep on working towards the goal. I am certain he will get there. He is so fortunate that this programme was available for him. Pam Adam, Wainuiomata Gillian's Testimonial Our daughter Ariana started working with Integrated Learning Therapist Carol Laubscher at just over age seven. She had no specific disability or disorder, but we had a general feeling that she was not fulfilling her potential, and that she should have made more progress with reading and writing after two years at school. Ariana completed a six-month exercise programme with Carol and we saw marked benefits. She progressed rapidly in reading, moving from mid-range test scores to the top of the class. Her writing became neater and she stopped reversing letters. Her balance and coordination improved significantly and this led to greatly increased confidence and competence in physical activities such as skipping, bike riding and PE at school. Improved abilities and confidence have boosted Ariana’s self-esteem and made her more willing to try tasks that she would previously have avoided, thinking that she couldn’t do it. Ariana is now completing the Listening Program, which is helping her become more focused and calmer, and improving her sleep patterns. Gillian and Donal Christie Kerri-June's Testimonial I was referred to Integrated Learning Therapy by a friend, her daughter was working with Carol and had made great progress. She recommended that I take my daughter along to see her. My 8 year old daughter, Kaitlin had been diagnosed with Dyspraxia at 4 years old and more recently with ADHD. We first met Carol in January 2008, and Kaitlin underwent an assessment. The assessment was comprehensive and highly informative, whilst confirming what had been diagnosed already, Carol’s report was insightful and educational. It gave me a greater understanding of how Kaitlin experiences particular symptoms and how her physical limitations manifest. After assessment we chose to start a course of therapy for Kaitlin. Carol personalised this for Kaitlin and her particular needs. The program of exercises immediately resulted in an improvement in some areas that Kaitlin struggled with. Throughout the course Carol has offered additional information and is always available to discuss any concerns or problems you experience. Carol has a gentle yet firm manner that Kaitlin responded to well. Kaitlin always looks forward to seeing Carol and undertaking her “exercises”. Integrated Learning Centre has assisted us in gaining a greater understanding and a more diverse approach to Kaitlin’s needs. The understanding and empathy Carol offers to both parents and children is invaluable. Resources for development are limited and hard to access. So being able to utilise the services Integrated Learning Centre offer it has made a frustrating time easier to work through. I highly recommend Carol and the Integrated Learning System. Kerri-June Clayton Kevin and Arlene Krebs's Testimonial Hi Carol, Have been meaning to drop you a line regarding Kanes progress. Since ending the programme with you, Kane has made some huge changes at home and at school. His concentration levels have increased virtually overnight, he is far easier to compromise with, and listening has become a new found skill. Kane starts his day with some order rather than in the old chaos he was use to. Most days he follows his morning routine with the help of a chart, (which we had tried before) he is far more organised and consequently his whole day has that flow on effect. At school they have noticed changes in him to the point where he has been earning rewards regularly and even got to sit next to his best mate in class. (although that didnt last very long). Kev and I have no doubt this has been a direct result of the work you have done with Kane. Once again, Thanks for all of your effort and best wishes to you. Kevin and Arlene Krebs Sheralyn Howard's Testimonial Before I took R to Carol at ILT, the teacher had raised some serious concerns at the school he was attending. He appeared unable to complete many tasks without one to one help, and frequently seemed to ‘switch off’. Her comment was ‘sometimes R seems to be looking straight through me’. Upon being given an instruction card he would sometimes just copy out the card word for word instead of carrying out the instruction on the card. His classmates got frustrated with him and would frequently say ‘come on R stop dreaming’ or ‘Wake up R’. The teacher observed R almost visibly cringe when this happened and retreat even more into himself. We took him to Carol, and she diagnosed, among other things, a massive auditory processing problem. Within a very short time of starting the exercises we began to notice a difference with R. He became so much more alive and ‘with it’. My parents came to stay and they felt like they had a different grandchild. His writing improved. He stopped getting hassled in class for day dreaming. He was having extra help in spelling/reading/comprehension and his teacher’s aid noticed a huge difference in his alertness, response times and results. He has since stopped this extra support. His writing has improved, and is now one of the neatest in the family. He has completed the Listening Program and is continuing to improve. Someone commented the other day “R seems so much more ‘with us’ now”. He is a very dedicated hard worker in class, who especially enjoys maths. His teacher says she is proud of him, and has noticed that he is even offering help to others he sees struggling. I cannot speak highly enough of Carol and the Integrated Learning Therapy. It is an asset for New Zealand. However I would like to make the comment that as a parent is is vital to back it up with support at home, dedication to the exercises, and continually helping your child to improve. This may include helping your child catch up the learning they missed out on before ILT helped clear their neural pathways. Sheralyn Howard Hayley Roche's Testimonial We approached Carol asking for help with our (then) 5 year old son just over a year ago. My brief was that for our son everything was a hassle; getting dressed, eating, concentrating, brushing teeth and being told "no" to a request. We could never reason with him, there was tantrums and tears over the smallest of things. Everything was just too overwhleming for him. We did not want his life to be a hassle for him nor for us. I should mention, he is not autistic. One year down the track his reasoning has improved enormously as has his understanding, the tantrums are less and he is calmer. As a family we also learnt what is not a big deal to us is a huge deal for him and to over come things is a big acheivement. His fine motor has improved and by doing the Listening Programme (which I was relucatant to do because of the cost) his speech has improved dramatically - his speech therapist cannot believe it. Carols experience as a teacher also helped because whenever possible we could incorporate what he was learning at school into the exercises. Although doing the programme is a big commitment, we have found the outcomes amazing. Hayley Roche Kimberly-on using HANDLE, The Listening Program and FastForWord Carol has helped us understand our daughter better and has provided us with very effective programs to help her. The HANDLE program and the Listening Program are safe and gentle. I was surprised at how simple exercises and diet can be so effective in addressing sensory integration issues. We learned from Carol that children learn in different ways and that Kimberly is a visual learner. She has also helped Kimberly with math through Montessori math tutorial sessions. Kimberly is now far more confident in working in her math schoolwork. We saw remarkable improvements in her speech and language skills since we enrolled her in the FastForWord program, provided by ILT. We also observed how much friendlier and sociable she is now. We are thankful to Carol and ILT for providing us options for Kimberly’s learning and development, because our priority has been to understand our daughter better and provide her with the support she needs. These are the results of Kimberly’s language improvements: Using CASL, age equivalent scores
Tim Hyndman's Testimonial When we engaged Carol to provide ILT for our son it was with the confidence that she had identified and categorised his various symptoms and difficulties as dyspraxia when the medical establishment had failed to give us any answer as to what was “wrong”. We had no expectations of a quick fix and over the ensuing 3 or so years we have seen steady progress to the point where he is now reading and writing well in advance of his year group having previously been well behind. His non-educational difficulties have also been very much improved to the point where we can now feel satisfied that he is by and large functioning “normally”. Carol's caring and thoughtful manner meant that he always enjoyed his sessions with her. We can confidently recommend Carol to anyone whose child has developmental issues. Tim Hyndman Writing Kit Review We have been working with Carol and our child for about a year. In that time we have had amazing results across all areas. As with all aspects of Carols Therapy, we have found the writing kit also beneficial. It teaches the correct way of forming letters and techniques to differentiate between letters that look similar to a child, such as b,d,p,q. A combination of the sneaky shapes which the child uses different shapes to format letters and the sand paper letters teaches the correct starting point of each letter, which both are very effective. Her memory has also vastly improved due to the sequencing activity the kit contains. I help out at school and can see the importance of additional learning at home as the teachers to not have the resources to provide additional help for those children who need it. Our child uses the writing kit 5 days a week, and never complains about having to do the "homework". We have lots of fun doing it. Now that I have this kit I will use it when my younger child starts to write so I can teach the correct way right from the start. Our child's school teacher is very happy with her progress, noting that this extra homework is paying off. We have great respect for Carol and her work, without which, our child's life would have been very different. I think everyone whose child has a processing disorder or needs additional help with their school work should look no further than intergrated learning therapy, the programs offered are truly remarkable. A.J. Our son was diagnosed with dyslexia in 2008 at the age of 10, and the school he attended referred us to Carol at Integrated Learning Therapy. Carol completed further assessments and began a programme to address issues around his spelling, reading coordination and movement. During the time we worked with Carol we saw a marked improvement in his schoolwork, coordination and most importantly his confidence. Carol gave us regular reports on our son’s progress and provided insights into the methods she was using and the reasoning behind them. Our son felt comfortable working with Carol and enjoyed his sessions. He has now finished his time with Integrated Learning Therapy however we are still continually seeing improvement in his learning. As we receive each new school report it shows he is progressing well in all areas of his education including his social and physical skills. The work that Carol has done with our son over two years has taken him from a below average student to a competent and confident member of his class. We credit Carol’s work, along with our son’s hard work, with the step up that he has taken in his learning. Thanks for all your hard work Carol, you have made a big difference in the life of our son and in our lives too. Regards A.W. My daughter was having alot of difficulty with her learning at school from year 2. In year 4 a friend suggested we try Integrated Leaning Therapy with Carol. The exercises that Carol gave her helped our daughter to focus, concentrate and become confident. She is now reading at her expected National Standards level and is very happy at school. I recommend trying ILT. M.M. Trent has not been diagnosed with any specific disability or disorder but we were very aware of his developmental delays particularly his speech. Through searching for ideas on the internet we came across Integrated Learning Therapy. Carol’s initial assessment proved he has many weak systems-most notably the vestibular, muscle tone, auditory and ocular systems. Motor planning and speech were also areas of concern. Carol gave us a series of exercises to do, some twice a day to help with his gross and fine motor skills, focus and concentration. We have seen improvements in all these areas and this is reflected in his school work. He has also grown immensely in confidence and self-esteem. We also used The Listening Program but unfortunately didn’t see the improvements in Trent’s speech as we had hoped, although we are sure this has contributed to his increase in concentration and ability to stay on task. We thank Carol for all the wonderful work she has done with Trent and only wish we could continue with her program but due to our location it’s no longer viable. (Skype did not work for Trent) Jo and Terry Stinson Fastforword recommendation Sept 2011: Before the FFW program my son, then aged 8, would not take any test to assess his comprehension in reading, with some of this due to perfectionism. He started in the program in June 2010 and by October 2010, he had scored age appropriate in his comprehension. I have continued with the program since then (having some breaks) and am very happy with the progress that he is making. My son has always had a problem with trying something if he is unsure if he will be successful, and if he was unsuccessful he would have a meltdown. FFW has helped in these areas and he is much more relaxed at taking educated guesses, and being able to cope with making a mistake. Not perfect control but much better. The areas that needed help with were vocabulary, comprehension/inferring, communication, and coping with making an educated guess. Play therapy recommendation Sept 2011: My son, aged 9, started with Carol for play therapy Feb 2011 to help with anger and communication issues. The sessions have been well worth it. He is much better at controlling his frustration and expressing himself appropriately. Helping every child to reach their potentialA letter from a parent…You have done an amazing job with him Carol. In a little more than 18 months he’s transformed from a very unhappy, troubled boy, lacking in self-esteem and any kind of belief in himself into a happy, fun loving young man, whose potential now shines through for everyone to see. We have a huge respect for your professional expertise and the way in which you were able to assess and target his needs. We are also really appreciative of the empathy that you have consistently showed him and the kind, pragmatic and empowering way that you have worked with him and us along our journey. Like you, we are sure he will have another fantastic year! 
Carol Laubscher 9 Willcox Grove Naenae Lower Hutt New Zealand Ph: +64 4 567 5568 |