Helping Your Child to Flourish
Mary Mountstephen MA (SEN)
(ABRIDGED FROM JUNIOR MAGAZINE 2011)
‘Anna’s just fine Mrs Harten….there’s nothing to worry about….She’ll get there in her own
time’.
‘Kyle won’t listen in class, he won’t sit still, he wriggles all the time and he distracts other
children’.
‘I’m fed up with them not listening to me. Gemma’s a bright little button but she hates
reading and her homework takes us hours. Her school doesn’t seem to know what to do to
help her…’
Every child has a unique cluster of strengths, interests and talents which we look to nurture
and celebrate and some will have physical, mental and emotional challenges to overcome.
When these challenges are obvious, it is more likely that the child will have their needs
recognized and strategies will be put in place to support them so that they can thrive and
succeed to the best of their ability. Difficulties can arise however when there is a mismatch
between what parents feel about their child’s development and the opinions of doctors,
teachers or other professionals. As a parent (or other concerned family member) you may
have a gut feeling or instinct that Kyle or Anna is just not doing as well as they should be
when compared to other children. By acknowledging these instincts and acting on them in
an informed and reasoned manner, you can begin to reassure yourself that early
opportunities to prevent longer term problems are averted. A child’s hidden difficulties can
cause frustration, leading to poor behaviour, erratic performance or emotional outbursts as
outward signs of underlying and unidentified difficulties. In the longer term, some children
tolerate and are tolerated in schools throughout their education. They underachieve
academically, lose faith in themselves and either accept the judgments others have made
about them or rebel against them. These are often the children who do not have a
‘diagnosis’ of dyslexia, dyspraxia, specific learning difficulty , ADHD or other condition, but
are often unhappy, unmotivated and under-achieving.
Jill Christmas, a respected occupational therapist, has worked for many years with children
with developmental immaturities and she describes how these developmental issues impact
on the child’s higher level functional skills such as handwriting. She points out that the basis
of these problems can actually have started much further back in the child’s early
development and by understanding some of the underlying factors, we can ensure that their
challenges are addressed and underachievement avoided.
‘Many parents, teachers and allied professionals find themselves in a position where
they know that child is not functioning at their best level within the school or home
setting. For example, the child’s handwriting skills may not reflect their innate ability,
and although it is recognized that there may be underlying issues, adults may feel
unable to get to the root of the difficulty in order to support the child appropriately’.
Jill Christmas (2009).
Parents hope that their children will follow a normal developmental path, with at most
some slight delays which will even out over time. However, some children will have
developmental delays which they may not completely grow out of without support. If these
difficulties are recognized early enough however, their life chances are improved.
Kyle’s behaviour and academic performance is dependent on the underlying and invisible
activity taking place continually in his body and nervous system. If Kyle is to flourish in
school, it is important that the reasons for his ‘wriggliness’ are investigated so that he is not
branded early on for behavior he may have little control over. There are a number of
reasons why he might be behaving in this way and if we are able to identify some of the
causes of his behavior as well as the observable symptoms, we can work out ways to help
him. Kyle’s sensory systems may be making it physically uncomfortable for him to maintain
concentration in class. Sitting still and paying attention, for example, can only take place if a
child has adequate postural control and balance as the ability to sit still is not as easy as we
may think! Christmas refers to focus, concentration and attention and the ability to sit
quietly as being dependent on a ‘symphony’ of integration in relation to a child’s underlying
sensory motor systems. The maturity of the vestibular (balance) system enables the child to
be at the right level of ‘arousal ‘and focus. If Kyle can’t sit still, it doesn’t matter how many
times you tell him to, he won’t succeed. At best, he will try to conform, and in so doing, all
his attention and focus will be on maintaining his physical position rather than attending to
instruction. If the teacher and school acknowledge this difficulty, one way it can be
addressed is by introducing a whole class developmental movement programme such as
Move to Learn or the INPP (Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology) Programme. These
approaches are in use in many schools internationally and can be taught to teachers in a one
day training session and easily integrated into the school day. Research internationally has
shown the benefit of this approach in terms of improved focus, concentration as well as
physical benefits such as improved balance and coordination. The programmes use simple,
floor-based movements which mimic those made in the first year of life. By going back to
the very beginning, they help the brain and body to develop a secure foundation for
learning.
When learning difficulties continue to go unrecognized, some children will learn strategies
to adapt or avoid those aspects of school life which frustrate, embarrass or confuse them.
They do make progress, but these coping strategies undermine their ability to learn as
effectively as they might. Learning can become one long struggle for Anna who is paddling
as fast as she can just to trail at the back of the class whilst Gemma and her mother have
daily battles over reading every day. She is a little girl who causes no problems in a busy
classroom. She wants to please, so she tries hard and can’t understand why it seems so
much easier for everyone else and why she always finishes last.
‘These are usually children of above average intelligence who are able to
compensate for their underlying motor and postural problems to produce academic
work that is commensurate with their chronological age or ‘good enough’ to meet
the minimum requirements of standard educational assessments. These bright
children are held back by their unrecognized motor and postural problems and tend
to become ‘lost in the system’ because it is assumed they are performing reasonably
well….When the underlying problems are identified and corrected , cognitive
educational performance exceeds previous expectations’. (Goddard-Blythe, 2009)
Sometimes parents feel that their concerns are not being taken seriously by school or by
other professionals and are anxious that time is passing fast and once gone, can never be
retrieved. As a general rule, we would hope that parents know their child better than
anyone else and their gut reactions about their child need to be taken seriously. The fact is
however, that these concerns are more likely to be addressed if parents or teachers have a
road map they can follow to help them make appropriate decisions. Parents’ concerns are
often accurate indicators of the child’s underlying developmental problems and the key to
helping a child is the ability to identify the most appropriate forms of supports and
strategies which can be put in place. Anna may get there in her own time: but what are the
consequences in the meantime and what happens if she continues to fall behind?
Early Signs of Developmental Immaturity
There are a number of early indicators of developmental slowness that may be evident in a
child of school age. It is important to note that if some of these signs are present in a
younger child, they are not necessarily indicative of developmental immaturity.

Attention: Difficulties sustaining attention in class

Sitting still: The wrigglers and squirmers.

Receptive language: their understanding of what is said to them

Expressive language: how they express themselves to others

Pencil grip: how they hold their pencil or cutlery

Visual skills such as eye control and difficulties with early reading games and activities

Body awareness of themselves and in relation to others

The ability to understand and respond to the ways in which other people are e expressing
themselves through body language

Coordination such as catching a ball

Immature behaviour including difficulties in taking turns and in controlling their behaviour
and impulses.
(Source: Goddard-Blythe: EYFS presentation)
Where to Go For Support
By becoming aware and knowledgeable about the possible causes of underachievement,
parents can start to feel more positive, with better control of the circumstances and able to
develop meaningful dialogues with school and other professionals. The resources indicated
in the reference section include easy to use checklists which will help pinpoint areas of
difficulty and information on many common causes of underachievement in children who
could be expected to be performing at a higher level.
Parents will feel more confident if they are more aware of:

What to expect at certain stages of child development

How to identify areas of strengths and weaknesses in their child and why this might
be so

Where to go for support

What the roles of various professionals are and what they do

School-based and home-based strategies and interventions which are cost and time
effective
One of the most important points to make is that parents are not alone and that thousands
of children, with the right (and effective) support have gone on to achieve. There may be
complex or subtle underlying causes which require the intervention of professionals such as
an educational psychologist, behavioural optometrist or neuro-developmental practitioner.
Gemma was eventually referred to a behavioural optometrist who was able to identify that
her eyes were not working well together as a team and her ability to track text was weak.
Following a programme of eye exercises and some new glasses, Gemma’s reading began to
improve significantly.
Kyle’s school adopted the Move to Learn programme as a whole school initiative and the
children are enthusiastic about this addition to the school day. By including everyone, Kyle is
not singled out and, as an additional bonus, the teacher has also identified some other
children whose performance has indicated possible underlying weaknesses.
The purpose of this article is to raise awareness of the role physical factors can play in
learning and to provide parents with some insight into the ways in which they, and schools,
can support a child whose physical immaturity may be subtly affecting posture, the ability to
sit still, to control impulsivity, to read and relate appropriately to other children. If these
factors are addressed effectively, children are more likely to focus, achieve and thrive.
References
Christmas, J. (2009) Hands on Dyspraxia: Supporting Children and Young People with
Sensory and Motor Challenges, Speechmark, Milton Keynes
Goddard-Blythe, S. (2009) Attention, Balance and Coordination: The A.B.C. of Learning
Success, Wiley-Blackwell, (2009)
Mountstephen, M. (2010) How to Detect Developmental Delay and What to Do Next:
Practical Interventions for Home and School, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London
www.multisensoryinterventions.co.uk
www.movetolearn.com.au
Contact Mary for details of training workshops for schools and talks for parents groups:
mem@imaginationgym.com