Online Program Assessment
This assessment is intended for those families who live too far away from the San Diego or Denver Brain Highways Center.
Here’s an easy way to determine whether your child’s lower centers of the brain are fully developed.
1. Watch the six introductory videos on our homepage. Tally a point every time a behavior noted in the video applies to your child.
2. Read the Signs of a Disorganized Brain. Tally a point every time a behavior noted on this list (that was not addressed in a video) applies to your child.
3. Read Other Factors to Consider (below). Add points as indicated.
3. Read Other Factors to Consider (below). Add points as indicated.
Other Factors to Consider
1) Has your child already participated in one (or more) other programs without making much progress?
If so, chances are those were cortex-based programs that did not address the lower centers of the brain. However, if such underdevelopment is the root of the problem, then that would explain why time spent addressing the cortex did not make much difference. (If you answered yes, add three points)
2) Does your child have difficulty with things that seem so simple for his peers?
If so, check out our facebook page. Here, you’ll read many unsolicited posts from parents that talk about struggles and changes (once the child began to build the highways) that are common among kids with underdeveloped lower centers of the brain. Such posts also underscore how so many of these changes (e.g. tying shoes, throwing a ball, learning how to solve a math problem, etc.) occurred only after the child began building highways . . . even though the child had tried and tried and practiced and practiced doing whatever countless times before. So expending lots of effort without success is another big red flag for incomplete lower brain development. (If you answered yes, add four points)
3) Does your child sit on the floor in a W-formation?
This is another indicator of incomplete lower brain development. Such positioning is often a compensation for poor balance and a retained symmetrical tonic neck reflex. (If you answered yes, add five points)
This, too, may indicate incomplete lower brain development. (If you answered yes, add five points).
5) Is your child's academic work and behavior inconsistent?
Inconsistency is another hallmark of incomplete lower brain development. In such case, the child is only "as good as" his compensations are working at that moment. Additionally, having to continually seek ways to compensate is tiring, so a child may start out performing as expected, only to have the work or behavior quickly deteriorate. (If you answered yes, add three points)
Interpreting Your Screening Score
Add up your total, and read the description below your child’s score.
Add up your total, and read the description below your child’s score.
0 Points
A child with a well-organized brain scores 0. Truly—and that’s also the score after the child goes back and completes the organization.
1-4 Points
The child likely has a good number of highways already in place, yet he did not complete the full development (as indicated by the few observable signs).
However, even with a low score, it’s possible that the child’s lower centers of the brain are significantly underdeveloped. How is that possible? Well, the child may be presently doing a good job compensating, especially if he is young and there are not yet many demands on the cortex. In such case, we would expect to observe more and more signs of a disorganized brain as the child ages, and the gap between the chronological and neurological age widens.
5-9 Points
The child is showing signs that there is some underdevelopment of the lower centers of the brain. Again, as with the point range above, it’s also possible there is more underdevelopment than what is presently showing for the same stated reasons.
In this category, some kids may additionally seem to start out doing a task well, only to have the quality of work or their focus deteriorate quickly. When this happens, the child’s behavior is often misinterpreted as goofing around or not trying hard enough.
Over 10 Points
The child is showing signs that the lower centers of the brain are significantly underdeveloped. In this category, the child does not have enough highways to rely on effective compensations that work (consistently) well, and so he is often perceived as bothering others and struggling in many arenas.
How did we arrive at those point categories and such interpretations? Over 5,000 kids have now participated in the Brain Highways program, so we’ve had a large group to observe. In our experience, the behaviors noted in the videos and on Signs of a Disorganized Brain are present when such development is incomplete. In other words, there is a direct relationship between lower brain development and such behaviors. But best of all, those very same behaviors disappear after the child builds those highways.
Enrolling in the Online Program