#Midline movements brain gym professional

You can find a neuropsychologist's negative review of Brain Gym's claims here. As of writing this post (March 2015), it appears as though the Brain Gym website hasn't been updated in four years, which may be an indication that the program is loosing its footing among educators. Like Bal-A-Vis-X, it's easy to poke holes in the 'research' (again, the term is used loosely) behind Brain Gym. Side note, the Bal-A-Vis-X method appears to follow in line with Brain Gym, a similar product marketed under the premise that bodily movements increase children's likelihood of learning.

My hypothesis is that the same amount of time given to playing basketball or other physical activity within the classroom would also increase students' socialization, self-esteem, and general academic performance.

I do have doubt that it was the Bal-A-Vis-X method specifically which produced the results. The 'research' is little more than a handful of kindergarten students and teachers who wrote anecdotal commentary about how keeping kids active improved their academics. The 'research' (and I use the term looselyz0 here supports the effectiveness of Bal-A-Vis-X. Obviously, no company would want to post research with refutes their claims. As with any intervention program, I'd caution you against using research posted on the company's website. The Bal-A-Vis-X website posts its own research page, but you won't find any gold-standard studies here. But now, let's focus on crossing the midline. I also hope to someday do some research on weighted vests, 'fidget toys', and further research on learning styles. Specifically, I have addressed the 'gift of time' (retention) as well as multiple intelligences before. If you haven't already done so, I suggest you review my findings on other educational myths and misconceptions on other pages of this site. I was ready to find out for myself and publish my findings online for anyone else who may encounter similar programs, practices, or beliefs in their schools. However, it is my role to make sure that we don't mislead parents or students by advocating that our programs

As long as it's not harming students, I probably won't raise any red flags.

#Midline movements brain gym professional

I began to ask myself, if these programs were research-supported, why wasn't I taught about them during my seven years of higher education? Why had I not heard about these programs at any special education conference, professional journal, or educational email digest? Was there programs nothing more than hogwash, pop-psychology, and pseudo-science? I don't necessarily feel that it's wrong to use a program without research to back up its effectiveness, but I certainly don't think we should promote those programs as being effecive unless the research concurs. A similar theory was applied by using both sides of the brain (for motor control), it would allow the child to utilize both sides of their brain at the same time. I later began to hear about a related concept of 'crossing the midline.' This idea stated that students will be able to learn better by using their left hand on the right side of their body, for example. The idea was that if a person's body was engaged in physical activity, their brain activity would be elevated and therefore more prepared to learn new information or recall encoded material. This program, as I understood it at the time, was designed to help students increase their potential for learning by engaging multiple physical activities at once. Taking time to do some research, find evidence to support (or refute) a claim, and then present that information to another professional at a later time is a much better idea.ĭuring my first year of practice, I began to hear of the Bal-A-Vis-X method. As a professional, I know that addressing some of these misconceptions in front of an IEP team is not always a wise choice. As soon as I started working in schools, I quickly found that teachers aren't sharing information which is completely accurate, and sometimes may even be harmful to students. As as school psychologist, I regularly encounter information shared with parents and educators that makes makes me raise an eyebrow.