Learning Difficulties | Integrated Learning Therapy

Some underlying causes of learning difficulties

Jul 22, 2026 | I'm a Parent, I'm a Teacher, ILT Blog

Integrated Learning Therapy (ILT) is a neurodevelopmental approach that takes note of all the factors that can interfere with a child’s ability to cope with learning and living. This means that we aim for an holistic view of the child rather than focusing on a narrow range of possible causes of learning disabilities. As a result, we tend to almost ignore the symptoms of the disability. We aren’t interested in treating the symptoms – we want to get to the root of the matter.

This is also why we avoid using labels. So many children are labelled – such as ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, OCD and so on and on. Certainly these brain-related disorders exist but too many children are given the labels without due care and consideration of what actually may underlie the behaviours they display. Once labelled, the treatment follows the prescribed course for the label and then a child may be administered serious medications that are actually inappropriate, useless and even harmful.

So in looking for the causes, what do we find most often?

Nutrition

We are what we eat – no doubt about it! If children are showing signs of learning problems, then you need to seriously consider their diet and eliminate the major offenders: colourants, preservatives and additives. That means avoiding processed food and going back to the basics. Buy good quality protein and combine it with fresh vegetables and/or fruits. If your child is a picky eater, you’ll need help in resolving the diet – we are always prepared for those!

Gut health

You’ve probably read about the significance of a healthy digestive system for general health and the gut’s intimate relationship with the brain. Believe those articles because we’ve proved the connection over and over again. Of course, gut health is related to diet and other factors but it is important enough to stand alone as a frequently encountered cause of learning problems. If you feel that your child often seems listless and unwell even though the doctor finds nothing wrong, has tummy complaints like constipation, winds and/or runny tummy and craves sweets or starchy foods, then you need to check that the problem isn’t in his or her digestive system.

Environmental offenders

These include allergens, pollutants, heavy metals and parasites. We might not find these in every child with a learning disability but the air and water in some areas of the country does contain heavy metals; certain parasites cause behaviour issues (often extreme bad moods and lack of cooperation) and pesticides certainly impact on health. In turn, health affects one’s attitude towards learning and ability to concentrate. Allergies are also related to the immune system, which in turn is dependent on a healthy gut. So once again, the diet, gut health and general health are interrelated. This is one of the reasons why ILT practitioners so often exclaim ‘Nothing stands alone!’

Brain development and function (neurodevelopment)

It stands to reason that if hitches occur during the time that the brain develops (in utero and during life), learning can be negatively affected. There are ways of checking a child’s neurodevelopmental status and this is especially important whenever signs of slow development, failure to reach milestones and any unusual difficulties with school-related tasks are noticed. Sometimes early signs can be seen in movement difficulties, such as

Being late to crawl, stand, walk, reaching for objects; difficulty jumping, skipping, hopping, climbing; clumsiness, walking in a straight line, climbing up and down stairs,
Fine motor difficulties such as managing buttons, dressing independently, tying shoelaces, using eating utensils, throwing a ball, colouring between the lines.

There are many signs that can help to identify why a child, with perfectly normal intelligence, may have school difficulties.

Image supplied by Freepik.

Learning difficulties? How we can rewire the brain

Mar 19, 2025 | I'm a Parent, I'm a Teacher, ILT Blog

The brain has gazillions (is that a word?) of neurons – that we call ‘wires’ – and these neurons need to communicate with each other so that we can function. This means that there are trigazillion (my new word) connections in the brain. It is rather remarkable that most of us manage to form these neurons and their connections without faults but we need to remember that there are many things that can go wrong.

Thanks to research, we’ve had confirmation that things suspected through observation and experience are facts. We now know that by carefully watching how a child moves and what a child needs to do to meet an expectation from school or his home, we can get an idea of where in the brain the problem lies. Then, by giving the child’s brain a chance to repair itself, we can bring about positive changes.

This isn’t up-to-date news. Way back in 1996, a writer in an edition of Newsweek focusing on Your Child’s Brain wrote “…. There is new evidence that certain kinds of intervention can reach even the older brain and like a microscopic screwdriver rewire broken circuits.” This was about the time that I was researching ways of helping children – giving rise to ILT in the year 2000. You can imagine my excitement!

So today let’s have a look at an example of how we apply neurodevelopmental insights to solve a child’s learning problem.

An important reflex movement

It’s significant that many children with learning difficulties have no Headrighting Reflex (HRR). This reflex shows when the angle of the body in relation to the ground shifts – in other words, the body tilts to either side, backwards or forwards. The reflex automatically adjusts the head to remain in a nearly vertical position. In a less well coordinated child, the head does not remain or immediately return to the vertical position but stays in line with the body. In other words, the child’s head moves in line with his spine.

If the head rights itself, there is very little shift in the background compared to when the head tilts in line with the spine. (Try this yourself by swaying to each side, alternately keeping your head still in a vertical position and allowing it to align with the spine.) Such a child will find himself in a constant state of visual strain because one of the reasons for this reflex is to stablise visual images on the retina of the eye. There is little wonder that children who don’t have this reflex may have reading problems.

Giving a child the HRR

This is where a knowledge of neurodevelopment can help. We need to give children a HRR if they haven’t developed one themselves. How do we do this?

Different parts of our bodies are controlled by different nerves but it is wise to remember that nothing stands alone. No function of the brain operates in isolation. For example, when your vestibular system (in your inner ear) is stressed (perhaps by movement), you get seasick. You feel this in your tummy and it happens because of the intimate interconnectedness of different nerves. The vagus, one of the ten cranial nerves, is responsible for causing your stomach to revolt against the movement registered by an overwhelmed vestibular system.

The HRR is influenced by another cranial nerve that controls the trapezoid muscle. This muscle controls the movements of the head and neck. If a child hasn’t developed the HRR, it is likely that there is a poor connection between the trapezoid muscle and the cranial nerve that controls it. Our job would be to connect this muscle and we use a seemingly simple movement activity to do so.

The original movement came from Carl Delacato, who worked for many years with learning disabled children. He found that having children lie on the floor and moving their arms, legs and head in a way that resembled the movement of a ghecko or lizard, caused significant and positive changes in the brain.

The Flip Flop movement

The benefits of the Flip Flops are many. Information goes into both sides of the brain as the muscles move equally on both sides. At the same time the brain gets sensory information from the weight of the body moving across the surface on which the child is lying. This is very important because during later development the brain is constantly having to coordinate information received from the two brain hemispheres to allow for stereophonic hearing, posture and vision. So with our Flip Flops, we are not only stimulating the cranial nerve to connect to the trapezoid muscle but also influencing vision, hearing and balance. Through this, information is communicated to many other brain areas, especially to the cerebellum, the midbrain and the thalamus. The thalamus is an area of the brain that acts as a gate-keeper – either allowing sensory information to pass through to higher brain (cortical) areas or not. If it fails to allow certain information through, the important messages will not arrive at the proper destination.

So in short, by giving a child a (seemingly) simple activity, we are effecting profound changes in brain function. We can’t control what comes out of the brain but we certainly can control what goes in. This helps the brain receive the information it needs to correct faulty wiring.

Other reflex movements are significant too

Giving the child a head-righting reflex is good but we need to test for later developing movements as well. Once we’ve made connections in the lower brain regions, we have to persevere to encourage connections needed for more sophisticated functions.

When you bring about better neurological organization, you are addressing basic problems in the various areas of the brain. This enables the child to function independently and with improved abilities in many different spheres of life. Such children seem to ‘get it together’ and with this, their self-esteem and confidence soars.

Image supplied by Freepik

Is your child flying under the radar?

Feb 28, 2024 | I'm a Parent, I'm a Teacher, ILT Blog

Your child seems to be unhappy, unmotivated and underachieving at school yet nobody has commented, home life is stable and teachers don’t suspect a learning problem. What’s going on?

Some children have hidden, unidentified difficulties, that can cause frustration, leading to poor behaviour, erratic performance or emotional outbursts. They may learn to tolerate school and their schools tolerate them but they are actually underachieving academically, have low self-esteem and may rebel against society or begin to accept themselves as losers or somehow less capable than others.

These are the children who fly under the radar and struggle with what may well be developmental immaturities. They don’t receive the help they need to overcome developmental delays but these are impacting on their higher level functional skills such as handwriting, maintaining concentration and postural control and a whole lot more.

When a child has obvious challenges, either physical, mental or emotional, their needs are usually recognised and attempts are made to support them. The trouble is that sometimes parents feel something about their child’s development is not as it should be but don’t get confirmation from doctors, teachers or other professionals. A mother may have a gut feeling that her little girl is just not doing as well as she should be, when compared to others of her age. She is reassured and told not to worry, because children develop at different ages and her daughter is probably just a little slower. Don’t ignore what your gut is telling you! When you acknowledge your instincts and act on them by seeking out information you might create early opportunities to prevent longer term problems.

Integrated Learning Therapy (ILT) works with many children with developmental immaturities. The underlying cause of children not coping with skills needed to succeed academically can begin very early on in the child’s development. Understanding some of the underlying factors makes it possible to ensure that their challenges are addressed. In this way, underachievement can be prevented.

As parents, we hope that our children will develop normally, even though we expect that there may be some small delays along the way that will resolve themselves over time. However, not all children will ‘grow out of’ developmental delays unless they get support.

As an example, consider Sam. His behaviour and academic performance depends on underlying and invisible interacting activities in his body and nervous system. He may be a wriggler, but rather than merely being naughty or ill-disciplined, he may have sensory systems that are making it physically uncomfortable to remain still and focused. Sitting still and paying attention can only happen if a child has adequate postural control and balance. Being able to do this is the result of bodily systems working together. The vestibular system (the system of balance) arouses the child’s brain so that he can focus; his proprioceptive system (which gives us information about where we are positioned in space) help to maintain an erect posture; his tactile system (sense of touch) allows him to selectively pay attention. If these systems are not functioning as they should, no matter how hard Sam tries, he won’t succeed in doing what his teacher asks of him. He will try to please but in doing so, all his attention will be focused on keeping himself still in his chair. He certainly won’t be attending to the lesson.

When learning difficulties continue to go unrecognized, children learn strategies to cope with or simply avoid aspects of school life that are too hard. Progress is so slow – they are simply unable to learn as efficiently as their above average intellectual potential should allow. So some work really hard just to keep up their position at the bottom of the class; some struggle every day with extra reading; others take work home regularly because they cannot finish it in class.

As a general rule, parents know their children better than anyone else. Their concerns are often accurate indicators of a child’s underlying developmental problems. To help confirm this, there are a number of early indicators of slow development that need to be noted[1]:

Attention: difficulties sustaining attention in class
Sitting still: children who wriggle and squirm
Receptive language: understanding what is said to them
Expressive language: how they are able to communicate to others
Pencil grip: how they hold their writing instruments and cutlery
Visual skills: eye control and seeming difficulties with early reading games and activities
Body awareness of themselves and in relation to others
Understanding body language and being able to respond to others who express themselves through body language
Coordination: throwing and catching balls, walking, skipping, climbing, running
Immature behaviour: difficulties sharing, taking turns, controlling impulses

Look for support

Follow your gut feeling by becoming knowledgeable about what to expect at certain stages of child development, the possible causes of underachievement and where to go for support.

In the field of neurodevelopment ILT practitioners can be a useful resource as they deal with brain development and the underlying causes of learning difficulties at very low levels (meaning they look at very early development to trace back to areas of concern). Many of them also have backgrounds in occupational therapy, psychology or teaching, meaning that they can call on knowledge from various fields.

[1] Goddard-Blythe, S. 2009. Attention, balance and coordination: The ABC of learning success. Wiley-Blackwell.

Image supplied by Freepik.

Can movement help learning difficulties?

Jul 26, 2023 | I'm a Parent, I'm a Teacher, ILT Blog

Image supplied by Freepik

(Acknowledgments to Svea Gold and Sally Goddard)

The brain has gazillions (is that a word?) of neurons – that we call ‘wires’ – and these neurons need to communicate with each other so that we can function. This means that there are trigazillion (my new word) connections in the brain. It is rather remarkable that most of us manage to form these neurons and their connections without faults but we need to remember that there are many things that can go wrong.

Thanks to research, we’ve had confirmation that things suspected through observation and experience are facts. We now know that by carefully watching how a child moves and what a child needs to do to meet an expectation from school or his home, we can get an idea of where in the brain the problem lies. Then, by giving the child’s brain a chance to repair itself, we can bring about positive changes.

This isn’t up-to-date news. Way back in 1996, a writer in an edition of Newsweek focusing on Your Child’s Brain wrote “…. There is new evidence that certain kinds of intervention can reach even the older brain and like a microscopic screwdriver rewire broken circuits.” This was about the time that I was researching ways of helping children – giving rise to ILT in the year 2000. You can imagine my excitement!

So today let’s have a look at an example of how we apply neurodevelopmental insights to solve a child’s learning problem.

An important reflex movement

It’s significant that many children with learning difficulties have no Headrighting Reflex (HRR). This reflex shows when the angle of the body in relation to the ground shifts – in other words, the body tilts to either side, backwards or forwards. The reflex automatically adjusts the head to remain in a nearly vertical position. In a less well coordinated child, the head does not remain or immediately return to the vertical position but stays in line with the body. In other words, the child’s head moves in line with his spine.

If the head rights itself, there is very little shift in the background compared to when the head tilts in line with the spine. (Try this yourself by swaying to each side, alternately keeping your head still in a vertical position and allowing it to align with the spine.) Such a child will find himself in a constant state of visual strain because one of the reasons for this reflex is to stablise visual images on the retina of the eye. There is little wonder that children who don’t have this reflex may have reading problems.

Giving a child the HRR

This is where a knowledge of neurodevelopment can help. We need to give children a HRR if they haven’t developed one themselves. How do we do this?

Different parts of our bodies are controlled by different nerves but it is wise to remember that nothing stands alone. No function of the brain operates in isolation. For example, when your vestibular system (in your inner ear) is stressed (perhaps by movement), you get seasick. You feel this in your tummy and it happens because of the intimate interconnectedness of different nerves. The vagus, one of the ten cranial nerves, is responsible for causing your stomach to revolt against the movement registered by an overwhelmed vestibular system.

The HRR is influenced by another cranial nerve that controls the trapezoid muscle. This muscle controls the movements of the head and neck. If a child hasn’t developed the HRR, it is likely that there is a poor connection between the trapezoid muscle and the cranial nerve that controls it. Our job would be to connect this muscle and we use a seemingly simple movement activity to do so.

The original movement came from Carl Delacato, who worked for many years with learning disabled children. He found that having children lie on the floor and moving their arms, legs and head in a way that resembled the movement of a ghecko or lizard, caused significant and positive changes in the brain.

The Flip Flop movement

The benefits of the Flip Flops are many. Information goes into both sides of the brain as the muscles move equally on both sides. At the same time the brain gets sensory information from the weight of the body moving across the surface on which the child is lying. This is very important because during later development the brain is constantly having to coordinate information received from the two brain hemispheres to allow for stereophonic hearing, posture and vision. So with our Flip Flops, we are not only stimulating the cranial nerve to connect to the trapezoid muscle but also influencing vision, hearing and balance. Through this, information is communicated to many other brain areas, especially to the cerebellum, the midbrain and the thalamus. The thalamus is an area of the brain that acts as a gate-keeper – either allowing sensory information to pass through to higher brain (cortical) areas or not. If it fails to allow certain information through, the important messages will not arrive at the proper destination.

So in short, by giving a child a (seemingly) simple activity, we are effecting profound changes in brain function. We can’t control what comes out of the brain but we certainly can control what goes in. This helps the brain receive the information it needs to correct faulty wiring.

Other reflex movements are significant too

Giving the child a head-righting reflex is good but we need to test for later developing movements as well. Once we’ve made connections in the lower brain regions, we have to persevere to encourage connections needed for more sophisticated functions.

When you bring about better neurological organization, you are addressing basic problems in the various areas of the brain. This enables the child to function independently and with improved abilities in many different spheres of life. Such children seem to ‘get it together’ and with this, their self-esteem and confidence soars.

Parents – Trust your gut

May 10, 2023 | I'm a Parent, I'm a Teacher, ILT Blog

At the end of each school term, children are sent home with a report from their teachers. Now, as parents, you have to read what one or more other human beings think of your child. This can be a pleasure but can also cause confusion and even concern. How seriously should you take the schools’ verdict on your child’s performance, behaviour, growing personality and abilities?

Obviously teachers are trained professionals and can be very helpful in identifying areas needing help or areas of great potential. But as a parent, you are equipped with knowledge and understanding of your child that no other person can hope to equal. For this reason, my message today is that you should learn to trust in your ‘gut feelings’ concerning your child – especially if they conflict with the opinions of others.

Over many years of dealing with families whose children show one or other need, I’ve come to value the opinions of parents. Very often conversations with them are prefaced with “I’m only his/her parent so I’m probably wrong, but ……”. Then the parent goes on to present me with a description of the child that, after thorough evaluation, is found to be highly accurate and insightful, but sometimes contradicts the teacher’s findings.

I’ve known many parents who instinctively felt that their child wasn’t really ready to learn, yet felt intimidated enough by officialdom to send them into formal schooling. Sometime down the line, they are referred for help with problems caused not by any lack of intelligence but instead a slower rate of neurodevelopment. Others may instinctively know that their young child is ready for school but are told to keep them back. These children may end up being frustrated and bored at school and have to possibly take the unwise step in being accelerated into a higher grade somewhere along the line.

This doesn’t mean that parents don’t ever make mistakes. Plenty of parents are guilty of pushing their children too fast and too far before they are ready; they are over-ambitious for children to succeed; some neglect children unintentionally due to work and lifestyle pressures, some refuse to recognise a needy area in the child, and so on. That, however, is not the message intended here.

I could write screeds about the occasions when parents were spot on in their analysis of the causes of their child’s behaviour, in contrast with that of the school. I recall a parent desperately sharing her feeling that her young son’s undesirable, hyperactive, non-compliant behaviour during the Grade 0 school day was due to his disinterest in classroom events. This was not accepted by the teacher, who saw the symptoms as being signs of anti-social tendencies, mental disorders, impulsivity, disobedience and more. The mother persevered with her belief and did not seek any intervention. The following year saw a drastic change in behaviour and when challenged, the youngster offered, “School is better now. We’re learning proper stuff.”

Something else to be taken into consideration is that what you want to teach your child is not necessarily what others want to teach theirs. What your child needs to be taught depends on the society into which he is being raised and in which he will have to cope. That means that others may not understand the culture of your family and have unrealistic expectations of your child – and your way of raising him.

When you feel that something is not right with your child, with the school situation, with health issues, with friendships, you don’t need to apologise for being ‘only’ a parent. You don’t always need to rush off for professional confirmation or intervention. It is helpful to have an impartial outsider confirm your beliefs and in some cases might be wise, but this isn’t always essential. The chances are that you’ll have your child’s best interests at heart and your decisions and actions will be based on the most intimate and complete knowledge of the child possible. Added to that, you know the child’s origins – you understand the gene pool that created him or her. Trust your feelings.

Above image supplied by Freepik